Invent for the Planet 2026 boosts food sustainability efforts
A student team from Texas A&M University won first place in the international competition with their design for a biodegradable produce tray.
Team HexCrate’s solution wowed judges with its affordability and sustainability.
Hosted by Atlantic Technological University in Galway, Ireland, Invent for the Planet (IFTP) 2026 featured six finalist teams from universities in Brazil, Ireland, Jordan, Lebanon, Mexico and the United States. Brought together by a spirit of competition and an interest in bolstering the global food system, the teams presented their inventive solutions in hopes of securing a winning prize.
Winning in Ireland
After a day of evaluation from a panel of judges, Team HexCrate from Texas A&M University took first place. Having previously won the local edition of IFTP 2026 at the College of Engineering, the team’s solution secured the win with their ideal combination of sustainability and functionality.
Due to damage during transport, an estimated 40–50% of harvested tomatoes and fresh produce never reach consumers in sub-Saharan Africa. The team’s device, HexCrate, is a produce tray that holds tomatoes in hexagonal cells built out of bio-degradable cardboard. The hexagonal shape of each cell keeps fruits from damaging each other while in transit and evenly distributes the load across the entire tray. Each tray is made from cassava waste, an ideal and abundant material to be turned into sustainable bio-degradable cardboard. Their solution keeps farmers from losing money and provides communities wider access to life-saving nutrients.
Second place went to Team TerraCell from Lebanese American University, who combatted food loss with a new way to preserve fruits and vegetables. They designed TerraCell, a modular storage unit, to control the ripening process. By using evaporative cooling and airflow control with temperature and humidity sensors, food kept in a TerraCell can be kept edible for longer periods of time. This reduces food waste and allows for more people to be fed.
Team LeafLock from Al Hussein Technical University in Jordan and Team Connect from ATU tied for third place.
Team HexCrate secured the $3,000 top prize at Invent for the Planet 2026. From left: Jim Donnell, executive director of the Meloy Program, Caleb Mathias, Angelina Nguyen, Laasya Nadiminti, Vinh Nguyen, Micah Mathew and Dr. Orla Flynn, president of Atlantic Technological University.
Learning Abroad
While the teams were there to compete, they were also there to learn from each other. For Micah Matthew, a member of Team HexCrate and recent graduate in materials science and engineering, camaraderie and cross-cultural learning played a large role in the competition experience.
“What began as a 48-hour engineering sprint across the world came together into something that felt less like a contest and more like a calling,” Matthew said. “It was a gathering of young people who believe that problems worth solving are worth solving together.”
Kiryl Irani, a mechanical engineering student and member of Team TerraCell, shared a similar perspective about the international aspect of the competition
“It was eye-opening to experience different perspectives and cultures firsthand,” said Irani. “The competition highlighted how global many challenges are, even when local contexts differ, which reinforced the value of sharing locally rooted solutions within a broader global conversation.
Teamwork was key for all teams as they had to focus their time and effort on polishing their presentation to win over the judges. But the benefits of this process were tangible.“When you’ve worked closely together in a small team in such a short period time, the way you think about collaboration changes permanently,” Matthew said. “You learn that the best ideas come from being willing to ask others for their thoughts, ideas and trust.”
