Graduate student Dillon Hurd won the engineering pitch competition this past week, earning him $500 for his new business along with Iowa State graduate Eric Harweger.

Many of the startups at this pitch competition were made to make life easier for people, projects include a Keurig-like french press, different forms of ridesharing, and an alternative to Canvas boasting advanced note taking interface.

The winner was by a startup called Air Systems Products, with a system to reduce grain waste in grain barrels, cargo ships, and train cars, as well as any other step of the transportation of grain.

According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, “As much as 50%–60% cereal grains can be lost during the storage stage due only to the lack of technical inefficiency. Use of scientific storage methods can reduce these losses to as low as 1%–2%.”

Hurd and Harweger have developed a kind of “scientific storage method” that is both cheap and efficient. Hudd stated that his invention could save at least 20% of grain.

The system is designed as a system of columns inside the container that will regulate air temperature and humidity, as the main reason of spoilage of grain is the grain drying out and cracking.

The system should pay itself off in about two to three years, said Hurd.

Hurd says they are still in the process of getting patents and finalizing design, but he hopes that this competition will jumpstart investments in their business.

The design is powered by either solar, wind, or by direct line. The green factor is something Hurd is proud of, and emphasizes it as a selling point.

A 200,000 bushel bin should be able to be outfitted for only $50,000 dollars. As of March 6, a bushel of corn is $3.79. If Hurd’s numbers are correct, that means his product could save at least $151,600 per 200,000 bushels of corn.

Initially, the product will debut in Iowa, but Hurd hopes the product will go international in the future.