Integrated Human Practices

Event summary

During our interview with Dr. Lin, we gained valuable insights on Medicago truncatula, PGPR, planting, plant stress, biosecurity, and sought some feedback on our current idea.

Impact and adaptation

Most valuable takeaway:

Evaluate the real impact of PGPR on germination speed and early growth. For short-term growth conditions, we should observe germination speed, compare differences between with and without PGPR treatment, and analyze the effects of different treatments (different bacteria or conditions).

To simulate stress, we should only add water every few days for salinity, and add some other particles that are larger than water and block the water from getting into the plant for drought.

Event summary

Throughout the meeting with Prof. Cheng, we introduced our proposed engineered Bacillus subtilis system for detecting plant and environmental stress by producing protective outputs such as trehalose or ACC deaminase. She agreed with our ideas of choosing abiotic stresses such as heat, salinity, and drought, and choosing Arabidopsis as a suitable model for controlled experiments. Additionally, she noted that hydroponics might not be stable for our testing and suggested that we should not rely solely on it. Her expertise provided valuable guidance and helped shape and refine the direction of our project.

Impact and adaptation

Her feedback made us realize that experimental procedures themselves can interfere with plant stress responses. More importantly, the feedback led us to a shift toward more realistic and controllable plant-growth conditions. She suggested that the project should prioritize agar plate growth for early-stage control, followed by careful transfer to soil. We should carefully manage environmental transitions and stress timing, and use visual ROS staining to improve stress assessment. We also decided to remove osmotic stress from our targeted stresses. Additionally, Prof. Cheng kindly provided us with Arabidopsis seeds and shared valuable guidance on their cultivation and optimal growing conditions.

Event summary

During our meeting with Dr. Verslues, we gained valuable insights into the bacterial aspects of our project. More specifically, he consulted us on the mechanisms of drought and the proline delivery system.

Impact and adaptation

After the meeting, we had a very meaningful takeaway on the idea of optimizing proline dosage and investigating whether bacterial products affect the plant’s natural proline-redox cycle. He also inspired us to consider testing stress priming approaches and measuring indicators such as root growth and biomass. Additionally, he mentioned that we should adjust our system to prioritize early stress detection rather than stress recovery.

Event summary

We consulted with CH Biotech, a company specializing in biostimulants, to better understand the current development, testing, delivery, and commercialization protectants. They encouraged us to consider differences between crops and protectants when selecting delivery methods, as well as regulatory requirements, production costs, AI system design, and the transition from laboratory to agricultural applications.

Impact and adaptation

The experts from CH Biotech suggested us to show evidence that proves the system improves plant performance under heat or drought stress and evaluate efficacy using multiple phenotypic and physiological measurements. They also suggested we expand the AI direction by considering additional factors for prediction. More importantly, we should research and confirm the regulation in Taiwan before taking further actions.

Event summary

We consulted with Prof. Huang to evaluate the timing, dosage, sensing strategy, and application of our protectant-delivery system. During the discussion, he highlighted that biostimulants can be most effective when applied during the seedling stage to have effects that last longer, which also helps adjust gene regulation signals as cells replicate for long-term protection. Prof. Huang also mentioned that excessive stress or protectant concentrations may affect plant health negatively, so it is important to set appropriate thresholds and validate dosages. From an agricultural angle, hydroponic systems may not completely simulate field conditions, and farmers often prioritize simple application. Therefore, our system should integrate functions such as environmental sensing and weather forecasting to predict stress while keeping it easy for farmers to operate. Prof. Huang also kindly provided us with the B. subtilis WB800 strain, which we further used in other experiments.

Impact and adaptation

This meeting changed our understanding of when and how our bioreactor should respond to stress. We also learned that different protectants may require different amounts of time, some can prime plants before stress, and others may be more effective when stress occurs. This led us to consider periodic rather than continuous operation and seedling-stage application as alternative strategies.

