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Soy Innovation Competition winners named

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The Indiana Soybean Alliance named the winners in its annual Soy Innovation Competition.  The competition, held in partnership with the Purdue University College of Agriculture, challenges students to develop new products with the use of soybeans.

This year’s winning team is “Soy Sniffs” a soybean-based air freshener.

Sara Richert, a Public Relations/Strategic Communications major says the competition is a great opportunity for students.  “Not only are you inventing something, which how many 20 year old students can say ‘I have an invention’, which is awesome in itself, but you also learn so much about working in a team,” she says.  “It’s different than working in class.  It’s on your own time, it’s something you’re doing for yourself and it isn’t graded.  It’s really a learning process as a whole.”

Sara Richert, Purdue University

The team, which also consists of brothers Evan and Sean Anderson are no strangers to the competition.  They were runners-up a year ago.

This year’s runner-up team took second prize for its biodegradable flower pot.  Team “Soycotta Pots” is made up of three students from Corydon, Ind.

Image-1-3Computer science major Tyler Allen says they wanted to develop a functional product.  “Basically it’s a go-between the traditional terra-cotta clay-fired pots and the softer peat-fired pots,” he says.  “It’s something you can use as a decorative item and keep small plants around the house or on the porch or you can also break them, put them in the ground, and they provide fertilizer to your plant as it grows.”

Tyler Allen, Purdue University

Thirty-nine students participated in the 2015 Innovation Competition and developed ideas from high-performance engine filtration system, bio-based battery storage technologies, and soy-based tooth whiteners.

Each of these projects create potential new uses for soybeans and future markets for Indiana soybean farmers.

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