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A team of four ���ϳԹ���Դ students won the third annual ���ϳԹ���Դ Engineering Sustainable Solutions & Technologies Competition (QUESST) with a solution addressing the issue of water waste produced by AI data centres. Their achievement highlights the competition’s growing role in equipping students to address complex global challenges. Since launching in 2023, QUESST has grown rapidly, with the most recent conference drawing nearly 70 students, almost double the participation of its inaugural year.     

Amidst this growing interest, the winning students were motivated by the high levels of water consumption during the cooling processes required for AI chips and drawn to how centres could be incentivized to recycle the water byproducts produced in their processes, steam and wastewater. Their solution was to create a water consciousness certification for data centres, motivated by reputational benefits, market differentiation, and an improved social license to operate.  

Mentorship connections 

In addition to the creativity found in their solution to the hot topic allowing them to stand out, the winning team said the mentorship they received during the competition was pivotal to their success.  

"Our mentor, Kaitlyn, offered necessary insight into what a successful AI water consciousness certificate might look,” says Torrin Bigrigg, third-year Smith Engineering student. “She was able to offer another point of view; one based on professional experience and an Indigenous perspective.” Their mentor was Kaitlyn Brant, Project Lead and Technical Advisor at Cambium Indigenous Professional Services.  

The mentorship experience was so positive that the team plans to continue to connect. “We have kept in contact with Kaitlyn and are hoping to be able to collaborate again in the future,” says Torrin. The best part, this is not out of the ordinary, many delegates foster relationships with their QUESST mentors beyond the conference.  

This year, 15 mentors from across the public and private sectors supported teams, with pairings carefully coordinated by the executive team. “It's important to us that teams are paired with mentors that are knowledgeable on the students’ topic of interest,” says Arianna Bennett, QUESST Mentors Director in her third year of Biotechnology at ���ϳԹ���Դ. “We want delegates to gain the most from the experience as possible.” 

Diverse speakers and delegates 

QUESST also seeks speakers that come from a variety of backgrounds. Three speakers – Shelly Hazen, Climate Services Practice Lead for GEI Canada; Dr. Warren Mabee, Professor of Geography and Planning at ���ϳԹ���Դ; and Merina Johnston, Director of Strategic Initiatives and Projects at Scotiabank, spoke of their career experience with  challenges related to SDGs and collaboration across industries describing how best to approach the problem-solving process. 

In addition to ensuring diversity of speakers, the QUESST executive team also promotes  diversity amongst the student delegates, in light of the transdisciplinary nature of SDG-related issues. Not only is participation open to students of all academic backgrounds, but the conference is free to attend. 

“Many of the problems in the world today require multi-dimensional and well-rounded solutions, because they have more than one singular cause,” says Charlotte Smith, QUESST Co-Chair and third-year Smith Engineering student. “By having delegates from different educational backgrounds, a greater range of perspectives are offered.” In 2025, around 20% of delegates had a non-engineering background, with most studying environmental science, economics, or geological science - a significant increase from their previous engineering-dominant cohorts.  

Practical solutions 

Considering the prominence of SDG-related concerns, practicality has been embedded into the culture of the competition.  

“Students are aware of so many challenges that exist in the world right now, especially with news being accessible to us at all times, but it can be daunting to know how to work towards solutions,” says Sarah Ventin, QUESST Co-Chair and third-year Smith Engineering student. “The QUESST competition pushes students to consider practical solutions, it makes progress seem possible.”  

Beyond generating innovative solutions, QUESST fosters leadership, creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking, particularly for the nearly 60% of participants who are in their first or second year of study. Through this early exposure, students gain the confidence to pursue meaningful change.  

Learn more about QUESST on their .