Event summary

After the last meeting with Prof. Huang, we visited him at NCHU in person to gain some feedback on our project direction. For wetlab, the discussion focused on improving protein expression and secretion. For the plant model, he advised establishing a clear experimental rationale for salinity and heat stress across agar, hydroponic, and soil systems. For drylab, the focus shifted toward designing shorter or modified peptide constructs while retaining biological activity, and using receptor–peptide interactions to guide construct selection.

Impact and adaptation

The consultation helped us improve our understanding of protein and plant models. We recognized that only improving secretion is insufficient if the resulting protein does not retain its activity, so protein quantity, identity, solubility, and function need to be evaluated together.

Event summary

On August 6, we also visited Prof. Huang, who is also from NCHU, to evaluate our B. subtilis engineering strategy, protectant delivery methods, plant testing systems, and potential agricultural applications. We discussed optimizing bacterial production, determining protectant concentration and application timing, and selecting suitable delivery methods such as irrigation, spraying, and seed coating. Since our bacteria will be contained in the bioreactor, effective protectant delivery is important for plant responses.

Impact and adaptation

This interview helped us better understand that our system effectiveness doesn’t only depend on whether B. subtilis produces protectants, but also on how much protectant reaches the plant, when it is delivered, and how frequently it is applied. We also learned that optimizing the culture medium may help reduce metabolic trade-offs while supporting bacterial growth and protein production. More experiments testing protectant effectiveness are on the Results page.

Event summary

The visit to Yes Health iFarm helped us understand how a highly controlled hydroponic system manages plant growth through environmental monitoring, nutrient management, lighting, aeration, and water circulation. Although we were unable to obtain some of the exact technical data we needed, the discussion provided important design insights for ReLEAF.

Impact and adaptation

After consulting with the expert from Yes Health iFarm, we gained some valuable insights. The discussion led us to reconsider our experimental conditions, improve the integration of environmental sensors, and design ReLEAF to be adaptable to different crops and growing environments.

Event summary

During the second visit to Prof. Cheng’s lab, we mainly consulted her on hydroponics containment issues, agar salinity stress treatment protocol, and soil-based salinity stress experiments, optimization of hydroponics plant growth, and discussed our current experimental approaches. We presented our current project progress and design to her, and also demonstrated the modifications we had made in response to her feedback from our first visit.

Impact and adaptation

From Prof. Cheng’s feedback, we learned that experimental conditions can strongly influence plant growth and stress responses, so some of our previous results may have been affected by unintended stress rather than the treatments themselves. She also helped us improve the reliability of our plant functional assays by controlling plant age, environmental conditions, root growth, water exposure, and treatment procedures across agar, soil, and hydroponic systems.

Event summary

During our meeting with Dr. Verslues, we gained valuable insights into the bacterial aspects of our project. More specifically, he consulted us on the mechanisms of drought and the proline delivery system.

Impact and adaptation

After the meeting, we had a very meaningful takeaway on the idea of optimizing proline dosage and investigating whether bacterial products affect the plant’s natural proline-redox cycle. He also inspired us to consider testing stress priming approaches and measuring indicators such as root growth and biomass. Additionally, he mentioned that we should adjust our system to prioritize early stress detection rather than stress recovery.

Event summary

We consulted with Dr. Sattely to evaluate our protectant selection, delivery strategy, and overall project direction. She also emphasized that we should outline more clearly the goals, intentions, and milestones for our project so that it can be more organized, which helped us remember and more deeply consider the focuses and aims of our project.

Impact and adaptation

She pointed out that our current proof of concept might not be very successful and emphasized the need to clearly define the goals of our project and explain why the proposed solution is important. She suggested we only focus on one type of stress and do it very well instead of surface level for many different stresses and also advised us to explore other types of molecules such as peptides for our project.

Event summary

We consulted with CH Biotech, a company specializing in biostimulants, to better understand the current development, testing, delivery, and commercialization protectants. They encouraged us to consider differences between crops and protectants when selecting delivery methods, as well as regulatory requirements, production costs, AI system design, and the transition from laboratory to agricultural applications.

