We are delighted to congratulate our PhD researcher Mariye Jahannoush and her team, PlastiCare, on winning the 2026 Annual Industry Design Challenge (AIDC26) organised by the Solving Plastic Waste Cooperative Research Centre (SPW CRC) in partnership with Queensland Children’s Hospital and Children’s Health Queensland.

Over two intensive days, multidisciplinary teams worked on a real and complex challenge: how to better tackle medical plastic waste in a paediatric hospital environment. From understanding the problem on site to developing and pitching practical solutions, the challenge provided an excellent opportunity for researchers to step beyond their individual disciplines and work collaboratively on an important real-world sustainability problem.

It is particularly rewarding to see Mariye Jahannoush bring research experience in plastic recycling, separation and AI-enabled modelling into a broader industry challenge, while learning from researchers and professionals from very different backgrounds.

Winning the challenge is a wonderful achievement, but equally valuable are the collaboration, new perspectives and industry experience gained along the way.

Our sincere thanks to the Solving Plastic Waste CRC for creating opportunities like this for our researchers, and to Queensland Children’s Hospital and Children’s Health Queensland for opening their doors and sharing such a meaningful real-world challenge.

We would also like to acknowledge Paul Hodgson, CEO of the Solving Plastic Waste CRC, for his support and contribution to the challenge, as well as the judges Renae McBrien, Prof Pete Halley, Pravin Siriwardena, Prof Stefanie Feih, Prof Steven Kenway, facilitators Deb Friel, Lisa Elliott, and Cassady Swinbourne, and Brian McIntosh, organisers, industry partners and fellow industry researchers who contributed their time, expertise and questions throughout the challenge.

We would also like to congratulate every member of Team PlastiCare. This achievement reflects the collective effort, creativity and teamwork of the whole group.