Keynote speakers

Dr. Murat Kacira is an Associate Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering and also a faculty member in Controlled Environment Agriculture Center program at the University of Arizona, USA. He received his B.S. degree in Agricultural Engineering in Cukurova University in Turkey and M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering from The Ohio State University in USA. He has been active in teaching and research related to controlled environment agriculture (CEA) for the past twenty years with working experiences in academia and research institutions in the Unites States, Turkey, and Japan. His research involves in the area of greenhouse and plant energy balance studies, computer vision guided autonomous plant health and growth monitoring systems, modeling and simulation of greenhouse aerodynamics, photovoltaics integrated greenhouse systems, automation and control in algae production systems by novel sensors and control strategy applications. He teaches both undergraduate and graduate level engineering courses at the University of Arizona. He is actively involved with International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS) where he currently serves as Chair of Commission Horticultural Engineering.

Professor Qichang Yang is a Chief Scientist and the Director of Key Lab of Energy Saving & Waste Management of Agricultural Structures, Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), China. He obtained his MS (1987) and PhD (1996) in Bio-Environment Engineering at China Agricultural University. As a visiting scholar, he studied greenhouse environment engineering in the System and Control group at Wageningen University from April 2005 to April 2006. He was a senior visiting scholar on greenhouse engineering at the University of Arizona during October 2013 to January 2014.

His main research activities included greenhouse engineering, plant factory and LED lights in horticulture. As a Chief Scientist he is now in charge of a large research project on intelligent plant factory production technology (National High Science & Technology project supported by the Chinese Government 2013-2017, £8m). In the past ten years, he has organised or participated in 35 national research projects, and (co-) published more than 150 papers, of which 40 have been quoted by SCI and EI, and 5 monographs. He has received several honours and awards for his scientific excellence, including a National Science & Technology progress prize (2009), a special Government allowance (2010), a national gold medal of patent (2011) and national expert with outstanding contributions (2013). He is a chairman of Greenhouse Design group of the International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS), and convenor of Greensys 2017 organised by ISHS.

Dr. Gene A. Giacomelli is the Director of the Controlled Environment Agriculture Center [CEAC] at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona, and he is a professor in the Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Department, an adjunct professor in the Department of Plant Sciences, and a member of the Bio5 Institute. He recently completed Sabbatical leave in Italy with aerospace companies, Aero-Sekur and Thales Alenia Spazio, and with several universities, with focus on Bioregenerative life support food systems for Moon, Mars and Earth.

Dr. Giacomelli has B.S [Rutgers University] and M.S. [University of California-Davis] with degrees in engineering, and a PhD in Horticultural Engineering [Rutgers University], with advanced study in plant science and controlled environment production horticulture.

Dr. Giacomelli has designed, constructed, instrumented and operated various types of environmentally controlled greenhouses utilizing hydroponic-based crop production systems, including NFT, Ebb and Flood and aeroponic systems for greenhouse lettuce, tomato, strawberry, and numerous other crops. His professional activities have focused on Controlled environment plant production systems [greenhouse and growth chamber] research, design, development and applications, with emphases on: crop production systems, nutrient delivery systems, environmental control, mechanization, and labor productivity. He has designed and provided operational support with Sadler Machine Co., Tempe, Arizona for the first automated food growth chamber at the NSF South pole Station in Antarctica (2004 – 2013).

His long-term efforts include the continued development of the Controlled Environment Agriculture program at University of Arizona, which includes: educating undergraduates and graduate students in engineering, Plant Sciences and Ag. Education; researching controlled environment plant production systems; outreach through cooperative extension to the citizens of Arizona and the world; and collaborating with programs for economic development.