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.

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 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

system sends status notifications to users – who can optimize the environment for specific water, sunlight and nutrient needs via a mobile app.

Quoc-Viet Dang (pictured far left), electrical engineering and computer science assistant professor of teaching and the ZotPonics team’s faculty mentor, believes the project helps students give back to the UCI community by introducing hydroponic gardening as a way to grow fresh produce in tight spaces.

“We’re losing backyards, so lots of people can’t grow their own food, especially in urban centers like Irvine,” he says. “Hydroponics systems are simple and available for indoor spaces, so if you want to be sustainable, your best option can be hydroponics. With the app connected to the system, people can learn on their own. Using technology to promote sustainable and compact growing spaces will help ensure that in the future we always have fresh food.”

The team hopes to build 12 or more ZotPonics systems in the next couple of years and distribute them to the FRESH hub and other groups in need of sustainable growing options.