2025 Environmental Innovation Challenge Sets Record for Prizes Awarded to Students

Eight teams took home awards in the 17th year of the competition at the University of Washington.

Written by: Charles Trillingham, Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship

It can be tough to wrap your head around something as big as the “environment” when it comes to innovation. In the simplest terms, it’s finding solutions to problems in the air around and above us, the land beneath our feet and the oceans below. But there was nothing simple about what students showcased in this year’s Environmental Innovation Challenge at the University of Washington. From new technologies for drones and transportation, to filtering gases and waste — student teams proved ready to lead the world into a cleaner, more sustainable and efficient place.

Judges awarded team Voltair the $15,000 Grand Prize for its automated drone inspection service for utility companies so they can predict whether their infrastructure is about to fail and cause a wildfire. Currently, power grid maintenance is both expensive and challenging. Annual spending on electricity systems across the U.S. is up more than 64% (to $57.4 billion) since 2000, and power lines cause 20% of all wildfires. The UW team of electrical and computer engineering, computer science, finance, and information systems students believe their machine learning approach can help solve those critical problems.

Voltair was one of eight teams to win awards — the most teams ever in one EIC — in the 17th year of the competition hosted by the Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship in the Foster School of Business. Nearly 100 cleantech entrepreneurs, innovators, and investors awarded $42,000 total in prizes after hearing the record 23 teams selected for the Final Round pitch and showcase their innovations on-stage and in front of their own custom booths.

The $10,000 Second Place Prize, presented by Kathryn Gardow, went to team Metallyze from the University of British Columbia. Metallyze is developing a near real-time heavy metal detection sensor that can measure heavy metal concentrations in wastewater. The team of electrical engineering, business, computer science, environmental engineering, and commerce students aim to help businesses ensure compliance, cut down on costs, and safeguard their communities better.

Team JanuTech from UW won the $5,000 Third Place Prize, presented by Alaska Airlines, for their novel battery technology for delivery drones. The team of chemical engineering undergraduate and graduate students believes their solution could revolutionize the growing market by offering 25% more capacity and twice the power, while charging drones in less than five minutes.

The 2025 EIC finalists were selected from a record pool of 43 applicants representing 10 colleges and universities across Pacific Northwest and British Columbia. Judges selected team EnviroTect to win the $5,000 Climate Action Prize, presented by the UW Clean Energy Institute. The UW team of applied bioengineering graduate students created a filtering device to capture volatile gases from anesthesia machines during surgeries before they can be expelled into the environment. The Climate Action Prize rewards student teams for novel hardware or software innovations that demonstrate a scalable approach for reducing emissions or sequestering greenhouse gases in any major sector of the economy.

Elementrailer won the $2,500 Reimagine Prize, presented by Meloriate Partners, for its motorized electric utility trailer designed to address range anxiety for electrical vehicle owners. The UW team of MS in Entrepreneurship, mechanical engineering, accounting and entrepreneurship, environmental science, and technology management MBA students also believe their trailer will improve towing efficiency for non-electric vehicles. The Reimagine Prize was brand new to the competition this year. It recognizes a student team that is thoughtfully re-imagining how we move, what we wear, where we live, what we eat, how we make things, or how we handle waste.

Subvision Robotics from Simon Fraser University in British Columbia won the $2,500 Leo Maddox Innovation in Oceanography Prize — presented with generous support from the Leo Maddox Family Legacy. The team of mechatronic systems engineering students is working on an autonomous subsea rover that uses UV light to enable continuous, on-vessel cleaning for ship hulls. Their innovation eliminates the need for toxic chemicals and prevents the release of invasive species, thereby protecting marine ecosystems. This is the second year of this prize, which recognizes students for creating innovative solutions to address issues of ocean health, with a preference for addressing marine pollution, including ocean plastics or other pollutants.

Judges awarded UW team Solar IndusTrees one of the two $1,000 Connie Bourassa-Shaw Spark Awards given out at the competition to teams who just missed out on the top three prizes. The team of computer engineering, informatics, bioresource science and engineering, and MS in Entrepreneurship students are developing low-cost sustainable materials to help make solar cells more stable and efficient.

An additional $1,000 Spark Award was given to team CureXsco for its cost-effective and sustainable solution for regenerating PFAS-laden filters. The team of UW mechanical engineering students aims to reduce landfill waste and operating costs for water filtration with their innovation.

All teams who participated in the 2025 Environmental Innovation Challenge (including those in the Screening Round) received detailed feedback from judges on how to move their innovations forward. The 23 finalist teams represented more than 37 different departments, majors, and areas of study — as well as five different colleges and universities from around the region including UW, UW Tacoma, the Global Innovation Exchange, Simon Fraser University, and the University of British Columbia.

Including this year, more than 2,500 judges have participated in the EIC since 2008 and helped award more than $585,000 in prize money to student teams. No student team who competes in the EIC, or any Buerk Center competition, gives up equity as part of their participation or prize acceptance.

EIC success stories include sustainable food brand NoWhere Foods (2023), PFAS-destroying startup Aquagga (2020) — which has brought in revenue totaling more than $10 million and raised another $1.1 million from investors — as well as sustainable coffee company Atomo (2019), wastewater treatment startup Membrion (2016) — which has raised more than $28M — and alternative chemistry product maker Korvata (2015).

Competition season at the University of Washington continues with the Dempsey Startup Competition, celebrating its 28th year. Following the application deadline on Monday, April 7 at 11:59 pm PT and Screening Round, the Dempsey Startup Investment Round will be held on Thursday, May 1. The multi-stage event culminates with the Sweet 16 Round and Final Round on Thursday, May 22. An awards presentation and dinner will follow that evening. For more details, please visit startup.uw.edu.