Impact and adaptation

The experts from CH Biotech suggested us to show evidence that proves the system improves plant performance under heat or drought stress and evaluate efficacy using multiple phenotypic and physiological measurements. They also suggested we expand the AI direction by considering additional factors for prediction. More importantly, we should research and confirm the regulation in Taiwan before taking further actions.

Event summary

In the BIO Asia-Taiwan Exhibition, we engaged with different companies, experts, and researchers, gaining many insights from different aspects. One of our most valuable takeaways is that plant stress tolerance depends not only on the presence of protective molecules, such as proline, but also on the processes that regulate their production and use. We also learned that dissolved oxygen monitoring and active aeration/stirring are essential for B. subtilis survival and protein/protectant output, not just passive containment.

Impact and adaptation

After hearing different advice from different booths, we realized that we should prioritize an O₂ sensor and feedback loop in our design. For wetlab, we can investigate irrigation-system-integrated delivery as an alternative to a standalone device and move at least some validation experiments from agar/hydroponics to soil-based trials, and increase sample size.

For business plans, we should also research the GMO regulatory landscape in Taiwan and other countries, including the Philippines, Malaysia, and EU.

Event summary

On August 6, we also visited Prof. Huang, who is also from NCHU, to evaluate our B. subtilis engineering strategy, protectant delivery methods, plant testing systems, and potential agricultural applications. We discussed optimizing bacterial production, determining protectant concentration and application timing, and selecting suitable delivery methods such as irrigation, spraying, and seed coating. Since our bacteria will be contained in the bioreactor, effective protectant delivery is important for plant responses.

Impact and adaptation

This interview helped us better understand that our system effectiveness doesn’t only depend on whether B. subtilis produces protectants, but also on how much protectant reaches the plant, when it is delivered, and how frequently it is applied. We also learned that optimizing the culture medium may help reduce metabolic trade-offs while supporting bacterial growth and protein production. More experiments testing protectant effectiveness are on the Results page.

Event summary

During our meeting with Dr. Sattely and Prof. Endy, our team gained very valuable insights. They mainly focused on how we present our experimental design, controls, mechanism, and the role of ACCD in our system, and suggested that we should keep the explanation clear. They also suggested that we should clearly distinguish between the engineered B. subtilis and the protectant being delivered to plants, demonstrate that the bacteria actually produce and secrete ACCD, and strengthen our experimental controls. Most importantly, they mentioned that clearly communicating the purpose and results of each experiment is crucial.

Impact and adaptation

Their feedback shows us that clearly explaining what each result demonstrates and why each experimental choice was made is essential and important. We also need to provide appropriate controls to rule out alternative explanations and verify ACCD production at both the protein and RNA levels, and make our mechanism of action and biosafety rationale easier for judges and audiences to understand.

Event summary

Through this exchange, we received many valuable pieces of advice regarding circuit design for B. subtilis and hardware design. This meeting influenced the direction of our project by highlighting several potential problems of the kill-switch design.

Impact and adaptation

Dr. Brophy’s feedback provided an important shift in our biosafety and hardware design. Instead of relying on a biological kill switch to prevent environmental harm, we decided to begin treating physical containment as the primary safety mechanism.

Event summary

We consulted with Prof. Huang to evaluate the timing, dosage, sensing strategy, and application of our protectant-delivery system. During the discussion, he highlighted that biostimulants can be most effective when applied during the seedling stage to have effects that last longer, which also helps adjust gene regulation signals as cells replicate for long-term protection. Prof. Huang also mentioned that excessive stress or protectant concentrations may affect plant health negatively, so it is important to set appropriate thresholds and validate dosages. From an agricultural angle, hydroponic systems may not completely simulate field conditions, and farmers often prioritize simple application. Therefore, our system should integrate functions such as environmental sensing and weather forecasting to predict stress while keeping it easy for farmers to operate. Prof. Huang also kindly provided us with the B. subtilis WB800 strain, which we further used in other experiments.

