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After five months of research, prototyping, and validation under the guidance of industry coaches, three collegiate teams stood out for their innovation and technical rigor in the inaugural 3-A SSI Student Hygienic Design Competition. 3-A SSI has named a Kansas State University team as the first-place winner, an Auburn University team as the second-place winner; and a Louisiana State University team as the third-place winner.
“The food and beverage industry suffers from two critical challenges – the need for improved hygienic design solutions and a shortage of early-career professionals who understand hygienic design from day one,” says Meri Beth Wojtaszek, Executive Director of 3-A SSI. “This competition was conceived as a way to address both of these challenges – and to give the world’s most talented students a shot at solving a real-world food safety challenge.”
Winning teams will share the $10,000 prize. The teams will be honored and will present their solutions during a special technical session, "Optimal Food Contact Surface Solution for Removal of Dry Powder Products Without Introducing Moisture," at the 3-ASSI Summit on Hygienic Design, taking place May 4 to 7, 2026, at the Marriott Chicago O’Hare.
The competition challenged student teams to solve a critical, real-world industry problem. Dry powder systems—handling sensitive products like dairy powders and infant formula—struggle to remove residual product from"hang-up" points like pipe elbows, crevices, and dead spaces. While wet cleaning can remove these residues, it introduces moisture that allows pathogens like Salmonella and Cronobacter to proliferate. The competition challenged students to develop surface treatments, coatings, or design modifications that allow for complete product removal using only dry cleaning methods, ensuring conformance with 3-A Sanitary Standards, food safety and operational efficiency.
"The ingenuity displayed by these students is exactly what our industry needs to solve sanitation hurdles,” says 3-A SSI Chair John Kuhnz. “Seeing these teams integrate advanced materials and engineering—while staying strictly within the framework of 3-A Sanitary Standards—proves that the next generation is ready to tackle even our most persistent food safety challenges while keeping pace with modern food and beverage processing challenges.”
Kansas State University secured top honors with a dual-strategy solution. By combining a static-dissipative coating for stainless steel surfaces with a controlled, heated air system, they addressed both electrostatic adhesion and powder flowability. Their approach was validated through rigorous experimental testing using soft wheat flour.
The Kansas State University team is comprised of Suhan Bheemaiah Balyatanda, a PhD student in Grain Science and Industry; Shivaprasad Doddabematti Prakash, a PhD Candidate in Grain Science and Industry; and Jared Rivera, a PhD Candidate in Grain Science.
Auburn University secured second place with an innovative air plasma-assisted dry sanitation system. This solution integrates engineered turbulent airflow with plasma-generated reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) to achieve mechanical powder detachment and microbial inactivation without the use of water.
The Auburn University team is comprised of Telah Black, a graduate student; Sofia Sierra, a Food Science PhD student; and Vianca Tashiguano, a PhD student.
Louisiana State University earned third place for developing a unique food-grade whey protein-starch coating. Designed for equipment interiors, this coating improves powder flow and reduces accumulation while remaining fully removable using standard alkaline cleaning procedures.
The LouisianaState University team is comprised of Anugrah Jeyasellan, a graduate student in Food and Biprocess Engineering; Mario Melendez, a graduate research assistant in Nutrition and Food Science with a concentration in Bioprocessing Systems; and Dharshika Sugumaran, a graduate research assistant.
Two additional teams, one combining talent from George Washington and The University of Washington, and another representing Wayamba University of Sri Lanka, also submitted excellent solutions in the competition.
Each team worked with an industry coach who guided student teams throughout the competition, providing technical expertise, industry insights, and professional mentorship. Coaches mentored teams and helped them understand real-world applications of 3-A Sanitary Standards while fostering innovative thinking.
3-A Sanitary Standards, Inc. (3-A SSI) is a nonprofit organization that develops and maintains standards for the design and fabrication of equipment and systems used to process food and beverage products in a sanitary manner. The mission of 3-A SSI is to enhance product safety for consumers around the world by developing standards and education materials that promote hygienic equipment design and practices. For more information, visit www.3-a.org.
