The awards have been handed out at the 12th annual Capstone Engineering Design and Competition at the Western Sarnia-Lambton Research Park.
Panels of judges, comprised of local community and industry leaders, presented first and second place awards in the categories of Petrochemicals, Green and Biochemical Processes, and Specialty Chemicals following presentations made by more than 70 students from the Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering at Western University.
Petrochemicals First Place: Oxydehydrogenation of Propane Project Engineers: Tyler Deighton, Matt Tucci, Austin Cameron, and Ariel Porat
Second Place: Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis for the Production of Liquid Fuels (Natural Gas) Project Engineers: Mai Abdou, Ahmad Hammed, Caitlin Cornejo, Azeen Moradipour, and Eyad Farid
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Green and Biochemical Processes First Place: Production of ASA (Aspirin) Project Engineers: Brendan Gallagher, Mark Robertson, Aaron Switzer, and Kharis Evoy
Second Place: Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis for the Production of Liquid Fuels (Biomass) Project Engineers: Kathleen McAllister, Daniel Koerber, Farah El-Rashidi, and Shane O'Halloran
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Specialty Chemicals First Place: Acetic Anhydride Production, Acetic Acid Process Project Engineers: Christopher Cooke, Janine Elliott, Athina Wilson, and Jordan Persad
Second Place: Production of TiO2 Project Engineers: Andrea Hall, Ashley Copeland, Kamila Mukherjee, and Tara Tabatabai
Director of the Commercialization Centre Dr. Katherine Albion says the competition is a great learning tool for students.
"The annual Capstone competition continues to deliver a wealth of experience for participating students," says Albion. "Feedback shared by the engineers, researchers and other community professionals helps to form the future careers of these students."
Over the competition's 12 year history, 704 students have participated, presenting 187 projects. 144 sponsorships with a total value of $143,350 have been presented.