Fifteen of the original 31 Phase 2 teams currently remain in the competition, having recently been selected by the judges to advance on to the third phase as semifinalists.
We are pleased to announce that Phase 2 of Wege Prize 2024 is now complete and 15 teams are moving on to the semifinalist round! These teams of students from around the world represent 13 countries (by citizenship), 26 academic institutions, and 47 academic disciplines.
WHAT ARE THEY WORKING ON?
The remaining teams are exploring the scope of wicked problems -- from plastic, textile, medical and bio-waste to food insecurity and malnutrition -- and circular solutions focusing on a range of topics including alternative protein sources, improving food security, anaerobic digestion, plant-based and biodegradable fabrics, and cellulose-based plastic.
See below to read more about these teams in the formal press release.
Promising Solutions for a Circular Economy Selected as Competition Narrows for Wege Prize ‘24
Wege Prize worldwide student innovation competition
shortlists 15 semifinalist student teams in higher-ed from academic institutions across the globe, including Germany, U.S., Rwanda, China, Norway, Sierra Leone, Poland, U.K, Costa Rica, and Tanzania
Grand Rapids, Mich., February 01, 2024 – With an enlightened range of new, real-world ideas aimed at fostering sustainability, Wege Prize announces its selection of 15 semifinalist teams from a record-breaking initial pool of 58 international student groups.
The noted global design competition that challenges students worldwide to invent restorative design solutions to the world’s wicked problems, Wege Prize is hosted annually by Michigan’s Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University (KCAD). Now in its second decade, the global student competition awards the winning teams a total cash prize purse of $65,000, furthering their game- changing solutions for real-life applications.
From agricultural discards to hair waste, animal feed, plastics pollution, textile production, and food security, Wege Prize 2024 five-person semifinalist teams’ new and impactful products and resources represent concepts by students from 13 countries and 26 academic institutions, worldwide, including Germany, Rwanda, China, Denmark, Poland, United Kingdom, and Costa Rica. View the full list of semifinalist teams and participants at www.wegeprize.org/2024-teams.
Each semifinalist team is refining their enterprising innovations with feedback from the competition’s expert judges whose diverse user experiences encompass design, biomaterials, communication, product design, soil science, and more.
Among the ingenious teamwork solutions are abating child malnutrition through increased Senene (grasshopper) production—an alternative protein—and transforming single-use medical plastics into recyclable alternatives using a process that enables more efficient generation of new plastics. The top five teams will advance to Wege Prize’s finalist phase.
Details on all the semifinalist team projects follow, below.
Among the contest’s global and diverse team of distinguished core judges is advisor on global challenges in agriculture production as well as a professor from EARTH University and co-founder of Green Roots Consultants, B. K. (Braj) Singh of Costa Rica. He’s joined by editorial director of Next City who previously worked with the Wege Prize team to interview the finalist presenters in 2021 and 2022 shown on Wege Prize YouTube channel, Deonna Anderson of Calif. Also on the elite roster are design pioneer Tom Newhouse of Mich., circular economy professor and co-CEO of Materiom Alysia Garmulewicz of Chile, circular economy learning consultant Jo Williams of the United Kingdom, and professor, business strategist, and author, Nathan Shedroff of Calif., among others.
“Seeing students from around the world realize the potential of working across boundaries to combat challenges with real- world solutions is rewarding and exciting,” says Gayle DeBruyn, KCAD professor and Wege Prize leader and the U.S. Green Building Council of West Michigan’s 2023 Legacy Award Winner for her critical work as a leader for a sustainable future. “Their multifaceted work makes the most of a circular economy, bringing us closer to regenerative cycles instead of a linear economy’s take, make and dispose of practices.”
For 2024, the 15 multidisciplinary semifinalist teams, whose academic majors range from agriculture to science, math, engineering, business, and economics, present revolutionary concepts in sustainability:
Agribloom is reshaping sustainable agriculture with AI-powered advanced soil analysis technology that optimizes fertilizer use and boosts crop yields, reducing waste and operational costs.
Biogrow Naturals is circularizing the menstrual hygiene product space with an affordable and innovative banana stem-based biodegradable sanitary pad that designs out waste without compromising absorptive performance.
Eco Investor is addressing human hair waste generated by cultural pressures in Rwanda through hydrolyzing discarded hair, transforming it into nutrient rich fertilizer for agriculture.
Ecocycle is assisting small-scale farms in reimagining organic waste management by using microbial engineering and enzymes to turn agricultural waste into organic fertilizers, cutting costs and minimizing environmental impact.
Ecofeed Pioneers is evolving the animal feed landscape to reduce reliance on the import of scarce crops like soybeans and corn by integrating protein-rich alfalfa with innovative biorefinery techniques to create a sustainable food supply for both humans and livestock.
