19-05-2025
HCC Student Innovation team advances to national finals
HOLYOKE, Mass. (WWLP) – A trio of Holyoke Community College students is heading to Washington, D.C., next month after their sustainable cooling system project for AI-driven data centers earned them a spot in the finals of a prestigious nationwide innovation competition.
Jacob Bissonnette of Holyoke, Anjou Edwards of Westhampton—both business administration majors—and Nora Goncalves, an engineering major from Williamsburg, were selected as one of 12 finalist teams for the 2025 Community College Innovation Challenge.
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The annual contest is organized by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) in partnership with the National Science Foundation. Their project, titled 'Green Computer Processing – Reducing Data Energy Consumption,' aims to build a closed-loop cooling system designed to recapture lost energy and reduce waste in large-scale computing centers. It was one of only two projects from Massachusetts to reach the final round, alongside a team from Middlesex Community College.
'It's an amazing feeling, because it wasn't just the culmination of all our efforts, but the efforts of everyone who's been supporting us this far – the faculty, our coaches, the whole school helping to put us up,' said Bissonnette.
From June 9–12, the team will participate in an 'Innovation Boot Camp' in Washington, where they will receive coaching on business planning, stakeholder engagement, communication strategies, and market dynamics. The boot camp concludes with a student poster session on Capitol Hill with STEM leaders and congressional stakeholders, followed by formal pitch presentations to determine the winning teams.
The competition, now in its ninth year, is designed to cultivate entrepreneurial thinking among community college students by challenging them to solve real-world problems using STEM-based approaches. Teams consist of two to four students and a faculty or administrator mentor.
'Congratulations to the 2025 CCIC finalists,' said Walter G. Bumphus, President and CEO of AACC. 'The finalist projects showcase the incredible talent and creativity of the nation's community college students. I am proud to stand with our partners at the National Science Foundation to provide this forum to advance these student leaders as they become our future scientists, entrepreneurs, and engineers, addressing real-world issues and positively impacting our daily lives.'
The HCC team is advised by Michele Cabral, professor of accounting at the college.
'The national Community College Innovation Challenge is designed to enable community college students to discover and demonstrate their capacity to use STEM to make a difference in the world and to translate that knowledge into action,' said Cabral. 'Jacob, Anjou, and Nora will be the first group of students ever representing HCC on this national stage.'
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Bissonnette and Edwards were originally recognized as 'Ultimate Achievers' during HCC's inaugural campus Innovation Challenge last fall. Goncalves joined their team in the spring to prepare for the national contest. Top teams in the challenge will receive cash awards of $3,000 for first place, $2,000 for second, and $1,000 for third, along with access to patent experts to help further develop their ideas.
'Even if we don't make it to the top three, we still get to have this amazing experience and add that to our resumes,' said Bissonnette. 'It's incredible for our professional development.'
'We'll get to network with experts in the field, politicians, and people who know how to get patents,' added Edwards. 'So, if you want to make this business into something more serious, which is our goal, this is the perfect first step.'
Other finalist projects in this year's competition addressed a range of issues, including food insecurity, burn treatment, aviation safety, nicotine addiction, neonatal care, fire prevention, and assistive technologies.
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