Putting Ideas Into Action: BUILD Night Focuses on Combating Food Insecurity

By Kelly Jedrzejewski

In early November, Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences and the College of Engineering partnered to host a BUILD Night at the Penn State Learning Factory. Attendees worked in teams to map challenges, brainstorm solutions and build prototypes to combat food insecurity by reducing post-harvest waste.

“We have excellent collaborators in the College of Engineering,” said Maria Spencer, John and Patty Warehime entrepreneur in residence and assistant clinical professor. “The intersection of agriculture and engineering is where innovation accelerates. Together, our colleges provide innovators with integrated skills, networks and facilities needed to transform ideas into scalable solutions. This partnership is multiplicative, not just additive, and we are excited to be working together toward a shared goal of global food security.”

Spencer leads the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Global Youth Action Initiative World Food Forum Youth Food Lab at Penn State, which supports youth innovators working toward food security and climate resilience.

The Learning Factory is the maker space for Penn State’s College of Engineering, designed for students to learn by doing. BUILD Night included training in design thinking and an opportunity for students to begin creating simple prototypes to address post-harvest food loss.