Students Score Big With Soybean Invention
Benjamin Hall couldn’t pass up free sandwiches last fall, and it’s a good thing he didn’t.
Hall, a senior in agricultural and biological engineering at Purdue University, was lured into a call-out meeting for the Student Soybean Product Innovation Competition. He wasn’t really interested in soybeans, but he was hungry and there were free T-shirts, so he grabbed a friend and headed into the meeting.
“From there, things took off,” Hall said.
Hall, along with David Conway, a senior in agricultural and biological engineering, John Mullen, a senior in health sciences, and Adrian Boeh, a sophomore in management, entered the contest. They created a soy shooting target, called an EcoDisc, just like a clay pigeon.
They won the competition, and then, just to see what would happen, they entered a couple more business pitches at the Burton D. Morgan Center for Enterpreneurship on campus. They won those as well.
In total, the group has won $29,500. They are in talks with the university to commercialize the product they developed. It could lead to a lucrative deal with a major manufacturer.
The Student Soybean Product Innovation Competition has been the starting point for several winning ideas: soy crayons, candles, lip balm, dessert topping and gelatin.
The EcoDisc team said the big benefit to using soy instead of regular discs is that soy will biodegrade in a matter of months, whereas petroleum-base discs will take years, even centuries, to break down.
The disc is so eco-friendly, it could be eaten by animals or fish after it is launched. To prove it, Boeh ate one.
“It tastes like popcorn kernels.”
Photo by John Terhune.
John on May 2nd, 2008 4:21 am
Ecodisc? What is that? made out of soy? What does it do? Oh, i have so many questions.
Terry on May 2nd, 2008 5:32 am
Hey while part of me says that this is a great invention. I still think that if you are using soybeans you are supporting the destruction of the rain forest. This is not a rant just my humble opinion
Andy Guevarra on May 2nd, 2008 7:37 am
How does using soy beans contribute to the destruction of rain forest? Please explain.
Charlie Ang on May 2nd, 2008 7:42 am
I wish i can be as smart as Tony Stark. I wish someone can be.- sadly, with this invention of soy bean compared to his invention. I think that’s goooonna be impossible.
Rimibe on June 3rd, 2009 8:57 am
It’s a flying target for trap shooting or skeet shooting. AKA a “clay pigeon”, though they haven’t been made of clay for quite some time. This one is special because it can biodegrade whereas the current most common ones are made of petroleum pitch and do not.
I wonder how well it breaks.
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