$20,000 was up for grabs Wednesday night during the Student Soybean Innovation Competition, a partnership between the Indiana Soybean Alliance and Purdue University. Team SoySeal, comprised of Purdue sophomores Elizabeth Heckaman, Kasey Wright, and Jocelyn Erickson, walked away victors.
On how she plans to spend her share of the grand prize, Heckaman says, “I’m going to get my car fixed and I’m going to save some money, probably pay some rent, probably buy some clothes.”
Heckaman is studying biological engineering with a concentration in food and biological processes. The Claypool, Indiana native explains their product.
“This is a soy-based adhesive. It’s pressure sensitive. It’s multi-component, so we have a soy backing made of 90% soy, and then we have a soy adhesive on the other side made of 100% soy. It’s able to outperform some competitors like masking tape. It’s sticky, it’s reusable, it’s waterproof, and it’s just all-around a very versatile tape product.”
Wright, a biological engineering student from Montgomery, Ohio, shares why they landed on tape for their final product.
“Well, if I make it soy instead of plastic, that makes it biodegradable, which is great from an environmental standpoint. So, that was really promising, and then also the market for tape is ginormous. There are so many applications for it. So, I feel like those two factors combined just like really sealed the deal for us.”
Erickson, an industrial engineering major from Mechanicsville, Virginia, placed third in the competition last year. She tells Hoosier Ag Today that they each had very specific roles throughout the project and a great team dynamic.
“Since I did this competition last year, these two were definitely the brains behind the product and I made it look good. I was definitely the main contributor to the marketing plan. I made the logo with the little seal, I made the name, and I made the presentation. So, I made it look good and they made the great product.”
Over $45,000 was awarded to students Wednesday night by the Indiana Soybean Alliance in hopes that they’ll continue to pursue a path to production for their innovation. And they hope that after graduating from Purdue, they’ll continue to seek opportunities for innovation with the incredibly versatile and valuable soybean to bring even more value back to the farm.
Earning second place this year, and a $10,000 prize, were the creators of SoySlipSafe, a soy-based anti-icer that can be used on roads prior to snowfall or freezing precipitation. Traditional anti-icing products rely heavily on chloride salts as the primary freezing point depressant. While effective, chlorides are a major contributor to infrastructure corrosion, vehicle deterioration and environmental degradation. SoySlipSafe uses soybean-derived components to achieve the two primary functions of an effective anti-icer – freezing point depression and ice-bond reduction.
The SoySlipSafe team members include Taylor Helman, Marley Kakalia and Lucy Shepard. Helman is a mechanical engineering student with a minor in sustainable engineering. Kakalia is a biological engineering student hoping to pursue a career in food processing. And Shepard is a biological engineering student on a pre-physician assistant track.
Finishing third, and earning a $5,000 prize, were the creators of SoyLam, a soy-based plastic laminate designed to replace current plastic lamination materials. Lamination is key to improving the mechanical strength and water resistance of paper – making it suitable for storage. SoyLam is fully biodegradable and made entirely from food-safe ingredients that could have uses in the food industry for storage of rice and other dry goods. The SoyLam team members are Elizabeth Rozzi and Erica Conley. Both are biological engineering majors. Rozzi is a sophomore, and Conley is a junior.
In addition to the other prizes, the 400-plus attendees of the Student Soybean Innovation Competition Awards Ceremony each voted for their favorite product for the $500 People’s Choice award. This prize was officially renamed in honor Dr. Rodolfo Pinal, Associate Professor of Industrial and Molecular Pharmaceutics who passed away in December 2024. Pinal was a frequent faculty advisor for students in this competition, many of whom were prize winners, including the past two winning teams.
This year’s award went to Soyé, creators of a soy-based menstrual pad. Soyé features three soy-derived layers: A top layer for moisture-wicking comfortability, an absorbent core engineered from a tofu byproduct, and an impermeable layer to prevent leakage. A commercial-grade adhesive to ensure the same functionality as conventional menstrual pads is also added. The makers of Soyé include Purdue students Marcia Kusumah of Jakarta, Indonesia; Eleanor Malinowski of Downers Grove, Ill.; and Chanyoung “Ivy” Moon of Seoul, Korea.
This was the second year for the soy-based food innovation track of the competition. This year’s competition required students to show how versatile soy can be as a baking ingredient. In total, eight teams of College of Agriculture students worked with the Purdue Food Science Department to create products made in the food-grade facilities on campus and to compete for the top prize.
MiSoy Pan is a variation of a Japanese salt bread similar to shio pan, and it won the $5,000 top prize in the soy food track. Shio pan is a combination of buttery richness, a crispy exterior and an airy interior has helped it gain popularity as a hybrid between a croissant and soft milk bread. The MiSoy Pan team suggested that a soy-forward, vegan variation of shio pan could appeal to domestic and international customers. The MiSoy Pan team consists of Brooke Erwin, Jeff Chow, Bethany Champley and Emma Wu.
“MiSoy Pan is a vegan, soy-based, Asian-inspired, baked good that is best served within 3-6 hours after being baked to ensure peak texture and flavor,” Erwin said. “Our market strategy for selling our rolled dough as a frozen product for contract baking is to ensure the product is consumed within or near this time range. Because of this, key buyers of our product will be retailers, chains and specialty markets that look for contract baking manufacturers that provide high convenience, niche and on-trend products, and a brand that aligns with values in sustainability.”
