St. John’s, NL — From September 19–21, Memorial University hosted the fifth econext Clean Growth Ideathon, bringing together students with one shared goal: to come up with real solutions that help reduce carbon emissions.
This year’s challenge asked participants to design a system, product, or approach that could meaningfully reduce or offset a carbon footprint, whether for individuals, communities, or companies. Over the course of the weekend, students worked in teams, guided by mentors and industry professionals, to turn their early ideas into pitchable concepts.
First place went to NLight (Farhan Probandho, Aria AzadiPour, Aayushman Srivastava, Kasey Keats), a team tackling the environmental impact of fast fashion and textiles. Their project focused on turning discarded clothing into new, usable materials, cutting down on textile waste and the emissions that come from fabric breakdown.
In second place, Fantastic 4 + 1 (Aiyan Raaid, Mohammad Rajin Hasan, Allison Wragg, Kelvin Fumo, Jake Clarke), proposed a plan to bring green roof technology to buildings throughout the downtown St. John’s core. The team highlighted how vegetated rooftops could help lower building emissions, improve insulation, and save energy, while also cooling the city and supporting biodiversity.
Third place went to HARRA – TERRA (Blessing Torti, Abdullah Khan, Okechukwu Ezekwesili, Zainab Parween), whose idea turns organic and fish waste into clean electricity. Their proposed system captures methane produced during decomposition and converts it into power, creating a local energy source from materials that would otherwise go to waste.
“These ideas show how practical, creative, and forward-thinking students are,” said Timilehin Oguntuyaki, Green Career Development & Training Lead with econext. “Every team approached the challenge differently, but all shared the same drive to find solutions that could work here in Newfoundland and Labrador.”
The ideathon included workshops, mentorship, and networking opportunities throughout the weekend. Students gained hands-on experience developing ideas with sustainability at the core, an approach that reflects econext’s ongoing work to support the green economy across the province and represent a wide array of diverse perspectives for change .
econext thanks all mentors, judges, and partners who contributed to the event, and extends special appreciation to takeCHARGE NL and NLCU for their continued support.
For more information about future ideathons or partnership opportunities, contact:
Timilehin Oguntuyaki – timilehin@econext.ca
About econext
econext is a not-for-profit association with a mission to accelerate clean growth in Newfoundland and Labrador by: (1) stimulating research, development, and innovation; (2) preparing its workforce for a greening economy; and (3) acting as a catalyst for climate change action within its industries, businesses, and communities. econext has been working for over 30 years on behalf of its members across many sectors to support environmentally sustainable economic development. More information can be found at https://econext.ca.
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