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Photo by Tom Campbell |
| This soy product isn't for consumption! Adrian Boeh and fellow Purdue teammates created an award-winning clay shooting pigeon using biodegradable soy products. |
Two teams of Purdue University students captured top spots and cash prizes in the 2008 Soybean Innovation Contest for innovative projects that produced environmentally friendly clay shooting pigeons and healthier soy waffle bowls.
"The goal of this competition is really to allow students to take the knowledge they've gained in the classroom and apply it to understanding how new products are developed," says Bernie Tao, Indiana Soybean Alliance professor of soybean utilization.
Under the direction of agricultural and biological engineering (ABE) professor Osvaldo Campanella, students John Mullen (health science), Adrian Boeh (management), and David Conway and Ben Hall (ABE) spent hours trying to come up with an original idea.
"It came to the point that we were just going through hobbies we had to see if we could apply them to soybeans," Conway says. "On a wild tangent, I started thinking about the old game Duck Hunt, and we came up with the idea of soy shooting targets."
While the developers of EcoDisc were working on target practice, members of team Scoops were taste-testing a healthier way to enjoy an edible ice cream dish.
Their waffle bowl, composed of soy products, was a "delicious fit" for a group of students who wanted to learn more about product innovation than what a textbook could teach, says team member Brian Hunter (management). Hunter and teammates Clay Arnett (organizational leadership and supervision) and Todd Case, (food science) worked with faculty member Stroh Brann, of Purdue's Burton D. Morgan Entrepreneurial Center, to conceptualize the product and set up a business plan to keep it successful beyond the competition.
Other finalist projects in the competition included an all-natural after-sun lotion, a soy-based coal replacement option for coal-powered stoves and a soy-based liquor.
The Indiana Soybean Alliance sponsors the Soybean Innovation Contest through funds earned from the Indiana Soybean Checkoff program.
The EcoDisc team also took top honors in Purdue's 2008 Burton D. Morgan Entrepreneurial Competition in the undergraduate student category.
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