Annual Industry Design Challenge

Tackling Medical Plastic Waste

17–18 August 2026 • Brisbane

Overview  |  AIDC26 Wrap-up  |  Industry Researchers  |  Collaborators  |  IRDP

The Annual Industry Design Challenge 2026 (AIDC26) brings together SPW CRC Industry Researchers (PhD Students and Postdoctoral Researchers), industry and research experts to tackle the challenge of medical plastic waste at Queensland Children’s Hospital.

From operating theatres to recovery wards, plastics are essential for infection prevention, sterility and clinical outcomes. However, the large volume of single-use plastics used every day presents significant challenges for waste reduction, recycling and circularity.

AIDC26 challenges SPW CRC Industry Researchers to explore how healthcare systems can be reimagined to reduce plastic waste while maintaining the high standards of patient care that hospitals depend on. The challenge begins with first-hand insights from a staged clinical setting before Industry Researchers put their ideas into action during an intensive, team-based Design Challenge.

AIDC26 Challenge Collaborator:

The Solving Plastic Waste CRC is proud to recognise National Science Week by celebrating the next generation of researchers who are tackling real-world plastic waste challenges through the SPW CRC Annual Industry Design Challenge.

Next: ↓ See what happened at AIDC26  |  ↑ Back to top

AIDC26 Wrap-up

What an incredible two days for our 26 SPW CRC Industry Researchers (PhD Students and Postdoctoral Researchers), bringing together researchers from across all four SPW CRC Research Programs to collaborate, challenge their thinking and put their skills into action tackling medical plastic waste in a hospital setting.

More than a competition, AIDC26 gave our Industry Researchers the opportunity to step outside their individual research projects, work across disciplines, engage with industry and apply their skills to a complex, real-world challenge.

AIDC26 Winners

Congratulations to Team PlastiCare!

Following the final pitches, the judging panel selected Team PlastiCare as the AIDC26 winning team, recognising the strength of their approach to the challenge and final pitch.

Image: From left, Renae McBrien, Environmental Sustainability Lead at Children’s Health Queensland, with the AIDC26 winning team of SPW CRC Industry Researchers: Dr Abid Farooq, Dr Jamie Chen, Mariye Jahannoush, Patricia Menchon and Dr Christian Krohn, and SPW CRC CEO Paul Hodgson on the right.

A huge thank you to Children’s Health Queensland and Queensland Children’s Hospital for collaborating with us to bring AIDC26 to life, and to our facilitators, industry experts, judging panel and everyone who made the challenge possible.

What’s Next?

AIDC26 has created a strong foundation to build on. We look forward to building on this year’s medical plastic waste challenge and seeing where our Industry Researchers take it next at AIDC27.

Next: ↓ Meet the Industry Researchers  |  ↑ AIDC26 Overview

Meet the AIDC26 Industry Researchers

AIDC26 brings together SPW CRC Industry Researchers (PhD Students and Postdoctoral Researchers) from across all four SPW CRC Research Programs.

Working in multidisciplinary teams, they’ll combine their diverse expertise to tackle the complex challenge of medical plastic waste and develop innovative solutions that no single discipline could achieve alone.

Next: ↓ AIDC26 Collaborators  |  ↑ AIDC26 Wrap-up

In Collaboration With

AIDC26 brings together expertise from healthcare, industry and research to create an authentic real-world learning experience for our SPW CRC Industry Researchers (PhD Students and Postdoctoral Researchers).

AIDC26 Challenge Collaborator:

AIDC26 Industry Panellists:

AIDC26 Judging Panel:

AIDC26 Facilitated by:

Back: ↑ AIDC26 Overview  |  ↑ About AIDC

Learn more about Solving Plastic Waste CRC