Leading Innovation: Trailblazing Capstone Design Projects

Pictured above: Rythem Rastogi, Shanese Bajnathsingh, Ananya Muralidharan,and Anjali Rawal

Excitement was in the air at the 2024 Capstone Design Symposium as Chemical Engineering students showcased their Fourth-Year Capstone Design Projects! Students applied their knowledge, skills, and creativity toward solving real-world problems.

Beyond the classroom, Capstone Design Projects have the potential to make a real difference in the world. Some projects were developed in collaboration with industry partners or community organizations. This allowed students to address real-life challenges and potentially contribute to positive change. This year’s winning teams are excellent examples of such projects. Many were aimed at advancing UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Team 18, supervised by Professors Elisabeth Prince and Eric Croiset, won the top prize, called the Bhattacharya Award, valued at $3,000. Their project, Pads to Purpose: Recycling and Repurposing of Used Menstrual Pads, aimed to design a sustainable pilot-scale method to recover and repurpose plastics used in menstrual pads. These plastics would otherwise end up accumulating in landfills and water systems.

“The inspiration for our Capstone Project came from a hack-a-thon all the way back in first year, so it’s been very fulfilling to see how our efforts transformed a simple idea into a viable full-scale industrial process.  Integrating key chemical engineering concepts with practical lab work proved to be a complex yet rewarding endeavour.  Menstrual pads are and will continue to be a large source of plastic waste with untapped potential for innovation. Being able to design a novel and sustainable process that tackles this challenge, while addressing UN Sustainability Development Goals 12, Responsible consumption and production and 13,Climate action was a profound close to our undergraduate engineering degrees, and we’re excited to see what the future holds for this project!”

Pictured above: Raymond Lin, Kyle Lacson, Kevin Kwan, and Dannis Mo

Team 2 was also a winning team. Their project focused on tackling major problems in the lithium-ion battery recycling industry, namely the lower material yield of current processes, along with high energy usage and costs. The team was supervised by Professors Lena Ahmadi and Ali Elkamel. As the students did their research, they realized that rare metal mining companies will experience struggles to meet the increasing demands of the battery industry. They hope, with their solution, to alleviate some of that pressure by promoting a circular economy.

 “With varying interests including process development, manufacturing, batteries/electrochemistry, and programming, our solution was an accumulation of each of our passions, allowing us to enjoy and take pride in the result of our project. This was an important project to do since it involves stakeholders in a variety of industries, while also being a very prominent issue in a sustainable future.”

Pictured above: Mohammed Tauqir, Taylor Roth, Amy Wohlgemuth, and Stefan Mazzadi

Team 21 won for their project on optimized hydroponics for sustainable agriculture. Their goal was to increase overall agricultural sustainability by simultaneously growing soybean and tomato plants in a hydroponic environment. Growing conditions were optimized by using mechanistic growth and nutrient uptake models to maximize system profits. The group found that most research on this type of agriculture was based on experimental data. This team was supervised by Professor Luis Ricardez-Sandoval.

“This project pushed the limits by providing a mechanistic model for two plants grown simultaneously in a hydroponic system - to the best of our knowledge there are no published articles for this approach. We are proud of this novel design. Overall, this experience pulled together so many aspects of our undergraduate career and confirmed that we are ready for the next steps, whether that be further education or joining the workforce.”

Pictured above: Farhan Tanzim, Ryan Charlinski, Samuel Pearson, and Reid Vrolyk

Another winning project was developed by Team 25. Their industry partner was Kinectrics. The students were supervised by Professors Lena Ahmadi and Milad Kamkar. Their project concentrated on the fabrication of a novel gamma radiation shielding material for application in nuclear power plants. They utilized a polymer composite with a metal powder mixture which was optimized based on shielding performance and density. They fabricated 12 samples varying in metal:polymer ratio, metal composition, and thickness. The samples were tested against a Cs-137 radiation source and returned promising results. 

“Our Capstone project was a valuable opportunity to collaborate on a real-world challenge alongside esteemed professors and experts in the nuclear industry. This allowed us to approach the project with a distinct perspective, enabling us to receive valuable feedback and experience throughout the project duration.”

Pictured above: Anjiya Sharif, Anna Arrecis, Ernest Fedorowich and Em Wright

Team 14 rounded out the list of Capstone Design Project winners. Their project was titled “Engineering Bioplastics Production using Cupriavidus necator (C. necator)”. Comcor Environmental Limited was their industry partner and they were supervised by Professor Christian Euler. Their project explored whether a process to use carbon dioxide emitted and collected by a landfill in the Niagara region could be used for a practical purpose. C.necator under certain conditions, converts CO₂ into a bioplastic in a sustainable process. The group’s bioprocess solution showed their process could reduce CO₂ emissions and the bioplastic generated as a result could be used in biomedical applications.

Congratulations to all the Capstone Design Project teams for producing such creative and innovative projects. The design projects were an amazing culmination of the Chemical Engineering student undergraduate journey!