Published by Communications and Public Affairs (519) 824-4120, Ext. 56982 or 53338
News Release
April 02, 2004
Students win awards for inventing soy liqueur, feather meal concrete
Maple-flavoured soy liqueur and concrete made from feather meal were among the top winners at this year’s Project SOY (Soybean Opportunities for Youth) and Guelph Creative Recycling Initiative (GCRI) finale.
Project SOY is an annual contest for University of Guelph students to develop new uses and markets for soybeans. Its success sparked the creation of GCRI, where students draw inspiration from byproducts of the rendering industry – such as feather meal and tallow – for the creation of new products.
This year’s competition concluded April 2. Winners in each of the two categories (undergraduate/graduate and diploma) were presented with first-, second- and third-place awards of $2,500, $1,000 and $500 respectively. Sixteen student teams competed in Project SOY and eight competed in the inaugural year of GCRI.
In Project SOY, first place in the undergraduate/graduate category went to TOJO, a maple-flavoured soy liqueur developed by food science undergraduate Valerie Choy. Choy also won first place in the GCRI contest, along with teammate Darcia Fraser, an environmental engineering undergraduate, for developing Cornerstone Concrete, a solution based on feather meal.
Second place in Project SOY went to human biology and nutritional sciences undergraduates Jen Barber, Stephanie Lessard and Marisa Mazza for Soyda Crackers, snack crackers made with high levels of soy. Agricultural science undergraduates Nicholas Cole and Marijn Fleuren took third place for developing biodegradable soy-based fishing lures called Soy Bait. Honourable mention went to food science students Bruce Manion and Kit Cheung for Okara Crisps.
In the Project SOY diploma category, Buonthao Thammavongsa from Collège d'Alfred took first place for Soy Chips. Second place went to Alfred students Michel Racirot and Julie Cholette for Jumisoy, an edible soy spread in chocolate and maple syrup flavours. Vegetarian soy cabbage rolls developed by Valerie Blazhako from Kemptville College took third place. Honourable mention went to Kemptville students Simone VanWalderveen and Jennifer MacDonald for Oh Soy Warm and Oh Soy Crunchy health and comfort products.
In the Guelph Creative Recycling Initiative, hi-fi speaker cones made from feather fibre, developed by food science undergraduate Jonathan Aleong and marketing management undergraduate Lena Lam, won second place. There was a tie for third place between a line of bath products developed by human kinetics undergraduate Kelly Ferreira and master’s student Jessica Berard, and a bio-protein production from feather meal created by PhD candidate Mirnader Ghazali. The award in the diploma category for GCRI went to agricultural students Megan Nuttal and Andrew Marshall for a structurally functional animal byproduct called Plastifat.
The creative recycling initiative is sponsored by Rothsay Recycles and U of G. Project SOY is sponsored by First Line Seeds, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Maple Leaf Foods International, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food and the Ontario Soybean Growers.
For media questions, contact Communications and Public Affairs: Lori Bona Hunt, (519) 824-4120, Ext. 53338, or Rachelle Cooper, (519) 824-4120, Ext. 56982.
