Project SOY Plus
Project SOY Plus (Sustainable Opportunities for You) is an annual student competition that has been inspiring innovation and sustainability at the University of Guelph since 1996. Open to students across all disciplines, degree/diploma levels, and campuses, the competition encourages participants to envision a more sustainable future through two streams: Project and Creative.
How to Participate
Students can enter in one or both streams:
- Project Stream: Submit a project report describing a product or marketing concept aligned with the annual theme. Teams will present their concept at the competition finale.
- Creative Stream: Submit a written proposal for a creative work that responds to the annual theme (e.g., sculpture, painting, photography, film, poetry, music) along with a visual concept to help communicate the idea to the judges. Visuals may include a sketch, storyboard, poster, mock-up, etc.
- The first place winning proposal receives funding to develop the full creative work.
Why Compete?
- Build Your Skills: Strengthen your abilities in research, creativity, and public presentation
- Boost Your Resume: Add valuable experience to your portfolio
- Meet Your People: Connect with students who care about sustainability and innovation
- Grow Your Network: Engage with mentors, faculty, and industry professionals
- Win Prizes: Compete for cash awards and participation prizes
2026 Theme: Biodiversity by Design
Students are encouraged to develop ideas or artistic responses that explore one or more of the following challenge prompts:
- Unlock the potential of underused or diverse species
- Design of materials or tools that reduce land pressure (e.g., vertical farming, multi-use biobased materials or tools, habitat restoration)
- Create strategies, tools, or platforms that make biodiversity visible, measurable or traceable, including toolkits, educational platforms, digital tools, maps, or dashboards
Visit the Research Innovation SharePoint for more information on joining Project SOY Plus.
Faculty & Additional Opportunities
Students can apply as a Student Coordinator, an on-campus position that involves supporting the facilitation of the program and competition with the Research Innovation Office.
Faculty members also play an important role in the success of Project SOY Plus and are encouraged to get involved in one of the following ways:
- Integrate the competition into your course: Consider incorporating Project SOY Plus into your course as a project or assignment. This is a great opportunity to align course content with real-world, sustainability-focused challenges. Faculty interested in this option are invited to connect with a program administrator to explore how it can work within their curriculum.
- Serve as a faculty mentor: Faculty can also support the program by mentoring a student or team. Mentors provide guidance, feedback, and encouragement as students develop their project or creative concept throughout the competition.
Project SOY Plus Legacy
Project SOY Plus has been proud to partner with several innovative organizations throughout its history. Launched in 1996, the program was initially driven by the soybean industry to support student research and innovation within the sector. Since then, Project SOY Plus has expanded its partnerships, underscoring our community's commitment to a sustainable future. These collaborations explore new product and market opportunities while nurturing a future workforce equipped to tackle challenges head-on.
Thank you to Food from Thought for sponsoring the 2026 competition.
I would describe Project SOY Plus as very much like a challenge. I find that the best solutions can only come up when there’s a problem or there’s a challenge, and we were challenged with sustainability.
Past Winners
Project Stream
Diploma Category
- Scrappy Snacks 2.0: Jade Simpson | Professor Michael Gladstone
Undergraduate Category
- NutriSpice: illiam Cheng, Nicholas Dernovsek and Samantha Heard Lauren Bailey, Simona Diclaudio, Megan McKee and Aya Merdan | Dr. William Bettger
- VitaSOY: Wimwipa Prasitnaraphan and Zhihan Guo | Dr. Nikolay Repin
- SeaSEAL: William Cheng and Veer Patel
Graduate Category
- SkyTree: Leslie Adu Appiah, Owureuku Nyanor and Zachary Sheppard | Dr. Ruben Burga
- FrostLink: Pedro Henrique Fernandes Cunha, Seyedkazem Khatami and Henry Kuang | Dr. Ruben Burga
- Soil Revive: Sarah Taylor, Seyedeh Arezoo Aria and Liuyu Wang | Dr. Ruben Burga
Diploma Category
- Scrappy Snacks: Jade Simpson | Professor Chris Gillard
Undergraduate Category
- Foraged Teas: William Cheng, Nicholas Dernovsek and Samantha Heard
- Zeth Bags: Oderay Bastidas and Krupa Thakkar
- Oatstanding: Jessica Collier, Vanya Khanna, Christine Rivera, and Manahil Zaid
Graduate Category
- Mogu: Henry Koekuyt, Weilun Lin, and Jacqueline Nguyen | Dr. Alejandro Marangoni
- NaturePatch: Ayush Chawla, Thelma Dalmeida, and Anagh Vaidya | Dr. Ruben Burga
- EcoFiber: Abimbola Ayeni, Brock McKenzie, and Siddhi Pandey | Dr. Ruben Burga
Undergraduate Category
- YOU-tensils: Jack Krempulec, Bridget Neilson, Emery Soos and Sara Warner | Dr. Laura Brown
Graduate Category
- Microalgae: Daniel Pulcina and Hanxiao Wu | Dr. Yang Xu
- Nutri-Secure: Anushka Massey, Arshia Shireen and Jessica Ulbikas | Dr. William Bettger
Diploma Category
ECO OSB: Nicole Hiddema | Professor Mike Gladstone
Environmentally conscious oriented strand boards made from corn crop debris.
