Engineering designers need new models of collaboration as we work to solve some of the world鈥檚 most 鈥渨icked鈥 problems.聽 It is with this interdisciplinary thinking in mind that a collaborative pilot project was launched in 2023 in partnership with and the Turkstra Chair in Urban Design. Now in its third year, the Sustainability and Social Entrepreneurship Fellowship project brought together 3rd year engineering students from around the world to participate in a nine-week internship to work on multiple sustainability projects. By inviting an international team we brought together individuals from different cultural, educational, and engineering discipline backgrounds.聽聽
Each year, students are given a new theme for the challenge, and are connected with a local municipality to connect their solutions to the real world. In 2023, the students were tasked with developing solutions to assist the City of London, Ontario with meeting its housing pledge to build 47,000 units by 2031 in a way that is sustainable and kind to the residents of London. In 2024, students focussed on projects to improve the circularity of the Halton Region. In 2025, students worked on solutions to improve the sustainability of the built environment in Halton Region.聽聽
Project overview by Berry Genge, Paloma Lopez Sarmien, and Tia Tounesi from the 2023 Fellowship.