Student Product Developers in the Spotlight
Six teams will vie for top honors in the finals of the 2012 IFT Student Association & Mars Product Development Competition. This prestigious annual competition challenges student teams to apply their academic knowledge to the process of developing a winning product prototype.
The process is a long one; the competition’s first deadline was Feb. 1, when initial product proposals were due. Each year, participating teams come up with a concept and carry it through marketing and production, approaching the project much like a commercial product development team.
Here’s a preview of the product development creativity that will be on display from the finalists in this year’s competition.
• California Polytechnic State University—Veg This Way, a vegetable leather snack that features gourmet flavor combinations
• Cornell University— Dough TEMPtations, a fruit-filled, compound-coated, cookie dough snack formulated to be enjoyed straight from the refrigerator or oven-baked to produce coated cookies
• The Ohio State University— UnBeetable Burger, a flavor-packed, frozen veggie burger slider that comes conveniently pre-assembled and can be microwaved and ready to eat within minutes
• Pennsylvania State University— Brew Bites, bite-sized crackers shaped like a bottle cap and made largely out of spent grain left over from the brewing process as well as hop and malt extract to provide an authentic beer-like taste sensation
• University of Minnesota— Theikos, a frozen vanilla Greek yogurt bar atop a bed of crunchy granola topped with a sweet honey drizzle
• University of Wisconsin-Madison—Cranberry POPlers, soft pretzel balls made of sweet potato filled with a tangy cranberry sauce
The oral component of the Product Development competition will take place from noon to 3 p.m. on Tuesday, June 26, in Room N101.
Product posters will be on display from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Wednesday, June 27, in the Las Vegas Convention Center, Hall C5.
Competition winners will be announced on Wednesday night at the IFTSA Welcome Assembly, where Mars will award prizes to the winning teams. The competition is sponsored by Mars Chocolate North America.
