91丝瓜视频

Image from left to right:听Emma Louie, Olivia Cozariuc, Meenakshi Pillai, Carolyn Denton, Emmett Olthuis, Anisa Hashemi, Libert茅 Vaudandaine, Samathar Senso, Mannat Chandok, Emma Bryson.

Students from different faculties and schools team up to find more sustainable materials for cleaner oil spill remediation

, a student-run team from the 91丝瓜视频 BioDesign Club, earned the runner-up spot at the , held in New York City on June 11鈥�12. Competing against 48 university and secondary school teams from around the world, the team was recognized for developing a biodegradable sorbent to help clean up oil spills.

Every year, the takes place at the Parsons School of Design and the Museum of Modern Art. An international competition focusing on biotechnology, participating teams are encouraged to explore both the future applications of biotechnology and its potential impact on society.

Carolyn Denton, a fourth-year Bioengineering student, Emmett Olthuis, a third-year Chemistry student, and Meenakshi Pillai, a third-year Anatomy & Cell Biology student, represented AeroCellutions on stage by presenting their team鈥檚 work to the judging panel and audience.

Behind this project is a multidisciplinary team of 91丝瓜视频 students from the Faculty of Science, the Faculty of Engineering, the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the School of Biomedical Sciences. The group worked together to create a biodegradable sorbent made of cellulose and coated with dodecenyl succinic anhydride. The material offers a more environmentally friendly approach to oil spill remediation, unlike conventional plastic-based absorbents.

Developed in the lab of Professor Theo van de Ven (Chemistry), the project brought together a team of 22 undergraduate students and was co-led by fourth-year Bioengineering student Carolyn Denton and third-year Bioresource Engineering student Cassidy Devereaux.

With 13 members attending the summit, the team remained busy both as competitors and as volunteers supporting the event. During the tabling session, they engaged with teams from around the world, learning about their projects and sharing their own. They also performed a live demonstration of their biodegradable absorbent using heavy motor oil recovered from an actual oil spill in Montreal. , a company specializing in emergency environmental response, provided the oil, highlighting the technology鈥檚 potential for real-world applications.

鈥淚t was a tremendous experience presenting what our team has accomplished this past year to the BioDesign convention,鈥� said Chemistry student Emmett Olthuis. 鈥淎s well as learning all the exciting developments from the other contestants.鈥�

鈥淲e鈥檝e been preparing for the Biodesign Challenge the whole year, so standing up on that stage and presenting our work was definitely a highlight of the project,鈥� shared co-lead and Bioengineering student Carolyn. 鈥淓ven though it was just the three of us, we were representing the efforts of 22 people, all of whom have so much passion for ocean conservation. Knowing that so many of them were watching from the crowd made it that much easier to answer the judges' questions.鈥�

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Visit the AeroCellutions or to learn more about the team.