WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University students from all majors are invited to an informational meeting on Sept. 15 to learn more about participating in the Student Soybean and Corn Product Innovation Competitions.

The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. in Wetherill Laboratory of Chemistry, Room 200.

The two contests – which are separate, but run simultaneously – give students an opportunity to conceptualize a novel product idea; complete patent searches and literature reviews on current products; do market research reports; develop a budget; and create, package and market the product. The winning team from each competition will be awarded a $20,000 cash prize.

“These competitions give students real-world innovation experience and teach them how to take a product from concept to completion – all skills that will benefit them as they go out into the workplace,” said Katharine Woodhead, competition project coordinator. “Many of the most successful teams have been the ones made up of students from different majors and backgrounds because their multitudes of experience aid in the different aspects of the competition.”

Each team needs two faculty advisers – one technical and one non-technical – so professors and lecturers also are invited to the informational meeting.

“We need professors to step up to the challenge of advising teams,” Woodhead said. “It’s an extremely rewarding experience to help the students succeed in these competitions.”

In addition to the $20,000 cash prize for the winning team in each competition, teams may have an opportunity to network with large companies, some of which may be interested in commercializing the products. If a company is interested in commercializing a team’s product, Purdue will help with the patent process. If the company does buy the product rights, the students can receive a portion of the product’s sales royalties.

The Soybean Innovation Competition is sponsored by the Indiana Soybean Alliance. The Corn Product Innovation Competition is sponsored by the Indiana Corn Marketing Council. All supplies and lab fees are covered, so students’ only cost is energy and creativity.

For more information, visit the Student Soybean and Corn Product Innovation Competitions group on Facebook at http://tinyurl.com/mla4yy, or contact Woodhead at 765-496-3837, kwoodhea@purdue.edu

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Student-led teams developing a program for testing software and an environmentally friendly biodegradable shooting target took the top prizes Tuesday (April 8) at the $100,000 Burton D. Morgan Entrepreneurial Competition at Purdue University.

Software developer SmartAn Inc. won the $40,000 top prize in the Gold Division. The team, led by Sirsha Chatterjee and Murali Krishna Ramanathan, also will receive legal and consulting services valued at $5,000 from Ice Miller LLC.

EcoDisc Inc., which includes undergraduate students A.J. Boeh, John Mullen, David Conway and Benn Hall, beat out four other finalists for the $20,000 top prize in the Black Division.

Purdue students, from left, John Mullen and A.J. Boeh deliver the winning presentation for the EcoDisk Inc. team during the 21st annual Burton D. Morgan Entrepreneurial Competition in Discovery Park. EcoDisk took the $20,000 top prize Tuesday (April 8) in the undergraduate division for its business plan to develop and manufacture a shooting target that’s biodegradable and environmentally friendly. (Purdue News Service photo/Richard Myers-Walls)

“The final presentations from both the undergraduate and graduate student teams were strong and highly competitive,” said Kenneth Kahn, the Avrum and Joyce Gray Director of the Burton Morgan Center in Purdue’s Discovery Park. “With their winnings from this well-established competition, the teams now can take their ideas, refine them and work to further realize their products, inventions and services.”

The Gold Division, also known as the open category, includes non-student members if no more than 20 percent of the team is composed of non-Purdue personnel. Top three winners in this division also received free legal and consulting services from the event’s associate sponsor, Ice Miller, an Indianapolis-based legal and business-advising firm.

In addition to SmartAn, Gold Division winners were:

* Second place, $12,000 and $3,000 in legal and consulting services: Cytometry for Life, a company developing a low-cost diagnostic device for AIDS. Hildred Rochon and Lova Rakotomalala made the presentation.

* Third place, $8,000 and $2,000 in legal and consulting services: iPrivacy Manager, led by Arjmand Samuel and Robert M. Caswell in developing an online security service for social networking Internet sites.

* Fourth place, $3,500: Flocessor Microfluidic Technologies, a company developing a general-purpose, programmable microfluidic lab-on-a-chip device, led by Ahmed Amin and Han-Sheng Chuang.

* Fifth place, $1,500: GameSense, an Internet-based service for improving video training for sports teams, led by Jae Patrick Fadde.

Read the full story

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Student-led teams developing a program for testing software and an environmentally friendly biodegradable shooting target took the top prizes Tuesday (April 8) at the $100,000 Burton D. Morgan Entrepreneurial Competition at Purdue University.

Software developer SmartAn Inc. won the $40,000 top prize in the Gold Division. The team, led by Sirsha Chatterjee and Murali Krishna Ramanathan, also will receive legal and consulting services valued at $5,000 from Ice Miller LLC.

EcoDisc Inc., which includes undergraduate students A.J. Boeh, John Mullen, David Conway and Benn Hall, beat out four other finalists for the $20,000 top prize in the Black Division.

Purdue students, from left, John Mullen and A.J. Boeh deliver the winning presentation for the EcoDisk Inc. team during the 21st annual Burton D. Morgan Entrepreneurial Competition in Discovery Park. EcoDisk took the $20,000 top prize Tuesday (April 8) in the undergraduate division for its business plan to develop and manufacture a shooting target that’s biodegradable and environmentally friendly. (Purdue News Service photo/Richard Myers-Walls)

“The final presentations from both the undergraduate and graduate student teams were strong and highly competitive,” said Kenneth Kahn, the Avrum and Joyce Gray Director of the Burton Morgan Center in Purdue’s Discovery Park. “With their winnings from this well-established competition, the teams now can take their ideas, refine them and work to further realize their products, inventions and services.”

The Gold Division, also known as the open category, includes non-student members if no more than 20 percent of the team is composed of non-Purdue personnel. Top three winners in this division also received free legal and consulting services from the event’s associate sponsor, Ice Miller, an Indianapolis-based legal and business-advising firm.

In addition to SmartAn, Gold Division winners were:

* Second place, $12,000 and $3,000 in legal and consulting services: Cytometry for Life, a company developing a low-cost diagnostic device for AIDS. Hildred Rochon and Lova Rakotomalala made the presentation.

* Third place, $8,000 and $2,000 in legal and consulting services: iPrivacy Manager, led by Arjmand Samuel and Robert M. Caswell in developing an online security service for social networking Internet sites.

* Fourth place, $3,500: Flocessor Microfluidic Technologies, a company developing a general-purpose, programmable microfluidic lab-on-a-chip device, led by Ahmed Amin and Han-Sheng Chuang.

* Fifth place, $1,500: GameSense, an Internet-based service for improving video training for sports teams, led by Jae Patrick Fadde.

Read the full story