Hatch Plant Design Competition

The Design Competition is a prestigious event organized annually as part of the Student Program of the Canadian Chemical Engineering Conference (CSChE). It is open to undergraduate chemical engineering students across Canada. Teams present a detailed design of a process, showcasing their technical competence, creativity, economic and environmental considerations.
This year, the event has been generously sponsored by Hatch – a global leader in consulting in the metals, energy and infrastructure sectors . Finalists present their work at the CSChE Conference, where they are evaluated by a panel of industry professionals and academics from across the country. Monetary prizes will be awarded to the top 3 groups.

Deadline

Sept. 29, 2025

Sponsor

Hatch Ltd.

Chemical Education Fund

Award

1^st place: $1500

2^nd place: $1000

3^rd place: $750

Eligibility

• Individuals and groups of undergraduate students must have been registered in a chemical engineering program at a Canadian university during the academic year.
• As most design projects are carried out in the final year courses, recent graduates are also eligible to apply (those that graduated within the last 2-3 years).
• Each chemical engineering program may only submit one entry. Therefore, groups must receive support from their respective programs (see more information in the Application Requirements).
• Participants must submit their application by the deadline of September 29, 2025, in order to secure their participation in the Plant Design Competition.
• There is no limit on the size of the team, but prizes will not scale accordingly.

Note

There is no limit on the size of the team.

Judging

The competition is judged entirely at the Canadian Chemical Engineering Conference in the following two stages:

• The first stage is a poster competition, where all teams present their posters as per Instructions for Presenters on the conference site. Typically, judges spend 10-15 minutes with each team to ask questions. The top three teams are announced on the same night.
• The second stage is an oral competition, where each of the top three teams from the poster competition is asked to give a 30-minute oral presentation (including answers to questions) about their project to a panel of judges.

Application Requirements

Applicants must be student members of the CSChE. The application must be submitted in electronic format through our online portal, and must include the following:

• An executive summary of the project (abstract) including a simplified flow sheet of the process.
• List of authors/co-authors
• Statement of the initial information provided to the students (maximum two pages) from the submitting Professor/Department
• Letter from submitting Professor/Department stating (max. 3 pages):
  •  That the information is not confidential
  • That the project is above the level of expectations in terms of quality and/or complexity and contains elements of creativity or novelty and;
  • If the designed plant is an improvement/expansion of an existing plant, a new plant and if a similar/identical plant exists

Applications that do not include the required documentation may not be considered for the competition.

Hatch Plant Design Competition Winners: