Seven years ago, Carol Spangler didn’t envision that her new project idea for Sabetha High School (SHS) students would deliver tons of food processed at K-State to needy villagers in Mozambique.

Spangler, a French teacher and media specialist at SHS, interned with a company that makes extrusion processing equipment. Extrusion is a process by which grain-based ingredients and other materials can be kneaded, cooked, and formed into shapes in a continuous, high-capacity operation.

Ethiopia and Kansas may seem a world apart, but Tesfaye Tesso has found there are commonalities between the two countries. One of them is a need to improve plants grown for food, feed, and fuel – in this case – grain sorghum.

K-State grain scientists collaborated with students from Sabetha High School, researchers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Archer Daniels Midland Co., Wenger Manufacturing, and XIM Group on a program called Grains for Hope.

Scientists in the bioprocessing lab are evaluating heat- and drought-tolerant corn and grain sorghum feedstocks for use in ethanol production.

In 2008, K-State Research and Extension published the thousandth report of progress.