{"id":220910,"date":"2024-11-12T07:15:36","date_gmt":"2024-11-12T12:15:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=220910"},"modified":"2024-11-15T07:09:37","modified_gmt":"2024-11-15T12:09:37","slug":"uconn-and-fort-hays-compete-in-second-annual-werth-innovation-for-sustainability-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2024\/11\/uconn-and-fort-hays-compete-in-second-annual-werth-innovation-for-sustainability-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"UConn and Fort Hays State University Compete in Werth Innovation for Sustainability Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two teams of students, one from UConn and one from Fort Hays State University, pitched their sustainability-focused start-up business plans to address food waste in the second Werth Innovation for Sustainability Challenge held on Nov. 2 at UConn.<\/span><\/p>\n

FHSU <\/span>alum<\/span><\/a> and event sponsor Peter Werth attended to watch each team\u2019s 10-minute pitch, as well as UConn CLAS Dean <\/span>Ofer Harel<\/span><\/a>. The pitches were judged by <\/span>Amelia Martin<\/span><\/a> \u201823 \u201825 (CAHNR) and CEO of <\/span>Mud Rat<\/span><\/a> and David Kligman from <\/span>Grow Hays<\/span><\/a> based on metrics including their presentations, business plans, and the ease at which they could deploy their ideas.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

UConn\u2019s team included <\/span>Judith Otunnu<\/span><\/a> \u201927 (CLAS), <\/span>Andy Zhang<\/span><\/a> \u201926 (CAHNR and CLAS), <\/span>Lisel Nee<\/span><\/a> \u201926 (ENG), and Nathan Bannish \u201924 (CAHNR), and was project managed by Department of Geography, Sustainability, Community and Urban Studies Ph.D. student <\/span>Thomas Bonitz<\/span><\/a> \u201924 <\/span>(CLAS). Department of Geography, Sustainability, Community and Urban Studies <\/span>Professor Carol Atkinson-Palombo<\/span><\/a> served as the team\u2019s faculty mentor. Atkinson-Palombo is also a core faculty member for UConn\u2019s Collaboratory for JUST Innovation and Climate Equity or JUSTICE Collaboratory<\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe JUSTICE Collaboratory has a mission of integrating teaching and research that is applicable to real-world solutions to the climate crisis,\u201d says Atkinson-Palombo. \u201cReal-world projects like these are essential to making the concepts that are introduced in classroom settings come to life. This is a perfect example of the type of applied learning that JUSTICE will be promoting. In addition, the interdisciplinary nature of the team members has given students an opportunity to appreciate, firsthand, the critical importance of bringing together collaborators with diverse skillsets to create projects that are well-rounded and grounded in equity.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Both teams voted on this year\u2019s theme, which was focused on composting. The UConn team pitched an idea to implement an on-campus composting solution to facilitate closing the loop for campus food waste. The idea came together over six weeks and Bonitz reflected that the experience has been a lot of work but also a great learning experience:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a lot of fun, and the team has been great to work with. We came at this with a variety of backgrounds which allowed us to develop a holistic proposal for what composting on-campus could unlock for UConn. We really believe in our project, and we\u2019re excited to pursue its implementation,\u201d said Bonitz.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The team worked closely with campus community members, including the Executive Director of UConn Dining Services <\/span>Michael White<\/span><\/a>, to assess their ideas and learn about current composting efforts by UConn which happen off-campus at <\/span>Quantum Biopower<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cComing into this program, we had little to no knowledge about UConn’s current food waste system. With the help of Mike White, along with Marc Morgan and Abbie Webb from Casella Waste, we were able to build a comprehensive understanding of UConn\u2019s food waste needs. This collaborative effort has enabled us to not only identify key challenges but also explore innovative solutions tailored to UConn\u2019s unique campus environment,\u201d said Zhang. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The students researched and compared different on-campus composting options and operations at other universities to see what a good fit for UConn could be. Where some universities have centralized dining halls, one challenge at UConn is the dining halls are spread out across campus, which added a little complexity to the planning efforts.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe looked at two composters, they\u2019re both from <\/span>Green Mountain Technology<\/span><\/a>, and they\u2019d both be located at Horsebarn Hill. We have different options because we want to make sure we\u2019d have a feasible option to handle the amount of waste generated on campus,\u201d said Nee, lead engineer.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another important consideration for composting operations is what happens to the finished product. The team researched the logistics, such as potential local destinations for finished compost, including campus landscaping applications, <\/span>Spring Valley Student Farm<\/span><\/a>, and the creation of a campus community garden.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI looked at community gardens as a solution and one with easy access to campus. The long-term goal would be to make a green space where students can hang out and maybe we can have events to promote sustainability. We also looked at the feasibility of donating or selling compost to local gardens or farmers, maybe the greenhouses could use it. The compost itself could also be a teaching opportunity, where chemistry or biology classes could analyze the finished product,\u201d said Bannish.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As sustainable options and solutions are deployed, a vital element of their success is sharing information with community members, so people are aware of the measures and why they matter. The team considered ways to educate the campus community not just about the importance of composting but also how important it is to reduce food waste overall. Different avenues they explored for sharing this information included partnering with other campus efforts like <\/span>HuskyTHON<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>EcoMadness<\/span><\/a> competitions.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI explored different ways we could implement compost education into the curriculum on campus. We wanted to implement different aspects of the project into each educational level for the campus community, including residential halls and dining initiatives,\u201d said Otunnu.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While the event was a competition, the atmosphere remained friendly, reflecting that collaboration is essential for building a sustainable future.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As the winners of the inaugural Werth Innovation for Sustainability Challenge <\/span>last year<\/span><\/a> at Fort Hays State University in Kansas, the FHSU team presented their pitch about developing a company that focuses on food waste from grocery stores.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

UConn presented their pitch second.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think I speak for everyone when I say the pitch went fantastic. We were prepared for every question and each of us got the chance to show that we knew our stuff and believed in our ideas. It was really fulfilling to show off our knowledge and preparedness,\u201d said Bonitz.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The judges were impressed by both teams and had high praise for the quality of work accomplished over the course of just eight weeks. They perceived the plans as actionable, which they hoped the teams would continue pursuing. After difficult deliberation, they determined that\u202fthe winning team was the FHSU team.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe pitching process was a novel experience. Coming from an economics and environmental science background, I didn’t really know what to expect in a case competition, but it allowed me to gain practical experience presenting solutions under pressure, adapting ideas based on feedback, and working collaboratively to refine our strategy. It was a refreshing break from the usual class work, so I’m extremely appreciative of having been able to take part in this opportunity,\u201d said Zhang.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI’m so grateful to have had this experience. This competition gave us the chance to get to know each other, collaborate, and come up with something that could make our university better. I can’t wait to see if we can make our vision a reality,\u201d said Bonitz.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Atkinson-Palombo added, <\/span>\u201cWe have had so much fun pulling this all together. We really appreciate the students putting in all of this extra effort outside of the classroom.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Werth Innovation for Sustainability Challenge is made possible thanks to funding from the <\/span><\/i>Werth Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation<\/span><\/i><\/a>.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Both teams presented compelling projects focused on compost solutions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":118,"featured_media":220966,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[147,1805,2224,1866,2226,1731,99,2387,2235,2458],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2093],"class_list":["post-220910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-climate-change","category-cahnr","category-engr","category-clas","category-entrepreneurship","category-student-life","category-sustainability","category-today-homepage","category-undergraduates"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-08 01:00:04","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/118"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220910"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220910\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":221317,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220910\/revisions\/221317"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/220966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220910"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=220910"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=220910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}