WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – A soybean-based mulch and playground surface won the $20,000 top prize at the 28th annual Student Soybean Innovation Competition awards ceremony recently at the Purdue University Memorial Union. The winners, Team Smulch, consists of Libby Plassard, a freshman majoring in business management and finance from West Lafayette; Ethan Miller, a freshman studying biochemistry from Lafayette, Ind.; and Zuhal Cakir, a student working on a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Bursa, Turkey.

The competition is sponsored by the Indiana Soybean Alliance (ISA) and Purdue University. To participate, Purdue students must develop novel applications for soybeans that satisfy a market need. The awards ceremony is among the most popular events each year for Indiana’s soybean checkoff.

“ISA looks forward to working with Purdue students each year and seeing what unique products they create,” said Denise Scarborough, a farmer from LaCrosse, Ind., and the chair of ISA’s Sustainability and Value Creation Committee. “The goal of the competition is to showcase the versatility of soybeans while tackling a need in agriculture or the general public. The results of this event expand opportunities and markets for all Indiana soybean growers. Team Smulch has created a safe and necessary product that we think many communities would use.”

Smulch offers all the best assets of a soy-based product. Because it is made from soybeans, Smulch is safe for children to pick up and play with as a playground surface. As a mulch, it is a unique, new product that is also biodegradable and beneficial to plants.

“We wanted to create something that was going to be safe for those who were around it and safe for the environment that it is in,” Plassard said. “We kind of looked for a problem that needed to be solved. We didn’t want to make a soy-based product just to make a soy-based product. We wanted to fix a problem.”

This year, 10 teams composed of 29 Purdue University students and 20 faculty advisors, finished the competition. The participating students represent a variety of majors including agronomy, biological engineering, animal science, pharmacy and environmental and natural resource engineering. In addition, each team works with two faculty advisors who provide technical and market research support.

The contest introduces Purdue students to the multi-faceted uses and vast potential of soybeans while drawing on students’ creativity to develop products that utilize soy. Following the contest, ISA works to develop the products, evaluate their long-term feasibility and commercial viability.

“This event allows ISA to create relationships with bright and innovative students and their mentors at Purdue,” Scarborough explained. “Indiana soybean checkoff funds are used to find new uses and new markets for our soybeans, which creates more demand and helps our farms to be more profitable and sustainable. Some of the products from this contest could potentially have a positive impact on our soybean prices.”

In past years, winning teams created a liquid biostimulant designed to promote growth in crops grown in vertical farms, a non-toxic, soy-based herbicide, and drinking straws made from soybean plastic. The ever-popular soybean crayons and soy candles are past winners, as well.

Earning second place this year, and a $10,000 prize, is Team Brilliant Bean, which developed a soy-based ink for markers that can be used on dry-erase boards. This team consists of four Purdue freshmen: Rob Bastain, an engineering major from Austin, Texas; Sarah Juffer, an animal science major from Fishers, Ind.; Charles Sebright, an engineering major from East Berlin, Penn.; and Josh Stephenson, a biochemistry major from Muncie, Ind.

Finishing third, and earning a $5,000 prize, is Team Silm, which created a 100 percent biodegradable agricultural mulch film. Team Silm consists of three Purdue seniors: Loan Cao, an environmental and natural resource engineering major from Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam; Young Choi, a machine systems engineering major from Seoul, South Korea; and Sophie Kwon, a mechanical engineering major also from Seoul.

The contest also includes a People’s Choice award of $500, which is determined by votes of attendees at the awards ceremony. Team Drip Drop won the award for making a soy-based coffee filter. The four members of Team Drip Drop are Riley Garrison, a freshman studying finance from Westfield, Ind.; Nikki Rytczak, a sophomore from Dyer, Ind., majoring in multidisciplinary engineering; Hariharan Thirumalai, a sophomore agronomy student from Singapore; and Miriam Walker, a sophomore from Lafayette, studying biological engineering.