Ecoplast Innovation is promoting sustainable solutions to plastic pollution in Rwanda by converting agricultural byproducts into biodegradable packaging, and developing a mobile application to generate public awareness about the products.
Farmguard Innovators is redefining plastic use and reducing waste in Rwanda’s agricultural sector by transforming cassava peels into bioplastic grocery and seedling sacks, while simultaneously refining the cassava pomace byproduct into nutrient rich animal feed.
FruiFresh is alleviating post-harvest losses for tomato farmers and retailers by building large naturally evaporative cooling facilities—crafted from locally available materials and using little to no electricity—to store produce prior to customer purchase.
Greentech Bioenergy is converting organic waste into biogas and biofertilizers through a customizable, heat durable and affordable biodigester system based on customers’ energy needs to fuel homes, vendors and farms sustainably while boosting overall agricultural productivity.
Huuzagro is addressing plastic pollution in Rwanda by transforming food waste into biodegradable packaging and using Black Soldier flies to break down residual waste into eco- friendly compost and larva protein feeds.
Medicycle is transforming medical plastics for sustainability by transforming single-use medical waste into recyclable alternatives using the chemical recycling to monomer (CRM) process, enabling more efficient recovery of polymers to generate new plastics.
Rethread Africa is improving the fashion industry’s environmental impact and reducing reliance on petroleum-based textiles by converting post -harvest agricultural waste from small farmers into bio-based synthetics.
Senene Farm is taking on child malnutrition in Tanzania by increasing the production of the Senene—a protein rich longhorn grasshopper and alternative protein source—through a groundbreaking rearing facility using vertical farming and innovative processes.
The Sustainocrats team is improving food security and reducing food waste issues across the supply chain through a multifaceted approach focusing on farmer education, leveraging technology and new methods for food transport, preparation and storage, and utilizing eco- friendly packaging.
Wasteless Harvests Group is promoting food security and sustainable waste management in Rwanda by utilizing readily available maize and bean residues to produce a mushroom-growing substrate, providing a healthier protein source and leveraging worn-out substrates as organic fertilizer.
Past Wege Prize winners have been invited to prestigious business incubators and are gaining wider recognition plus seed funding for their initiatives, including winners:
Banana Leather, whose start-up Banofi Leather won the $1 million Hult Prize 2023 for its sustainable leather alternative made from banana waste and whose lead member was interviewed on NBC Now.
Team finalist Green Poultry Farm, that has secured customer interest in its biofertilizer made from poultry waste and continued its winning streak in subsequent sustainability competitions, worldwide, including first-place in the 2023 Climate Launchpad Mozambique national finals, plus finalist in both the Youth4Climate global competition and Third Hengqin Scientific and Technological Entrepreneurship International Competition in Macau, China.
Team finalist UnWastewater, who has been noticed for its innovative approach to convert carbon dioxide into organic compounds, enabling waste to be remade into valuable organic chemical feedstocks.
More details about Wege Prize 2024 will be revealed in the coming weeks on wegeprize.org.
EcoPlast Innovation team member testing for biodegradability of food packaging in soil.
Team Rethread Africa working with biodegradable textile prototypes.
Team Greentech Bioenergy meeting with mentor and representatives from the Aurora Foundation.
Thanks to the continuing financial support of The Wege Foundation, Wege Prize 2024 has opened up unique opportunities for undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate students around the world and has helped advance the ideas and solutions behind the circular economy.
About Wege Prize
Wege Prize, a West Michigan-born concept developed by Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University’s (KCAD’s) Wege Center for Sustainable Design with the support of The Wege Foundation, is an annual competition that ignites games- changing solutions for the future by inspiring college students around the world to collaborate across institutional, disciplinary, and cultural boundaries and redesign the way economies work.
About KCAD
Located in the heart of downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan, Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University (KCAD) is committed to creating lasting impact in West Michigan and beyond through collaborative partnerships, cultural innovation, and an educational model that prepares students for leadership in design, the visual arts, and art history; provides innovative, collaborative education that fosters intellectual growth and individual creativity; and promotes the ethical and civic responsibilities of artists and designers, locally and globally. For more information, please visit kcad.edu.
About The Wege Foundation
Planting seeds that develop leaders in economicology, health, education, and arts, and enhance the lives of people in West Michigan and around the world. For more information, please visit wegefoundation.com.
Follow Wege Prize on KCAD’s Wege Center for Sustainable Design page on LinkedIn, Facebook (@wegeprize), Twitter (@wegeprize), Instagram (@wegeprize), for more content, updates on participants, and more.