[INGENUITY]
ZOTPONICS Since 1995, UC Irvine’s Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program has offered students the opportunity to address important global research concerns under the tutelage of experienced faculty.
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Perhaps nothing is more important to the long-term success of the planet than sustainability, and one research group this year decided to tackle this global issue as it pertains to food. Undergraduate students Jason Chour Lim, Kathy M. Nguyen, Owen Kai Yang and Sidney Lau partnered with the Associated Students of UCI Sustainability Project & Garden Commission and the
UCI Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
FRESH Basic Needs Hub to develop an automated indoor hydroponics system for growing food in an urban environment. Called ZotPonics, the team’s creation features plants suspended in a red plastic tray inside a plexiglass cube equipped with LED strip lights and two small fans for temperature regulation. Sensors and activators control water and nutrient distribution to the plants’ roots, and the