Impact and adaptation

This meeting changed our understanding of when and how our bioreactor should respond to stress. We also learned that different protectants may require different amounts of time, some can prime plants before stress, and others may be more effective when stress occurs. This led us to consider periodic rather than continuous operation and seedling-stage application as alternative strategies.

Event summary

After the last meeting with Prof. Huang, we visited him at NCHU in person to gain some feedback on our project direction. For wetlab, the discussion focused on improving protein expression and secretion. For the plant model, he advised establishing a clear experimental rationale for salinity and heat stress across agar, hydroponic, and soil systems. For drylab, the focus shifted toward designing shorter or modified peptide constructs while retaining biological activity, and using receptor–peptide interactions to guide construct selection.

Impact and adaptation

The consultation helped us improve our understanding of protein and plant models. We recognized that only improving secretion is insufficient if the resulting protein does not retain its activity, so protein quantity, identity, solubility, and function need to be evaluated together.

Event summary

In April, the meeting with Prof. Chen, also known as the founder of Agritalk, provided us with feedback that shaped the direction of both our hardware development and business plan, which allowed us to gain more understanding of the strategy for setting up a business plan and advised and suggested us on the hardware design.

Impact and adaptation

For the business plan strategy, he suggested that we should not only focus on the local market, but also expand it globally (Refer to Laws and Regulations page), as the limited scale of the local market may limit our potential revenue. He highlighted some challenges that we need to address, including farmers’ adoption, competition with chemical fertilizers, limited market, and regulations (Refer to Entrepreneurship page). For the hardware design, he advised us to define a clear input-output mapping and move toward a bioreactor-based system instead of soil release.

Event summary

Through this exchange, we received many valuable pieces of advice regarding circuit design for B. subtilis and hardware design. This meeting influenced the direction of our project by highlighting several potential problems of the kill-switch design.

Impact and adaptation

Dr. Brophy’s feedback provided an important shift in our biosafety and hardware design. Instead of relying on a biological kill switch to prevent environmental harm, we decided to begin treating physical containment as the primary safety mechanism.

Event summary

In June, Prof. Chang visited our team and discussed our bioreactor design with us while also providing valuable insights for the B. subtilis challenges. The main problem we wanted to consult was the design of our hollow-fiber membrane bioreactor.

Impact and adaptation

From Prof. Chang’s experience, we gained a better understanding of B. subtilis, specifically the best growing conditions. He also mentioned a solution to the foaming issue by introducing a mechanical design that physically disrupts and breaks the bubbles. For the hollow fiber membrane, he noted that monitoring the flow rate and transmembrane pressure (Refer to Perfusion Bioreactor page) is essential for filtration - indicates the caking issue.

Event summary

During Prof. Chen’s visit, he provided feedback on different aspects, including the math model, plant model, protectant, hydroponics, gene circuit, and bioreactor. He highlighted the importance of connecting the experimental data with modeling, identifying the inputs and outputs clearly, and ensuring every model is refined through experimental validation and feedback loops.

Impact and adaptation

This meeting shows us that we need a better feedback loop for the experiment, hardware, and model, so we can ensure that our experimental results can continuously refine the model. He suggested that we should consider the ReLEAF database as a platform for organizing experimental data and supporting future optimization and agricultural applications. Additionally, Prof. Chen also mentioned that we can potentially visit Yes Health iFarm to gain a better understanding of hydroponics.

Event summary

In the BIO Asia-Taiwan Exhibition, we engaged with different companies, experts, and researchers, gaining many insights from different aspects. One of our most valuable takeaways is that plant stress tolerance depends not only on the presence of protective molecules, such as proline, but also on the processes that regulate their production and use. We also learned that dissolved oxygen monitoring and active aeration/stirring are essential for B. subtilis survival and protein/protectant output, not just passive containment.

