The Great Debate 2018 - Engineering a better food system

Session
Monday, 12 March 2018
20:12 - 20:12
Duration: 58 mins
Publication date: 14 Mar 2018
Location: Conference, University of Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom
Part of series The Great Debate and Part of event The Great Debate 2018 - Engineering a better food

About the session

Modern agriculture uses a lot of energy and resources: fuel and fossil-derived fertilisers on the farm, fuel for transport, plastics for packaging and energy for refrigerated storage with waste arising at each stage. What can engineering do to improve sustainability of agriculture and food production as the world population increases?

Keywords:: Hydroponics

agriculture

aquaponics

crops

cultivation

farmers

farming

growers

planting

robotic agriculture

rural

seeding

sustainable food

tractors

weather

Channels

Manufacturing

Power

Speakers

Dr Tim Fox

IMechE Food & Drink Engineering Committee, Chairman

Dr Fox is an internationally recognised expert on clean energy, sustainable food systems and climate change mitigation. He is an independent consultant and thought leader, as well as a Royal Academy of Engineering Visiting Professor at the University of Exeter. Tim is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of IMechE, where he is Chair of the Food & Drink Engineering Committee and Incoming Chair of the Process Industries Division Board. He was lead author on Institution’s groundbreaking 2013 report “Global Food: Waste Not, Want Not” and follow on “A Tank of Cold: Cleantech Leapfrog To A More Food Secure World
Professor Simon Blackmore

Harper Adams University

Simon Blackmore is a key figure in the development of Precision Farming and agricultural robotics, with a world-wide reputation. Simon is currently Professor and Head of Robotics and Automation, Agri-Epi Centre at Harper Adams University, Director of the National Centre for Precision Farming and managed the European Future Farm project. Simon has extensive experience of multidisciplinary collaboration across universities, commercial partnerships and research projects including autonomous tractors, laser weeding, robotic phenotyping and robotic harvesting. Simon holds seven Chairs around the world and gives many national and international keynote presentations. Simon leads the research in the UK on agricultural robotics. Simon’s personal research focuses on improving Precision Farming by developing more intelligent machines and processes, and making crop production more efficient and sustainable.
Tom Webster

GrowUp Urban Farms Ltd

After a BSc in Biology from Lancaster University and an MSc in Sustainability from Kings College London, Tom worked in a number of roles developing strategies and designs to improve sustainability, particularly in buildings and to meet the challenges of climate change. Tom was a co-founder of GrowUp Urban Farms in 2013. GrowUp Urban Farms is London-based urban farming business with a focus on commercial scale aquaponic farms. The company grows sustainable food for the local market, using aquaponics and vertical growing techniques to address some of the fundamental flaws in conventional agricultural systems by growing food close to the consumer in the city with a reduced impact on the environment.
Professor Stuart Green

University of Reading

Professor Stuart Green is Professor of Construction Management in the School of the Built Environment at the University of Reading.He originally studied civil engineering at the University of Birmingham, graduating in 1979. For several years thereafter he worked in industry gaining design experience with an international engineering consultancy. He completed his PhD in 1996 and was appointed professor in 2002. Stuart has extensive experience of research leadership and has been Principal Investigator on Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) research awards totalling in excess of £7 million. He is a chartered civil engineer.
Dr Eugene Mohareb

University of Reading, Lecturer in Sustainable Urban Systems

Dr Eugene Mohareb is currently working as Lecturer in Sustainable Urban Systems at Reading. He studied for a degree in Biological Engineering at the University of Guelph and then worked for 4 years as independent consultant in the food industry. He gained his doctorate from the University of Toronto with a thesis entitled "Quantifying the Transition to Low-Carbon Cities". His research is currently centred around the investigation of the role of cities in reducing global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This includes examinations within topics such as scenario modelling of urban GHG emissions, urban contributions to reductions in food system GHG emissions, and the adoption of low-carbon technologies within cities. Additionally, he applies energy and material flow analysis in cities towards an understanding of the carbon component of urban metabolism. Ultimately, his research explores policy goals that can be adopted at the city scale to lead the global economy to a low-carbon future.

energy storage

About the session

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