September 8, 2008
Innovation contests extend beyond soy, now include corn
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - |
The corn contest is new this year, as are the larger cash prizes. The contests encourage teams of 2-4 students to invent new, environmentally friendly products from corn and soybeans.
"By participating in the Student Soybean and Corn Innovation Contests, teams of students go through the entrepreneurial process of creating a product from concept through prototyping — including marketing and economic analysis, technical production, packaging, quality testing, patent disclosure and written and oral presentation," said Bernard Tao, professor of agricultural and biological engineering and contest administrator. "This practical experience and demonstrated skill helps students stand out in the eyes of employers."
Interested students should attend a call-out and team formation meeting at 6 p.m. on Sept. 18 in the Food Science Building, Room 1215. Those who have signed up for either or both competitions ahead of time will receive free dinner from Jimmy John's. Students from all majors are encouraged to participate and each team may include one graduate student. Students who don't have teams should attend the call-out, when contest organizers will help assemble teams.
The soybean portion of the contest, sponsored by Purdue's College of Agriculture and the Indiana Soybean Alliance, is judged on a rubric that allows one team to place first and multiple teams to place in the second and third tiers, respectively. The first-place team will receive a cash prize of $25,000, second tier teams receive $10,000 and third tier teams will receive $5,000.
Teams who complete the soybean contest, but do not place in the top three tiers will earn an honorable mention award of $2,000.
Because of the success of the soybean competition, the Indiana Corn Board decided to partner with Purdue to offer the corn competition, which will have one overall winning team that will be awarded $6,000.
Advisers of top tier teams in the soybean competition earn $55,000 for their departments as long as the departments have participated in at least half of the following: publicize the contest Web site on the department home page, e-mail staff and students, allow for a call-out in their buildings, find space for posters, encourage faculty to allow five-minute overview presentations about the competition, provide an area from brochures and a display, publish contest information in the department newsletter, talk to media about their efforts in the competition and mail information to alumni.
Contest results and projects will be presented at a reception in April in Indianapolis.
"Participating in the contest is a lot like an internship," said Jennifer Nordland, contest project manager. "Students gain experience in innovation, marketing, technical expertise, team-building, leadership, critical analysis and public speaking. It's also a wonderful networking opportunity since participants meet numerous Purdue alumni and guest speakers from industry."
Purdue will pay for patents for any teams whose projects are purchased by a company, and team members may receive royalties.
"Throughout the competition each year, students are featured in numerous press releases and in the past have always received lots of media attention — including magazine articles and radio and TV interviews," Nordland said. "One of last year's top teams also was featured at the Indiana State Fair and will be featured at a few Purdue football games."
More information is available on the contest Web site at www.soycorninnovation.com or by contacting Nordland at (765) 496-8326, nordland@purdue.edu .
Writer: Jennifer Cummins, (765) 494-6682, cumminsjs@purdue.edu
Source: Jennifer Nordland, (765) 496-8326, nordland@purdue.edu
Ag Communications: (765) 494-2722;
Beth Forbes, forbes@purdue.edu
Agriculture News Page
Photo Caption:
AJ Boeh, a junior in management at Purdue, was a member of Team EcoDisc, which placed in the top tier of the 2007 Student Soybean Utilization Contest. Boeh and his teammates created a soy-based shooting skeet as an environmentally friendly option to the petroleum clay pigeons currently on the market. (Purdue Agricultural Communication photo/Tom Campbell)
A publication quality photo is available at https://www.purdue.edu/uns/images/+2008/boeh-soybean.jpg
To the News Service home page