BioKansas Capitol Graduate Research Summit

Kansas Corn Commission Research Projects Win Awards

Two Kansas Corn Commission-funded research projects received Capitol Graduate Research Championship Awards from BioKansas – Kansas Bioscience Organization.. This statewide event features current graduate student research at Kansas State University, the University of Kansas, the University of Kansas Medical Center, Wichita State University, Fort Hays University, Emporia State University and Pittsburgh State University. The top presenters from each university received awards. The researchers displayed their awards at the rotunda in the State Capitol.

Pittsburg State graduate student Sanket Bhoyate, received an award for his poster and presentation for the Kansas Corn Commission-funded project titled “Industrial Applicants of Corn Oil for Flame Retardant Polyurethane Foams”.  The Pittsburg State University project, led by Dr. Ram Gupta is researching the use of corn oil to make flame retardant polyurethane foams.

K-State doctoral student in horticulture Stuart Sprague, received an award for his poster and presentation for the Kansas Corn Commission-funded research project titled “Expression of ATGRXS17 in maize increases yield under heat stress.” Sprague works on the project that is led by Dr. Sunghun Park, at K-State. Sprague’s research focuses on increasing heat tolerance in corn, which can severely impact seed development. This research is important to Kansas because corn is one of the state’s most economically important crops and, in the face of a growing world population, Kansas wants to continue its status as a leader in food production.