Catalysts for the Future: Showcasing Innovation at the Chemical Engineering Capstone Symposium
The 2025 Capstone projects were ambitious and innovative! Aiming to solve problems, running the gamut from converting plastic waste into hydrogen to creating a modular water treatment plant for Six Nations of the Grand River.
This graduating class pushed themselves to their limits, persevering through their first two years, which took place during the pandemic, and finishing their undergraduate degrees with innovation and tenacity.
The excitement was palpable at the Capstone Symposium as fourth-year students explained their projects to instructors, industrial partners, parents and event-goers.
This year, there were six winning Capstone Projects in the Department of Chemical Engineering:
Oxygen-Generating Hydrogels for Diabetic Wound Healing won a Departmental Award.
Group 3: Nehita Oko-Oboh, Aisha Biobaku, Aknan Ali, Khali Abdi
Group 3 focused on developing oxygen-generating hydrogels for diabetic wound healing. The hydrogel is designed to release oxygen over time to promote faster healing, especially in patients with poor circulation, one of the major challenges in managing chronic wounds.ÌýGroup 3 is in the process of reviewing their findings and determining the best path forward for the project. The group is excited to continue working at the intersection of health and technology, with a focus on inclusive product design and development.
The best part of Capstone was definitely speaking with different stakeholders and hearing about their personal connections to the problem space. Every single person we spoke to—if not themselves—knew someone with diabetes and understood the pain points they faced daily. Hearing their stories drove us to give our all to this project, and that was a highlight.â€
PlastAway Pods Improved Biodegradable and Water-Soluble Films for Detergent Pods won the Walmart Award.
Group 28: Professor Tizazu Mekonnen, Ansh Gupta, Shunam Ghosh, Sameen Khan, Robert Duff
Traditionally, there are a lot of complicated Capstone projects. Group 28 wanted to do a project that the mainstream population could relate to dealing with a product that everyone uses: laundry detergent!ÌýTheir project aimed to improve the biodegradability of polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) films used in laundry pods by substituting and dilifying PVOH in these films.
"Professor Mekonnen has expertise in biodegradable polymers. Working with him was a true learning process. He did not give answers, he gave feedback and let us engage in trial and error to come to our own conclusions. We learned a lot throughout the process!â€
Real-Time Dosimetric Patch for Safer Radiation Therapy won the Bhattacharya Award.
Group 26: Julia Ersil, Sarah Holowka, Jodie Leung, Becky Fuh
Group 26Ìýfocused on developing a hydrogel-based radiation dosimetric patch that changes colour when exposed to radiation. It’s designed to be used for cancer patients to help monitor overdosing of healthy tissue during radiation treatment in a simple, real-time, and cost-effective way. Their Capstone supervisor, Professor Elizabeth Prince, will take over this project and continue researching other formulations that could improve the patch's functionality.
The best part of our project was seeing tangible results with the gels we had made. It was especially rewarding as we went through a lot of research and trial-and-error in the lab before we found our gel formulation. Another highlight of our project was collaborating with Dr. Alex Rink at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre where we were able to test our gels in a clinical setting.
Dynamic Leaching Control for Black Mass Recycling won the Sustainable Development Award for Chemical Engineering.
Group 19: Sammy Juvatopolos, Vivek Kapur, Tami Ogunleye, Mohammad Emad El-din Shahwan
Group 19's project aimed to develop a process for recycling black mass (shredded end-of-life batteries) while focusing on a control strategy to manage disturbances such as dynamic feed composition. By optimizing the process, they hope to contribute to a more sustainable and effective recycling solution. The group used process design, digital simulation, control systems and continuous optimization. Their supervisors were Professors Eline Boghaert and Joshua Pulsipher.
Development & Optimization of a Polylactic Acid Polymerization Reactor won a Departmental Award.
Group 16:Christian Patroiu, Ethan Gill, Ethan Chen, Ethan Porter
Their Capstone Project was to develop and optimize the production of high-molecular-weight Polylactic acid (PLA), a highly versatile biodegradable polymer used in medical applications, additive manufacturing, and many other industries.
The group used a computational multi-physics approach to simulate the fluid dynamics, polymerization kinetics, and thermal dependence of the PLA reaction mechanism together in a unified model. This model allows for optimizing reactor designs and operating conditions. Ìý
The best part of doing this Capstone Project was taking everything we’ve learned in this program such as programming skills, polymer chemistry, fluid mechanics, heat and mass transfer, and applying it to simulate the behaviour of a wonderfully complex physical system and being able to understand how all of it works together
Direct Li won $12,000 in the Norman Esch Pitch Competition to drive eco-friendly innovation in the mining industry. Read their story.
Congratulations to all our winning teams!