We are living in a time of innovation crisis where most innovation isn’t driven by large corporations despite them being managed better than ever before, says High Alpha Innovation CEO Elliott Parker. One day ahead of his new book release, The Illusion of Innovation, he joins us to get into how corporations equipped for efficiency losing their resilience and why it’s dangerous to advancing innovation.
Now this isn’t a hot take: Elliott believes in efficiency, but not as a lone strategy. He talks about controlled chaos, a systematic approach to experimentation and uncovering ideas to challenge things we think we know.
So what do companies do? Elliott talks new funding mechanisms, finding the best home for innovations to grow and being contrarian to win over the long-term.
The Illusion of Innovation comes out tomorrow, April 16. Learn more here.
Name: Rick Lee University: Purdue University Major/Minor: Business Analytics & Information Management Major, Design & Innovation Minor Semesters as a Field Atlas Ambassador: 2 semesters
What do you enjoy most about the role?
What I enjoy most about my role is the flexibility I have to work as an ambassador, putting time in according to my own schedule while promoting the company to students on campus and Indiana as a major not in the field of agriculture.
What has surprised you most about the agbiosciences?
The vast opportunities not only limited to agricultural majors in the field
Which agbioscience company interests you most, and why?
John Deere is an agbioscience company that has always interested me due to their impressive technology and huge machinery.
How can students get in touch with you?
They can contact me at [email protected] or on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricklee2604/
From treating field crops with more precision to milking dairy cows according to their preferred routine, technology in agriculture has always been on an upward trajectory (and we are just getting started).
Join AgriNovus Indiana for an upcoming Field Atlas Company Tour to learn how innovation is creating a better food system and a more sustainable planet. You’ll network with industry professionals, see some of the most innovative companies in Indiana and will learn how your professional journey can align with one that feeds the world, protects the planet and improves lives.
Agbioscience is the only economy in the world that touches every person on planet, every day, given that it centers on food. Today we are joined by Lorelei Bergin, Vice President of North American Retail for NielsenIQ, to talk trends shaping food and what’s ahead for grocery store shelves in 2024.
From ingredient labels being more closely examined by savvy shoppers to the uptick of wellness-related products gaining more traction, Lorelei lays out what is driving consumer behavior and purchase patterns. She also gets into data creating insights for food companies to get the ultimate in-store commodity: shelf space.
Mitch and Lorelei take time to walk through consumers’ increased focus on health, GLP-1 drugs, how it’s shaping what goes in grocery carts and the food system’s response. How does a focus on health function in a tightening economy? Lorelei says food is first and a “better for you” lifestyle is staying resilient in these times. She also looks ahead to trends we could see impacting the food space and how that impacts consumers – no matter their budget.
A skin-sensitive baby wipe with only one non-soybean ingredient besides water earned the $20,000 grand prize in the 30th annual Student Soybean Innovation Competition, announced during an awards ceremony on Wednesday evening at the Purdue Memorial Union in West Lafayette, Ind.
Gentle on the skin like silk, SoySilk uses soybean ingredients in every step of the baby wipe production, including the base sheet and the formulation. SoySilk is a plastic-free, vegan, non-toxic, environmentally friendly, biodegradable and compostable alternative to all other baby wipes used in the United States, while still giving customers a quality product.
SoySilk was created by the duo of Purdue University junior Kyle Han from Taipei, Taiwan, and Purdue freshman Ben Gottlieb from Chappaqua, New York. Han is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in biological engineering with a concentration in cellular and biomolecular engineering in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering. Gottlieb is studying finance at Purdue’s Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business.
The Student Soybean Innovation Competition is sponsored by the Indiana Soybean Alliance (ISA) and Purdue University. To win this competition, Purdue University students must develop novel applications for soybeans that satisfy a market need.
“ISA looks forward to working with Purdue students each year and seeing what unique products they create,” said ISA Board Chair Kevin Cox, a farmer from Brazil, Ind. “The goal of this competition is to showcase the versatility of soybeans while addressing a need in agriculture or the general public. The results often expand opportunities and markets for all Indiana soybean growers. We are excited about SoySilk. This appears to be a safe and necessary product that we think will be attractive to many people.”
Baby wipes on the market today are made of pulp, plastic and chemicals such as cleaning or disinfecting agents. SoySilk uses soy fiber as the base sheet, soy protein crosslink to increase breaking tenacity, and soy glycerin and soy lecithin as emollients for the skin. No trees are cut down, and no plastic polymers are used, yet it offers the best cleaning effect to consumers. With a soy fiber base sheet, SoySilk created a baby wipe that is 143 percent thicker than the average baby wipes on the market.
“Our product’s mission is to provide a top-tier customer experience in baby wipes while creating positive environmental effects,” Gottlieb said. “Most importantly, SoySilk will pave a new path for wet wipe materials as countries pass new regulations to prohibit the plastic polymers contained in current baby wipes.”
