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From Alabama fields to everyday products: BRIDGES Engine reimagines rural innovation

By July 14, 2026July 28th, 2026No Comments
Yucheng Peng holds up a bio-based product during a stakeholder research tour.

Yucheng Peng explains a bio-based product during a stakeholder research tour.

Imagine if, instead of petroleum-based plastics, these products were manufactured from biodegradable grasses grown in Alabama. 

“It’s good for the economy. It’s good for the environment. And it’s good for our farmers,” said Oladiran Fasina, Auburn University biosystems engineering department head. 

Fasina has spent decades studying how biobased products could be used in the marketplace. What’s been missing, he said, is the infrastructure to make it work at scale — reliable markets for growers, manufacturing partners and community investment. 

Enter the BRIDGES Engine, an initiative designed to transform underutilized farmland in Alabama and Tennessee into a launchpad for biobased consumer products. 

Co-led by HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, Auburn University, the University of Tennessee, Volkswagen Group of America and AGgrow Tech LLC, BRIDGES brings together 85 additional partners from industry, government and academia. 

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