University Of Waterloo Two Chemical Engineering Grad Students National Video Competition

Two chemical engineering graduate students have topped a national video competition for their research related to the United Nations’ sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Carlo Cunanan and Kiyoumars Zarshenas, master’s and PhD students respectively, are two of six Science, Action! video contest winners, a joint initiative organized by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Nature et technologies (FRQNT). Winning videos were selected for their ability to showcase the benefits of their natural sciences and engineering research and its impact on the SDGs.

Cunanan’s pursuit of greener ammonia production aims to combat climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, while Zarshenas’ research focuses on membrane-based water purification to address the world’s water crisis.

“NSERC is proud to showcase some of the remarkable research that Canadian universities are doing in the basic sciences to find solutions to the most urgent problems that our society is facing, such as climate change,” said NSERC’s president Alejandro Adem in a media release. “These important research efforts not only will lead to the development of tools to facilitate better decision-making, but also provide unique opportunities to train the highly qualified personnel of tomorrow in the essential skills that they will need to ensure a better, sustainable future.”