This year Avebe is celebrating its hundredth anniversary! That means looking back, but also ahead. For example, what does the factory of the future look like? Avebe invites students from higher and scientific education to come up with ideas about this. The best design will win a year's tuition fees.

Avebe’s factories were set up more than 100 years ago for the production of potato starch, and the production of high-quality protein was added later.

This biorefinery process is by definition a process that uses a relatively large amount of energy, water and sometimes also chemicals. Effective, but perhaps not always efficient with a view to the future.

Avebe asks students to come up with innovative ideas, based on a greenfield principle: what if you were allowed to completely rebuild a factory? Which techniques and which sequence would you apply to maximise the value of the ingredients from the potato, with minimal use of energy, water and chemicals?

Registration is open now and closes on 9 September, click here!

The call for proposals is open until 30 October. An expert jury will then evaluate all the ideas. The three best entries will be invited to present their plan at the new Innovation Centre in Groningen during the Avebe Anniversary Day in November. On that day, Avebe will also announce the winners of one year’s tuition fees.