University students from the Pacific Northwest on Thursday competed in the Alaska Airlines Environmental Innovation Challenge in Seattle, pitching their best ideas for potential startups that could help protect the planet.
Twenty-two teams reached the finals of the annual event, hosted by the University of Washington’s Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship. Winning teams brought home prizes of $2,500 to $15,000.
Students incorporated technologies using software, drones, chemistry, engineering biology and other disciplines into their innovations.
Eric Carlson, a judge and member of the E8 venture capital group, congratulated the students’ hard work as he presented a prize focused on climate impact.
“A huge amount of work lies ahead to address the world’s environmental challenges,” he said, “and this very energy and commitment will be absolutely necessary to overcome these challenges.”
Makoto Hamamoto Eyre, who participated in the Environmental Innovation Challenge in 2020 and is now CEO and co-founder of Homeostasis, a carbon capture startup, provided words of encouragement and wisdom to the students.
“It’s a meandering path. And so long as you’re rigorous about it and open to pivoting and really diving deep, you’re doing the right thing,” Eyre said. “You’re gonna get punched in the face so many times, it’s crazy. But that’s part of the pathway. You’re doing the right thing.”
Winners of Environmental Innovation Challenge prizes:
AgroFilms (UW), $15,000 Grand Prize
The AgroFilms team has engineered a biodegradable film made from hemp waste that can blanket agricultural fields to prevent irrigation water from evaporating.
C-1 Bio (UW), $10,000 Herbert B. Jones Foundation Second Place Prize and the $2,500 Eric Carlson Best Idea for Climate Impact Prize
C-1 Bio is developing a strategy for capturing carbon dioxide using specially engineered aquatic bacteria that can turn the carbon into precursor chemicals for industrial uses.
Minimycelium (UW), $5,000 Alaska Airlines Third Place Prize
Minimycelium is using a specific kind of mushroom to decompose and convert plastic into non-toxic organic matter, producing edible mushrooms and a nutrient-rich compost.
SuperSurya (UW), $5,000 UW Clean Energy Institute Clean Energy Prize
SuperSurya is working on a technology for residential solar power that boosts the energy efficiency of photo voltaic panels.
SEAPEN (UW), $2,500 Leo Cup Innovation in Oceanography Prize
SEAPEN created a platform using artificial intelligence to digitally analyze and produce data from the world’s backlog of marine images and videos capturing wildlife, pollution and vegetation.
The event’s main sponsors were Alaska Airlines, Microsoft and the UW’s Clean Energy Institute.
Participating students came from the UW, Portland State University, Walla Walla University, Washington State University, Global Innovation Exchange, and Central Connecticut State University. The competition was held at the Seattle Center.
