INNOVATING FOR A GREENER TOMORROW

On Friday, January 12, the 3rd edition of the Green Innovation Challenge, presented by Pfizer Canada, was held at John Abbott College.

Inspired by the “Startup Weekend” concept, seven teams, comprised of a total of 22 students from different Montreal CEGEP’s, challenged themselves over the span of 12 hours to conceive and present a comprehensive project to a panel of judges with the hopes that their project would be selected for a cash prize from the College and Pfizer Canada. The goal of the challenge is to develop a practical idea that can help find a solution to a real-world problem.

At the end of the day, the teams presented their project to a panel of judges which included Cynthia Aboud (Senior Vice-President Accord Financial Inc.), Gary Whittaker (Professor at McGill in Entrepreneurship and in John Abbott College’s Continuing Education program) and Tracey McKee (John Abbott College Program Dean – General Education & Arts).

During an intensive 12-hour day, students from John Abbott, Dawson and Vanier College addressed problems related to climate change and sustainability. They worked hard to create innovative projects on the spot, and then pitched them to our panel of judges. With only a few short hours to prepare, we were quite impressed by their presentations! We look forward to supporting the students as they continue to work on their projects throughout the school year.
– Shannon Coulter-Low, Student Life Counsellor – Sustainability & Social Entrepreneurship, John Abbott College

First-place winners accept the top prize from Pfizer Canada to help implement “De-icing with Pickles.”

From left to right: Cynthia Aboud (Senior Vice-President Accord Financial Inc.), Gary Whittaker (Professor at McGill and John Abbott College’s Continuing Education program), Olivia Preiss, Tracey McKee (John Abbott College Program Dean – General Education & Arts), Joshua Nicodemo, Kayley Zaidi, Sonia Hussain, and Guy Lallemand (John Abbott College Foundation Chairperson).

The Pfizer Canada grand prize of $1000 was awarded to the team made up of Sonia Hussain, Joshua Nicodemo, Olivia Preiss, and Kayley Zaidi for their project: De-Icing with Pickles. The project seeks to implement a program at John Abbott College that allows for the roadways to be de-iced using a combined pickle brine and rock salt solution. The goal of the project is to reduce the usage of rock salts on campus to help eliminate the environmental impact on flora and fauna.

In second place, with a $500 prize from Pfizer Canada, was Med Go by Iba Malhi and Andrea Sanchez, with their app that seeks to educate the public on ways to safely dispose of medications in such a way to reduce its harmful effects on the environment. The third-place winners, with a $250 prize, was Wheat Reuse by Dannica Davies, Zoey Webster, Ella Cloutier, Nathan Wan, Emma Yee. Wheat Reuse seeks to introduce wheat straw plates, bowls, and utensils to the cafeteria.

Congratulations to all the winners and to the participants!