Competitions offer entrepreneurship opportunity for students
The callout for the Purdue University Student Soybean and Corn Product Innovation Competitions will be held Sept. 15.
Sponsored by the Indiana Soybean Alliance and Indiana Corn Marketing Council, the competitions offer students the chance to gain real world experience in business and environmental issues. They also promote innovation and entrepreneurship.
"The competitions provide experience and expertise that students may not receive in a classroom setting," said Jennifer Nordland, program manager.
This is the 17th year for the soybean competition and third for the corn competition. Both have provided students the opportunity to learn, discover and practice the career paths they've chosen, Nordland said.
In order to participate, students must attend Purdue. One graduate student is permitted per team, and teams must have 3-4 students. Students of any major are welcome to participate.
"The best teams are those with a variety of backgrounds," Nordland said. "Teams that combine creative thinking with technical experience usually are the most successful."
Cash awards will be given to teams based on the judges' rankings of the products. First prize in both competitions is up to $20,000.
"In addition to cash prizes, students can boost their resumes with potential provisional patents and have unique conversation topics when interviewing," Nordland said.
Students interested in participating should plan to attend the callout at 6:30 p.m. in Physics room 114. Complimentary sub sandwiches and pizza will be served.
For more information visit www.soycorninnovation.com.
Writer: Jeanne Gibson, 765-496-7841, jegibson@purdue.edu
Source: Jennifer Nordland, 765-532-6893, nordland@purdue.edu
Ag Communications: (765) 494-2722;
Keith Robinson, robins89@purdue.edu
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