One member of The Journal’s editorial board is a QLEAN executive. They were not involved in the editing and reporting process of this story.
The Engineering Society’s (EngSoc) design club roster could soon become a bit greener and cleaner.
When then first-years Ahnaaf Khan and Jacob Rivelis, both Sci ’27, ordered burgers at Flip!t last year, they unknowingly sparked a friendship rooted in their shared ion for cleantech—technology aimed at enhancing environmental sustainability. This bond led them to co-found QLEAN, an aspiring design club at Queen’s dedicated to sustainable energy, carbon capture and utilization, and energy storage.
The pair meeting and forming QLEAN is a “written on the napkin” type of story, Rivelis said in an interview with The Journal.
Now in their second year of mechanical engineering, the students met again in March to brainstorm the name “QLEAN” and outline their vision for the club. They researched the necessary steps to establish QLEAN as an EngSoc design club for the 2024-25 academic year and spent the summer preparing for its launch.
Ratification
After having a series of conversations with EngSoc’s Director of Design, Khan and Rivelis decided a design club would suit their idea best. The main difference between design clubs and design teams is that design clubs are meant to be doing research and don’t compete, while design teams do compete, Khan explained.
“Design clubs are more focused on building technical skills and more so focused on professional development, which is totally what we’re after,” Khan said.
Rivelis explained pitching a design club to EngSoc involves explaining your legitimacy, uniqueness as a club, and how you’ll benefit the engineering community at Queen’s. “You explain your plans, budgets, how you’re going to make them, and how you’re going to [achieve] a net zero budget,” he said.
Although the co-founders already have their required 20 club executives, the pair is still in the process of finding a faculty sponsor which is required by EngSoc policy.
“The [advisor] role is mainly insurance […] if anything goes wrong with the club, they’re liable first before EngSoc. This person really needs to believe in you. In order for them to believe in you, you need to have a really clean project plan,” Khan said.
After Khan and Rivelis are able to meet all design club policies, they’ll seek ratification at an EngSoc Council meeting, which takes place bi-weekly. Rivelis hopes to create a team in which everyone feels cared for and surrounded by other people who are ready to them.
QLEAN’s Mission
According to Khan and Rivelis, despite strong interest in cleantech at Queen’s, there are limited design opportunities for students to safely build projects with proper and insurance. Currently, three EngSoc ratified teams and clubs focus on cleantech, including Queen’s Relectric Car Team, Queen’s Solar Design Team, and Queen’s Vertical Farming Team. Queen’s Carbon Capture and Conversion Team, while unratified, focuses on cleantech in regard to carbon removal from the atmosphere.
“While these teams are valuable, there are significant gaps in energy storage, alternative energy sources (like nuclear and wind), and emission reduction technologies. We aim to address these gaps, starting with design competitions that have been overlooked, such as the Battery Workforce Challenge,” QLEAN’s initial memo said.
They noted the Battery Workforce Challenge aligns perfectly with Queen’s strengths and interests, but many students lack the resources and needed to participate.
Khan and Rivelis hope, if ratified, QLEAN will be an umbrella club for cleantech that allows to choose their own projects without the hassle of ratifying individual clubs.
QLEAN’s Projects
QLEAN’s main undertaking is a CO2 to ethanol project.
“We’re capturing atmospheric CO2 from the atmosphere and then converting that into ethanol. That’s mainly a carbon capture and utilization storage project, which is really exciting for us, and our goal moving forward is to always stay relevant when it comes to climate tech,” Khan said.
Climate tech is a niche industry, and even the technologies within it are highly specialized, Khan explained. Over the past decade, various design teams focused on specific climate tech technologies have emerged, but as certain technologies fade in relevance, those teams often disband.
Teams focused on biofuels, hydrogen fuel cells, and electric cars have been derecognized due to declining interest or decreased relevance of their technologies, Khan explained. To address this, QLEAN aims to implement a rotating project list, allowing the club to collectively decide each year which technologies are relevant to pursue.
In of research, Khan and Rivelis were very fortunate to partner with the Queen’s Aero Design Team, who participates in a hydrogen fuel cell research competition hosted by the Vertical Flight Society.
According to Khan, QLEAN is sending some of their to the competition focused on hydrogen-fueled drones. This initiative aims to explore hydrogen as a cleaner fuel alternative to kerosene or electricity, which is challenging for falling objects.
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“It’s really easy to step into these design teams [and clubs], especially as a first year, and not know anything because you’re not supposed to. […] One of the things I hope that we can foster as co-founders is an environment in which people are readily available to those who need it,” Rivelis said.
The second-year students aim to embody the ethos of QLEAN through their ion for cleantech and their commitment to providing engineering students with opportunities for hands-on building and experiential learning.
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