Congratulations to the 2025 Colorado Sustainability Challenge Winners!
The winning teams for the 2025 Colorado Sustainability Challenge (CSC) were announced at the CSC Finals on Sunday, Oct. 12. Teams from Colorado Front Range colleges and universities participated in the two-week, hackathon-style competition, vying to make a positive impact on global sustainability issues and win $21,000 in prizes for their innovative ideas.
2025 Colorado Sustainability Challenge Winning Teams
First Place ($5,000)
BioOX
- Solution: A proprietary processing system that transforms raw biochar into a dense, pelletized form for use by farmers.
- Team members: Jack Mulvaney (College of Engineering and Applied Science), Josh Shrewbridge (College of Engineering and Applied Science), Ted Elliott (Leeds School of Business), Michael Harris, Jonathan Dixon (Leeds School of Business)
Runners-up ($2,000 each)
Amply
- Solution: A system that merges residential power storage with real-time AI workloads, creating a smarter, more profitable grid and turning houses into profitable micro–data centers.
- Team members: CU Boulder students Neil Vaidya , Liam Zirkle (Leeds School of Business), Sam Siegal (Leeds School of Business), Walter Richard (Leeds School of Business)
MyPack
- Solution: Packing materials made from mycelium (fungus roots and compost waste)
- Team members: Shodan D'Souza (University of Denver), Gabrielle Kellogg (University of Denver) and Jordan Rule (University of Denver)
Owen Parker
- Solution: A centralized web app that automates the process of finding viable, unused church land that can be converted into affordable housing
- Team Member: Owen Parker (Leeds School of Business)
Uplink Energy
- Solution: Using thermal cooling battery packs to reduce lost energy in modern buildings.
- Team Members: CU Boulder College of Engineering and Applied Science students Hayden Dondlinger (College of Engineering and Applied Science), Kai Groudan (College of Engineering and Applied Science), Duncan Laird (College of Engineering and Applied Science) and Gregory Reilly (College of Engineering and Applied Science)
Additional Awards
Winning Team: Owen Parker
Solution: A centralized web app that automates the process of finding viable, unused church land that can be converted into affordable housing.
Team Member: Owen Parker (Leeds School of Business)
About the project sponsor: Abundant Ground is a congregational land initiative program through Mile High Ministries, that supports the vitality of local congregations by helping them imagine and implement mission-aligned new development of underutilized land and buildings.
* A Bounty Project is a clearly defined initiative with funding allocated by a particular sponsor.
Winning Team 1: CleanRoute
Solution: An app that integrates real-time air, heat, traffic and shade data for cleaner commutes and a reduction in the carbon footprint.
Team Member: Rishab Pally (College of Engineering and Applied Science)
About the award sponsor: 1000 Gretas is a nonprofit supporting innovation focused on climate solutions, sustainability and green technology.
Winning Team 2: Uplink Energy
Solution: Using thermal cooling battery packs to reduce lost energy in modern buildings.
Team Members: CU Boulder College of Engineering and Applied Science students Hayden Dondlinger (College of Engineering and Applied Science), Kai Groudan (College of Engineering and Applied Science), Duncan Laird (College of Engineering and Applied Science) and Gregory Reilly (College of Engineering and Applied Science)
About the award sponsor: 1000 Gretas is a nonprofit supporting innovation focused on climate solutions, sustainability and green technology.
Winning Team: Uplink Energy
Solution: Using thermal cooling battery packs to reduce lost energy in modern buildings.
Team Members: Hayden Dondlinger (College of Engineering and Applied Science), Kai Groudan (College of Engineering and Applied Science), Duncan Laird (College of Engineering and Applied Science) and Gregory Reilly (College of Engineering and Applied Science)
* The audience chooses its favorite pitch from the CSC Finals
Winning Team: Circular Materials Marketplace
Solution: Turning campus waste into opportunity — post, claim, and reuse surplus materials across CU Boulder.
Team Member: Diyora Daminova (College of Engineering and Applied Science)
*Selected for the best use of technology in the solution