According to Persistence Market Research, the global baby wipes market will reach $9.9 billion by 2032. SoySilk contains 92 percent soy content on a dry weight, which can utilize $313 million worth of soy protein through U.S. sales alone. Gottlieb added, “Our product introduces an innovative business opportunity in a high-value market with an enormous volume of soy for our high-quality Indiana soybean industry to profit and create a positive impact on our planet.”
The United Kingdom’s Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) published a report on April 4, 2023 calling for a ban on baby wipes – or wet wipes – containing plastic. A similar report listed wet wipes as a commonly littered, single-use plastic items in England. A U.K. survey showed 96 percent of respondents supported a ban on wet wipes containing plastic.
“Global consumer-goods manufacturing companies like Proctor & Gamble and Kimberly-Clark have been trying to develop a new material for their Pampers and Huggies baby wipes pipeline without plastic polymers but still strong,” Han explained. “Many companies believe that with the sustainability trend, the European Union and the United States will soon catch up on banning wet wipes that contain plastic. Our team is providing a new alternative with SoySilk baby wipes to tackle the ban and influence the business for the U.S. market.”
This year, 15 teams composed of 48 Purdue University students and 19 faculty advisors, finished the competition. These students represent a variety of majors including agronomy, biological engineering, animal science, pharmacy and environmental and natural resource engineering. Each team works with two faculty advisors who provide technical and market research support.
Name: Mackensi Schneider University: Rose-Hulman Insitute of Technology Major/Minor: Biology Semesters as a Field Atlas Ambassador: 1
What do you enjoy most about the role?
My favorite part about being a Field Atlas Ambassador is being able to share the Agrisciences with everyone. As something that was always a big part of my life, it is such a joy to share my experiences with others and allow them to see their role in the field!
What has surprised you most about the agbiosciences?
The thing that surprised me the most about agbiosciences is how many different subfields are contained, and within that, how many careers and lives that agbiosciences provides and touches!
Which agbioscience company interests you most, and why?
The agbioscience company that is the most interesting to me is Elanco. I have always been such a big animal lover, so I really appreciate Elanco’s work to develop innovative solutions to protect and enhance animal health!
How can students get in touch with you?
Students can get in touch with me via email, [email protected]
As we head into the spring planting season, there is much focus on technologies and innovations that will enable producers to drive returns in a tightening farm economy. Andrew Sunderman, Joint Venture Transition Lead for AGCO, joins today to talk about their new JV with Trimble and having an innovation ecosystem ready to serve the farmer – no matter how or what they’re investing in for their operations during any given year.
In a time where it could be easy to say no to new tech or innovation, how does AGCO differentiate? Andrew talks control and accuracy, usability and optimizing outcomes. From their retrofit tech approach that helps to leverage smaller bets on-farm to improved performance of current equipment, he gets into solving problems that have never been met before and how the joint venture with Trimble will add continuation to their work.
Fresh off a plane from the World AgriTech Summit and following a keynote address on food security as national security, we are recapping a gigantic March in agbioscience. From Corteva’s big news in San Francisco last week to Indiana hitting the short list for BioMADE, we cover the latest industry topics and look ahead to what’s coming.
Company’s compliance brings next level of data safety, security
Intelinair, the makers of AGMRI and a leading ag data analytics company, today announced the achievement of Systems and Organization Controls (SOC) 2 (Type 1) compliance certification and a major milestone for the company. The rigorous SOC 2 compliance is a widely recognized framework comprising standards of data security, privacy, and operational integrity. Meeting the security criteria and validation through a third-party audit are required to successfully complete the certification.
Intelinair SVP of Engineering David Wilson, who led the process at Intelinair, says by achieving SOC 2 compliance, Intelinair has demonstrated its commitment to data safety and integrity. “Security is a top priority for us, and while this security certification marks an important milestone for our company, we are dedicated to continuously enhancing our systems following quality, industry-leading data security standards.“
Ag retailer and farmer customers rely on Intelinair’s digital platforms for in-season and postseason data-driven decision-making for crop production. Current platform users can now have even greater confidence in the security and integrity from this next level of data security. Using AI and machine learning, Intelinair tracks several factors – emergence, weeds, disease, nutrient deficiency, yield and more – to provide the insights to help protect yield potential and identify sustainability opportunities.
The SOC 2 standard was developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accounts (AICPA). As part of the certification process, a SOC 2 audit is performed by an accredited CPA firm and verifies that safeguards are in place to protect customer data, such as internal controls, policies and procedures and that safeguards are operational per the SOC 2 security criteria over an extended period of time.
For more information about our security initiatives or to download our SOC 2 report, visit Intelinair’s trust center here.
For more information about Intelinair and its agriculture technology, visit intelinair.com.
Marcus Lemonis was just announced as a keynote for the upcoming 2024 Rally Innovation Conference.
Known for transforming Camping World into the nation’s largest RV retailer and hosting the hit TV series “The Profit,” Lemonis brings a wealth of business experience and a passion for empowering entrepreneurs.
Hear his insights on the three crucial elements businesses need to thrive: people, process and product.
