Air Fresheners, Flower Pots Top Soybean Competition
Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA group of Purdue University students that developed a soybean-based air freshener earned the top prize in this year's Student Soybean Product Innovation Competition. A team that produced biodegradable flower pots took second place.
March 27, 2015
News Release
West Lafayette, Ind. — A team that created a soybean-based air freshener won the top prize in the 2015 Student Soybean Product Innovation Competition of the Indiana Soybean Alliance and Purdue University.
The three students who developed Soy Sniffs will receive a $20,000 prize for their first-place entry in the annual contest, which challenges Purdue students to develop new products based on soybean. This year, 13 teams composed of 39 students competed.
A second-place award of $10,000 went to a team that produced biodegradable flower pots.
The teams will be recognized March 31 at the Dauch Alumni Center at Grant and Wood streets. The 2-4 p.m. event is open to public.
“The Soy Sniffs team has created a unique product with real potential in the $8.5 billion global market for air fresheners and purification products,” said David Lowe, president of the soybean industry group and a farmer from Dunkirk. “Every year, it's difficult to judge among so many innovative ideas, and this year was no exception – it's a testament to the ingenuity of our Purdue competitors and the versatility of the soybean.”
The Soy Sniffs team members are Evan Anderson, an agricultural and biological engineering major of Churubusco, Indiana; his brother, Sean, majoring in forestry; and Sara Richert, a public relations/strategic communications major of Oak Park, Illinois.
The winning team members made their experience work to their advantage after finishing in second place last year with their organic leather conditioner and polish. Richert said they wanted to create a product consisting of soybean oil since they were already familiar with its properties.
“With today's trend of going green and the lack of organic air fresheners and odor diffusers in today's market, we felt that our product would create and fit its own niche,” she said.
All members of this year's runner-up team, with its entry of Soycotta Pots, are from Corydon. They are Tyler Allen, a computer engineering student; Levi Jackson, majoring in agricultural and biological engineering; and Chelsea Sullivan, studying accounting and marketing.
Other entries included a high-performance engine filtration system, a new antifreeze formula and teeth whiteners.
Winning projects in previous years included those that engineered the soybean to make crayons brighter, coats warmer and fireworks more environmentally friendly.
Lowe noted that soybean checkoff programs over the last 25 years helped to bring more than 800 new soy-based products to market.
“Our Soybean Product Innovation Competition taps into the brainpower at Purdue to grow this list, grow our agricultural economy, and bring new business opportunities to Indiana,” he said.
Source: Purdue University