Undergraduate Category
The Green Duck: Tiffany Siu, Kaylie Mitchell, Wanxin Xue, and Laura Hanley | Dr. Lisa Duzier
A plant-based protein chip made of duckweed and spent greens.
A-maize-ing Bio Blisters: Nicole Harder, Jeffrey Lim and Susan Debevc | Dr. Manjusri Misra and Dr. Amar Mohanty
Biodegradable and plant-based blister package.
Protégo: Olivia Lennon | Dr. Lisa Duzier
An all-natural cream designed specifically for use on tattoos with functional and environmental benefits.
Graduate Category
FemmeBotanique: Brooke Adams, Karlie Pluim, Kyra Scott and Rachel von Holt | Dr. William Bettger
A woman-owned non-alcoholic functional gin beverage.
Sentinel Packaging - DropDeter: Peter Zytner, Ehsan Pasaranhajiabbas, Fatemeh Jahangiri and Aarsha Surendren | Dr. Manjusri Misra and Dr. Amar Mohanty
A biodegradable alternative to shock indicators to protect packages and shipment.
Diploma Category
THCV Products: Jackson Taylor, Jamie Herrington, Joseph Gruber and Tyler Curtis | Professor Chris Gillard
THC-infused dietary dietary supplement.
Undergraduate Category
SOY Salve: Olivia Lennon and Sayan Ladhani | Dr. Lisa Duizer
Anti-chafing cream.
Soy-aids: Abbey Chan, Hanika Saini, Hillary Lo and Krupa Thakkar | Dr. Loong-Tak Lim
Biodegradable bandage.
SOYL Sustainable Products: Peter Zytner | Dr. Manjusri Misra and Dr. Amar Mohanty
Utensils.
Graduate Category
Culture Plant: Dominique Mastronardi and ThiênAn Gillespie | Dr. Manickavasagan Annamalai
Chickpea Yogurt.
Soja Eyewear: Aarsha Surendren and Benjamin Maldonado | Dr. Manjusri Misra and Dr. Amar Mohanty
3D Printed Glasses.
Diploma Category
B-GON Biodegradable Plastic Mulch: Riley Sharp | Professor Chris Gillard
A plastic mulch made from corn and potato starch that biodegrades after eight weeks.
Soybean's 'Miracle' Facemask: Christel Andrade | Dr. Milad Eskandari
An economical and effective plant-based product.
Jug-o-Juglone: Michael Cushing | Professor Mike Gladstone
A herbicide using a phytotoxic chemical from black walnut.
Undergraduate Category
Happy Waffle: Domenique Mastronardi, Happy Waffle | Dr. Mario Martinez
A plant-based toaster waffle created with juice pulp, potatoes and soybeans.
Buriderm: Loretta Higgins and Amanda Crerar | Dr. William Bettger
A plant-based hydrogel.
ChocoBitez: Sharon Dadhwal and Nicole Goetz | Dr. Evan Fraser
A plant-based, creamy chocolate.
Graduate Category
Embrace BioPad: Anupjot Brar, Aryana Rabii, Benjamin MacLeod, Gabriel Laplante, Harshina Brijlall, Jacob Insley, Ryan Cranwill, Schnell D'Souza, Sonja Andrekovic, Stephanie Lim and Trung Hoang | Dr. Alison Duncan and Dr. Elliot Currie
A biodegradable menstrual pad made from soy-based textiles and super-absorbent polymers.
Green Egg Paper: Maisyn Picard, Kjeld Meereboer and Mateo Gonzalez de Gortari | Dr. Manjusri Misra and Dr. Amar Mohanty
A sustainable stone paper product.
AgroLife Bio: Tara Allohverdi and Mary Hedrick | Dr. Manjusri Misra and Dr. Istvan Rajcan
A biochar soil amendment using agricultural wastes
Diploma Category
SOS Skincare: Riley Sharp
A soy-based exfoliant.
SOY Punch: Noah Weber
A Caribbean-style beverage.
Undergraduate Category
5th Bean: Timothy Shuh, Mitchell Rice and Sean Mitchell
A soybean cream liqueur.
Alyssa Francavilla, Carmen Tan and Stephanie Wong,
An Okara flour innovation.