Impact and adaptation

After hearing different advice from different booths, we realized that we should prioritize an O₂ sensor and feedback loop in our design. For wetlab, we can investigate irrigation-system-integrated delivery as an alternative to a standalone device and move at least some validation experiments from agar/hydroponics to soil-based trials, and increase sample size.

For business plans, we should also research the GMO regulatory landscape in Taiwan and other countries, including the Philippines, Malaysia, and EU.

Event summary

The visit to Yes Health iFarm helped us understand how a highly controlled hydroponic system manages plant growth through environmental monitoring, nutrient management, lighting, aeration, and water circulation. Although we were unable to obtain some of the exact technical data we needed, the discussion provided important design insights for ReLEAF.

Impact and adaptation

After consulting with the expert from Yes Health iFarm, we gained some valuable insights. The discussion led us to reconsider our experimental conditions, improve the integration of environmental sensors, and design ReLEAF to be adaptable to different crops and growing environments.

Event summary

During Prof. Chang’s second visit, we explained the new progress on our bioreactor to him and showed the progress from wetlab, along with some problems we’ve encountered such as protectant/B. subtilis leaking out from the hollow fiber membrane even without any driving force/action, and the difficulties we’re facing regarding interpreting the data from our recent experiments. Prof. Chang provided us with valuable advice on how to try our best to solve these issues, and also provided some ideas on how to further improve our project (Refer to Perfusion Bioreactor page).

Impact and adaptation

The consultation helped us recognize that both the technical performance and usability of our system should be considered. Beyond improving membrane-based delivery and experimental reliability, we need to make the bioreactor easier for farmers to understand and operate. Integrating AIoT and a replaceable bacterial capsule could make the system more practical while strengthening its connection to real agricultural applications.

Event summary

On September 20th, 2026, Teacher He from Owl Lab visited our lab to review our hardware design and find weak points and areas for improvement in experiments. The meeting covered signal wiring, servo motor control, power supply, and the main control board architecture.

Impact and adaptation

The interviews helped us identify some overlooked hardware risks that could affect ReLEAF’s stability and safety, including inaccurate valve positioning that could cause pressure spikes and leakage. From his suggestions, we improved motor control, power delivery, and electrical isolation to support more reliable operation and future valve and lighting control.

Event summary

During our meeting with Mr. Lu, we discussed his company’s business method and his bioreactor, along with asking him questions about the current market of farmers and how he thinks our bioreactor and AIoT can further improve. He advised us to also add a sensor and EC (electrical conductivity sensor) for salinity, along with training our prediction model off of the historical data of the area and to continuously collect data. On the business side, he mentioned that since our bioreactor doesn’t connect to a farm’s irrigation system, it means that farmers have to go there and collect it themselves or use a drone. This means we have to justify the usage of our bioreactor when using a system like theirs that can just control and do everything for them is much more convenient. Mr. Lu also mentioned that we need a more specific adoption plan for farmers, along with the fact that products often pass and become popular by word of mouth, both between farmers and from Ag. Research Extension Branches or researchers that farmers trust.

Impact and adaptation

Coming out of the meeting with Mr. Lu, we gained a deeper understanding of how to format our APP, improve our hardware, and make it so that our business plan is more holistic. We will be focusing on 1 or 2 very specific crops for our project so that we can have a clearer demographic and create a better explanation for the value of having a sensor like ours instead of an automated system that sprays cheaper and easier to transport protectants.

Event summary

Professor Chen Wen-Liang advised us to introduce ReLEAF’s digital twin through its agricultural application scenario rather than starting with theoretical definitions. He emphasized explaining the system’s inputs, outputs, and feedback loop before presenting its architecture and individual components. He also challenged us to clarify why ReLEAF requires a specialized bioreactor, highlighting the hollow-fiber membrane’s intended role in retaining engineered bacteria while allowing plant protectants to pass through. Additionally, he provided positive feedback on our real-time monitoring interface and AI chat interface.

