Students plan corn, soybean competition

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., Sept. 9 (UPI) -- Purdue University's Student Soybean and Corn Innovation Contests this year will provide students with educational opportunities and perhaps a lot of money.

The annual event encourages teams of students to invent environmentally friendly products from corn and soybeans.

"By participating in the … 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 Professor Bernard Tao, the competition's administrator.

The soybean competition, 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 or third tier. First-place teams receive a $25,000 cash prize, second-tier teams receive $10,000 and third-tier teams are awarded $5,000. Teams completing the contest but not placing in the top three tiers will earn an honorable mention award of $2,000.

The new corn competition, co-sponsored by the Indiana Corn Board, will award one winning team $6,000.

Purdue will pay for patents for any teams whose projects are purchased by a company and team members can receive royalties.