Soyscreen: Tara Allohverdi and Elizabeth Diederichs
A soy-based sunscreen.
Graduate Category
Soyfit: Bruno Bottega Pergher, Maisyn Picard and Mateo Gonzalez de Gortari.
An edible soy protein isolate.
Soy Tips: Miguel Fuentes, Kjeld Meereboer, Mawath Qahtani and Gareth Chapman
Biodegradable soy protein-based hygiene products.
Creative Stream
Commissions
Looking Inside
Verena Brysch, 2025
Triptych: recycled cardboard panels, repurposed or Canadian acrylic paint | 96×59 cm, 90×52 cm, 68×83 cm
Recycled wood frames made by Erin Stewart
Looking Inside is about perspective.
The eye is our strongest sensory organ, responsible for almost 80% of how we interpret the world. Yet, what we see through our eyes is not always the whole story; it is only one side of the story. Where a human eye sees bags of almonds stacked neatly in a grocery store, a bee sees something else entirely: a monoculture stretching to the horizon, their colony weakened and dying from the pesticides and lack of flower variety. The same almond, the same harvest, but a completely different story. This difference in perspective is what this piece is about.
This work responds to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals #2 (Zero Hunger) and #15 (Life on Land.) Laws and policies can guide us, but they are not the entire solution. Lasting change requires something far more difficult to achieve: a shift in the way our society functions. And that society is built by our actions and perspectives. In this work, the human eyes reflect the abundance of grocery aisles stocked year-round, fast food available at our fingertips and rows of cheap new houses. On the opposite side, other species reveal the hidden cost. The hawk sees the landfill from the overabundance, the deer sees the raw scars of a clear-cut forest, the turtle sees the plastic that has replaced beautiful coral reefs. These contrasts ask us to consider our perspectives on everything around us, because perspective guides action, and action drives change. Buying apples from a nearby orchard in autumn instead of strawberries flown in from California mid-winter, repairing clothes rather than buying new ones, and resisting unnecessary excess are the choices with the power to change society.
The materials chosen reflect these values: the canvas is discarded cardboard collected from a local appliance store, the frames made from recycled wood, and the paints were repurposed or locally made in Ontario. What may have been wasted, instead, became art. This piece is both a message and an example.
To see both sides of the works, the viewer must walk around it. That movement is intentional. It mirrors the effort it takes to shift our perspective. Often the products that make our lives easier fail to tell the whole story, from the short lifespans of cheaply made goods and buildings, the insects lost to pesticide-laden flowers, the landscapes scarred by excess waste. Seeing the full story requires work, but it’s only through effort that we can become part of the solution.
In the end, Looking Inside is not just painted eyes, it is an invitation.
Look inside yourself. What do you see? What choices did you make today that shaped the world around you? What choices will you make tomorrow?
“Looking Inside” was the winning 2025 Project SOY Plus Creative Stream proposal, commissioned by the University of Guelph, Research Innovation Office.
A Majestic Pump
Nicholas Dernovsek and Samantha Heard, 2024
Wood and Epoxy on a Wood Base | 60.9 cm x 91.4 cm (24 inches x 36 inches)
This work celebrates the crucial, yet often overlooked, role whales play in our environment, reflecting the Project SOY Plus 2024 theme, “Circular Economy.” Whales are powerful symbols of sustainability, embodying the natural cycles of our oceans. Over their lifetimes, each whale captures about 33 tons of carbon from the atmosphere – significantly more than a 500-year-old oak tree, which captures around 12 tons. Whales also contribute to marine ecosystems by bringing nutrient-rich matter from the ocean depths to the surface. This process supports the growth of photosynthesizing phytoplankton, which absorbs three times more carbon than the Amazon rainforest.
Inspired by Sam’s deep admiration for whales, this piece reflects her passion for their environmental impact and intelligence. The artists chose a tactile approach, using a bandsaw to cut found dead wood into small “cookies”, which were attached to the wood base. These cookies feature distinctive stains and fungal patterns, representing the natural textures of the environment. Surrounding the whale, sustainably sourced dyed epoxy was applied to simulate the dynamic patterns of ocean waves.
This work invites viewers to explore and appreciate the interconnectedness of marine ecosystems and the essential role whales play within them. It aims to deepen our understanding of these majestic creatures and inspire a commitment to protecting them as representations of the circular economy and the health of our planet.
A Majestic Pump was the winning 2024 – Creative Stream proposal. The students were commissioned by the Research Innovation Office to bring their creative proposal to life
Creative Stream Proposals
- Looking Inside: Verena Brysch
- Shifting Baselines: Stephanie Fontin
- The Utopia of Restoration: Bertina Do and Sirine Jarrah
- A Majestic Pump: Nicholas Dernovsek and Samantha Heard
