The engineering capabilities of young minds were showcased during a couple of recent events held at The Western Sarnia-Lambton Research Park.
The Sarnia site hosted the 18th annual Capstone Design Project Competition on April 5 for 40 chemical and biochemical engineering students from Western University.
Research Park Executive Director Dr. Katherine Albion said in total, there were about 75 attendees.
"The projects this year were all focused on sustainable chemistry and fuel production, which is well-aligned with the Sarnia-Lambton sustainable chemistry cluster and our potential future technologies for integration in this region," said Albion.
Awards were presented in two different categories. In the category of biomass conversion to chemicals, first place was awarded to Pierre-Christof Ascherl, Savana Bosco, Maxine Brown, Manaswini Dias for "Production of Biodiesel and Biohydrogen from Microalgae."
Second place went to Natalie Connors, Kaitlyn Burghardt, Tayte Bowron, Sara Wiwatowsk for their project, "Conversion of Biomass to Sustainable Aviation Fuel."
In the category of waste valourization and carbon dioxide utilization, first place was awarded to Katherine O'Hare, Abby Maves, Samantha Goertz, Alida Teodorescu for "Circular Process for Disposal of Polyethylene Waste Plastic Films Through Pyrolysis." Second place went to Blake Cole, Masaharu Ono, Mustafa Osman, Fernanda Pereira for "Carbon Capture and Utilization – Production of Dimethyl Carbonate." Sponsorships totaled $7,500. Albion said the funding will be disbursed to students by Western University.
Meanwhile, on April 6, the research park hosted Sarnia-Lambton's first Go CODE Girl event to inspire girls and non-binary youth (from grades 7 through 10) and included many different coding activities.
"It was a very fun event!" Albion said. "It was an opportunity for the girls to really get involved hands-on with iPads, computers, and robots just to get some awareness of the technologies out there and show them what opportunities may be available for them in the future using some of these digital skills."
Albion said the Go CODE Girl event is held across Ontario to encourage young girls and youth to continue taking science, technology, and math courses in high school so they don't limit their opportunities later in life when pursuing certain career paths.
"Coding especially is a very fast-growing aspect of the technology industry right now and it's expected to become a basic skill of many career paths in the future," she said.
Albion said they were very pleased with the turnout, and more activities will be planned for youth through Western Engineering Outreach in the future.