Impact and adaptation

The consultation helped us improve both our system design rationale and technical communication. We will prioritize the agricultural need, clarify the connections between sensors, the digital model, and bioreactor control, and explain how the hollow-fiber membrane addresses field biosafety requirements. We will also review our model assumptions and restructure our wiki and video to make ReLEAF easier for non-specialist audiences to understand.

Event summary

Our project was partly inspired by Ubuntu Social Enterprise Ghana (USE-GH), whose mission is to strengthen food security and increase the value of agricultural products. During our meeting with its leader, Gilbert, we asked him various questions about how he runs his business to support peanut farmers in Ghana, along with questions about what farming is like now, and whether or not climate change is as big of a problem as what we’ve seen so far in the news. He not only confirmed that the increasing climate instability is dealing a big blow to farmers that he knows, but he also mentioned that the small farmers were often disadvantaged.

Impact and adaptation

Through this meeting, we understood the challenges the smallholder farmers are facing and how limited access to resources is affecting them. He also explained the Ghana market, which helped us further develop our business plan (Refer to Entrepreneurship page). (Refer to Entrepreneurship page)

Event summary

In April, the meeting with Prof. Chen, also known as the founder of Agritalk, provided us with feedback that shaped the direction of both our hardware development and business plan, which allowed us to gain more understanding of the strategy for setting up a business plan and advised and suggested us on the hardware design.

Impact and adaptation

For the business plan strategy, he suggested that we should not only focus on the local market, but also expand it globally (Refer to Laws and Regulations page), as the limited scale of the local market may limit our potential revenue. He highlighted some challenges that we need to address, including farmers’ adoption, competition with chemical fertilizers, limited market, and regulations (Refer to Entrepreneurship page). For the hardware design, he advised us to define a clear input-output mapping and move toward a bioreactor-based system instead of soil release.

Event summary

Through our meeting with the World Vegetable Center, we gained a better understanding of the challenges faced by smallholder farmers, including climate resilience and the effects of biotic and abiotic stresses on farming.

Impact and adaptation

After the meeting, we realized that we needed to demonstrate that our product is environmentally safe, beneficial, and sustainable, as these factors may increase our product’s acceptance among traditional and natural farmers. In addition, we might need to do more regulatory research on the use of GMOs in order to prove it won’t harm the environment (Refer to Laws and Regulations page). (Refer to Laws and Regulations page)

Event summary

During Prof. Chen’s visit, he provided feedback on different aspects, including the math model, plant model, protectant, hydroponics, gene circuit, and bioreactor. He highlighted the importance of connecting the experimental data with modeling, identifying the inputs and outputs clearly, and ensuring every model is refined through experimental validation and feedback loops.

Impact and adaptation

This meeting shows us that we need a better feedback loop for the experiment, hardware, and model, so we can ensure that our experimental results can continuously refine the model. He suggested that we should consider the ReLEAF database as a platform for organizing experimental data and supporting future optimization and agricultural applications. Additionally, Prof. Chen also mentioned that we can potentially visit Yes Health iFarm for gaining a better understanding on hydroponics.

Event summary

We consulted with CH Biotech, a company specializing in biostimulants, to better understand the current development, testing, delivery, and commercialization protectants. They encouraged us to consider differences between crops and protectants when selecting delivery methods, as well as regulatory requirements, production costs, AI system design, and the transition from laboratory to agricultural applications.

Impact and adaptation

The experts from CH Biotech suggested us to show evidence that proves the system improves plant performance under heat or drought stress and evaluate efficacy using multiple phenotypic and physiological measurements. They also suggested we expand the AI direction by considering additional factors for prediction. More importantly, we should research and confirm the regulation in Taiwan before taking further actions.

Event summary

In the BIO Asia-Taiwan Exhibition, we engaged with different companies, experts, and researchers, gaining many insights from different aspects. One of our most valuable takeaways is that plant stress tolerance depends not only on the presence of protective molecules, such as proline, but also on the processes that regulate their production and use. We also learned that dissolved oxygen monitoring and active aeration/stirring are essential for B. subtilis survival and protein/protectant output, not just passive containment.

