Team SoySilk emerged the winner of Purdue’s 2024 Student Soybean Innovation Competition. The soy-based baby wipes the team members pitched to the contest’s judges address concerns with current wipe contents while also creating another avenue for Indiana soybeans.

Purdue students from 15 teams displayed their ideas for soy-based products at the competition following a rigorous development process and multiple pitches. The annual event, hosted and funded by Indiana Soybean Alliance, draws students from a variety of majors to combine their ideas and create a product that could help drive demand for soybeans while addressing drawbacks with current product offerings.

Ben Gottlieb and Kyle Han pioneered the idea for plastic-free baby wipes that would use Indiana soybeans. Taking the first-place prize, the pair will receive $20,000 to put toward patenting and further development of the product.

Coming in second place and receiving $10,000 was Team SoyBox. Laurian Lien and Lewis Polansky developed a soy-based packaging board for liquids that would simplify the manufacturing process for making those packages.

Team Green Eggs, No Ham! earned the third-place prize of $5,000. They developed a soy-based egg that can be used as a one-to-one substitute for real eggs, mimicking their properties and flavor. Team members include Alekhya Ankaraju, Christopher Mechalke, William Meyer and Amanda Wolf.

Here are an additional four teams that showcased their products at the event:

Soy Chew. Team members Karthik Digavalli, Munn Patel, Saanvi Venkatesan and Vincent Vo created a chewing gum from soy protein isolate.

ReSoy. This team developed a lining for coffee cups and other containers to make those paper containers biodegradable. Members are Nosa Idahagbon, Linh Nghiem, Mary Oluyemi and Alexandra Watson.

GreenGuard. Team members Joseph Diamond-Pott, Andrew Rosenberg, Anthony Scott and Brandon Verone created a soy-based cigarette filter to make cigarette butts more biodegradable.

Soy Sheets. This team made a soy-based laundry detergent to coat dryer sheets and create a laundry product that can move from washer to dryer. Creators include Owen Connelly, Travis Seward, Fabian Sixl and Charles Wang.

Browse the slideshow to learn more about these products. The remainder of the teams and their products will be highlighted in a second story, tomorrow at IndianaPrairieFarmer.com.