In September 2012 one of the first international gatherings of researchers and industrial pioneers in the field of controlled environment agriculture took place. In Washington, Gene Giacomelli, Dickson Despommier, Toyoki Kozai and Gertjan Meeuws each presented their own perspective.

Prof. Dr. Dickson Despommier
Professor Dickson Despommier introduced the idea of vertical farming in urban skyscrapers, aiming to reduce agriculture’s land footprint and return farmland to nature. Through extensive discussions with his students he explored how urban vertical farms could contribute to future food systems in a world with a growing population. Dickson passed away on February 7, 2025.

Prof. Dr. Toyoki Kozai
Professor Toyoki Kozai has played a central role in the development of plant factory technology. Observing the decline of traditional farming in Japan and the aging of the farming population, he promoted the use of technology to make agriculture more productive and scientifically engaging again.
Prof. Gene Giacomelli
Professor Gene Giacomelli explored controlled environment agriculture for applications in space exploration. His work addressed the challenge of producing food during long-duration missions, where transporting seeds instead of large quantities of food makes crop cultivation in space a logical solution.

Our work
Our work developed in parallel with these perspectives. We focused on the mathematical relationships that determine plant growth and yield formation, which led to the development of the Plant Balance Model and to the exploration of fully controlled cultivation systems designed to optimize plant performance.