Impact and adaptation

After hearing different advice from different booths, we realized that we should prioritize an O₂ sensor and feedback loop in our design. For wetlab, we can investigate irrigation-system-integrated delivery as an alternative to a standalone device and move at least some validation experiments from agar/hydroponics to soil-based trials, and increase sample size.

For business plans, we should also research the GMO regulatory landscape in Taiwan and other countries, including the Philippines, Malaysia, and EU.

Event summary

We consulted Prof. Chang to evaluate the market feasibility and commercialization of our business plan. He gave overall feedback on our business plan, specifically, the regulatory classification, biosafety and containment, adoption barriers, and practical models such as equipment rental, subscription, and collaboration with agricultural organizations.

Impact and adaptation

In his reply, we learned that we should demonstrate a measurable reduction in crop yield losses and or improvement. He also mentioned the importance of addressing containment, regulation, organic farming requirements, costs, and specific applications before commercialization.

Event summary

By visiting the Smart Agriweek Exhibition, we learned that the main demographic that will be interested in our product is young farmers, but it also means that we need to find ways to convince older farmers to also adopt our product. Moreover, regulations will definitely be hard for us as a product that uses GMOs. Additionally, we now know that we have a pricing and value advantage, as our product counts as many products in one for a much lower price than it would take for a farmer to, for example, buy both BioBar and Agriweather’s products. Talking with them also allowed us to receive confirmation that government sectors are willing to help and subsidise products that are like ours if necessary (Refer to Entrepreneurship page).

Event summary

During the symposium, we received feedback from different professors. They mentioned that we need a deeper understanding of our experimental data and the ACCD mechanism.

Impact and adaptation

Their feedback emphasized the importance of having a clear data interpretation to support our experimental data. It also encouraged us to focus more on farmers’ demand and make our project narrative more problem-driven while presenting our scientific motivation and findings more clearly to different audiences and stakeholders.

Event summary

During the meeting with Director Wu, she mainly consulted us on regulation, adoption, cost, and business. This consultation highlighted the need to calculate the cost of operating ReLEAF, including labor, bacterial cultivation, and waste management. She also encouraged us to identify more commercially valuable crops that are vulnerable to environmental stress as our target crop in the business plan. It emphasized the need to demonstrate the effectiveness of the protectant, ensure biosafety, and treat agricultural waste.

Impact and adaptation

The interview made us narrow our crop focus, rework our cost and pricing story, and plan for regulation and adoption. In Dry Lab, we will investigate crop-specific stress patterns and update our regional data. For human practices and the business plan, we will account for hidden costs, evaluate different pricing and adoption models, and clarify the regulatory pathway and biosafety requirements. Additionally, based on Director Wu’s suggestion, we changed our target crop to cherry tomato and strawberry since rice is overabundant.

Event summary

During our meeting with Mr. Lu, we discussed his company’s business method and his bioreactor, along with asking him questions about the current market of farmers and how he thinks our bioreactor and AIoT can further improve. He advised us to also add a sensor and EC (electrical conductivity) for salinity, along with training our prediction model off of the historical data of the area and to continuously collect data. On the business side, he mentioned that since our bioreactor doesn’t connect to a farm’s irrigation system, it means that farmers have to go there and collect it themselves or use a drone. This means we have to justify the usage of our bioreactor when using a system like theirs that can just control and do everything for them is much more convenient. Mr. Lu also mentioned that we need a more specific adoption plan for farmers, along with the fact that products often pass and become popular by word of mouth, both between farmers and from Ag. Research Extension Branches or researchers that farmers trust.

Impact and adaptation

Coming out of the meeting with Mr. Lu, we gained a deeper understanding of how to format our APP, improve our hardware, and make it so that our business plan is more holistic. We will be focusing on 1 or 2 very specific crops for our project so that we can have a clearer demographic and create a better explanation for the value of having a sensor like ours instead of an automated system that sprays cheaper and easier to transport protectants.