2025-2026 R&D Student Competition

The NYSP2I Sustainable Innovation Student Competition Exhibition & Research Poster Showcase celebrates student-led solutions to real-world environmental challenges. The event brings together undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, industry professionals, and sustainability leaders from across New York State to highlight innovative research and applied problem solving. Through oral presentations and a poster showcase, the event highlights both newly developed competition projects and existing student research, creating a collaborative forum for applied problem-solving, knowledge sharing, and recognition.

Congratulations to the winning teams!

Sustainable Innovation Student Competition

Cornell University
“Energy Atlas: City-Scale Digital Twin for Operational Carbon Reduction and Retrofit Planning in Tompkins County, NY”
Team Members: Chengxuan Li (Team Lead), Eliany Yulieth Rodriguez, Jingwen Gu, and Zihan (Jimmy) Wang
Team Level: Graduate
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Timur Dogan
Team Award Amount: $3,000
This project leverages digital twin technology to model and reduce operational carbon emissions across buildings at a community scale, enabling strategic retrofit planning and data-driven climate action in Tompkins County.

Cornell University
“Circularity Beyond Compost: Valorizing Cornell’s Food Waste through Hydrothermal Liquefaction”
Team Members: Shivani Parmar (Team Lead), Camden Richardson, Keira Kim, and Tomou Takahashi
Team Level: Undergraduate
Faculty Advisors: Dr. Jillian L. Goldfarb and San Lin Htun
Team Award Amount: $5,000
This research explores hydrothermal liquefaction as an innovative pathway to convert food waste into valuable bio-based products—advancing circular economy solutions beyond traditional composting methods.

Student Research Poster Showcase

Clarkson University
“Advancing sustainable fertilizer production through plasma-enabled nitrogen fixation.”
Team Members: Mohammad Yousran Fargab
Team Award Amount: $1,000

Binghamton University
“Taking the ‘Lead’ Out of Solar Leadership”
Team Members: Tasneem Tawalbeh, Wendifer Reyes Ramos, Bipin Rijal, and Abdel Latif Khammash
Team Award Amount: $1,000

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
“Glycerin Production from Biodiesel Synthesis”
Team Members: Emma Midkiff, Devan Ellison, Justin Ng, and Janice Min
Team Award Amount: $1,000

Clarkson University   
“Sustainable Waste-Derived Adsorbents for Efficient Phosphorus Removal from Eutrophic Waters”
Team Members: Ulfet Erdogan Uzunoglu
Team Award Amount: $1,000

Rochester Institute of Technology
“Biochar Evaporative Cooling Unit”
Team Members: Josh Bliss, Zack Eigenmann, Emma Ernst, Melissa Ervin, and Ben Larsen
Team Award Amount: $1,000

Thank you to our judges and keynote speaker

Keynote speaker: Dr. Thomas Trabold, Chief Executive Officer, Cinterest

Research competition judges:

• Dr. Safa Elkefi, Assistant Professor, School of Systems Science and Industrial Engineering, Binghamton University
• Dr. Fawad Ahmad, Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, Rochester Institute of Technology
• Kathryn Walker, Executive Director, Center for Sustainable Materials Management, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Poster showcase judges:

• Dr. Michael Jacobson, Director of the Office of Strategic Research Initiatives, Binghamton University
• Dr. Susan Powers, Director, Institute for a Sustainable Environment, Clarkson University
• Dr. Lori Leonard, Professor and Chair, Department of Global Development, Cornell University
• Dr. Joel Plawsky, Professor, Chemical Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• Dr. Nabil Nasr, Associate Provost for Academic Affairs and Director, Golisano Institute for Sustainability, Rochester Institute of Technology

Sustainable Innovation Student Competition

Application Period: Closed
Exhibition: April 20, 2026 | RIT

NYSP2I’s Sustainable Innovation Student Competition supports full-time undergraduate and graduate students from NYSP2I’s five partner universities in proposing, developing, and designing solutions to defined environmental challenges.

Selected teams receive funding to advance their projects and present their research at the 2026 Exhibition & Research Poster Showcase. A total of up to $18,000 in awards is distributed to top-performing teams based on innovation, impact, feasibility, and presentation quality. In addition, competition teams may be selected for an all-expenses-paid trip to present their work at the 2027 REMADE® Circular Economy Technology Summit & Conference in Washington, D.C., providing national exposure and professional networking opportunities.

Student Research Poster Showcase

Application Period: Closed
Showcase: April 20, 2026 | RIT

The Student Research Poster Showcase will feature high-quality sustainability research already underway across NYSP2I’s partner universities. The showcase provides students with an opportunity to gain visibility, receive feedback from sustainability professionals, and connect with peers and industry leaders at the April 20 event.

About the Poster Showcase

• Open to undergraduate and graduate students from NYSP2I’s five partner universities: Binghamton University, Clarkson University, Cornell University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Rochester Institute of Technology
• Up to five (5) teams per university will be selected
• Work must be existing research or coursework (not new or specially created projects) that demonstrates environmental impact, technical innovation, or applied sustainability solutions.
• Format: Poster presentation
• Participants will engage directly with judges and attendees
• Up to five (5) awards of $1,000 per team will be presented