From the development of the iron plow to the noble impulse to turn peanuts into a delicious sandwich spread, groundbreaking visionaries have repeatedly reshaped the way the world eats.
This fall, the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences is challenging students to become one of these groundbreakers through FABricate, a contest that will enable student ideas to help feed the world.
“For more than 150 years, this nation’s land-grant universities have been the epicenter of innovation in agriculture and food production, making our system of education, research and extension the envy of the world,” said CAES Dean Sam Pardue.
During the multimonth contest, each student team will develop a new piece of agricultural equipment or software, a new food product or a business plan for a novel service that will help make the food system and other agricultural sectors better, whether that means being more efficient, more sustainable or more profitable.
Three finalists from each of these categories will be selected in October and given up to $1,500 in seed money to help bring their products as close to fruition as possible. Top winners in each category will be recognized in March 2017. Each winning team member will receive $1,000.
The contest is open to undergraduates and graduate students from across the university, from all majors and all three CAES campuses, but at least half of the team members on each team must be made up of CAES students. A networking and information meeting will be held from 6-8 p.m. Sept. 8 in the fourth-floor rotunda of the Miller Learning Center.
The winning entries in each category must be able to demonstrate the problem that their idea will solve or the market void it will fill and must explain how their idea will remedy the situation. The winners must develop a working business plan and present their idea to a panel of judges.
For more information, visit http://t.uga.edu/2zh.
