Innovation Award for Malaysian vertical farming concept
The Innovation Award, sponsored by Illumitex, was announced on Monday, May 30, 2016. The winning team will receive $5,000 and team leader Zhao Wei Kim will attend the AVF Summit and GreenTech Conference, held in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Each team was reviewed by a panel of judges: Christine Gould, Dr. Dickson Despommier, Mike Gould, Tobias Peggs, Jasper den Besten, and Paul Hardej. Judges were given a rubric with categories including: economic viability, sustainability, aesthetics, innovation, and education.
“We received almost 30 entries which ranged in design and scope, making it difficult to choose a winner, said Paul Hardej, VP of Turnkey Lighting Solutions at Illumitex. “This competition proved that vertical farming can be applied in many geographical and physical locations as a practical and sustainable solution to some of the challenges in the agriculture and food industries.”
Team Inter-Farm-Market created a vertical farming concept that focuses on community support by forming a mini-ecosystem that empowers people. The team spent about three months to complete their contest submission and communicated online with each other to finish each milestone.
“The main goal is to reinvent the image of local market buildings, which is usually the node of a town, into a green and recreational place to be,” said Team Inter-Farm-Market.
Team VeGaN from the Netherlands came in at a close second place, earning the title of the Changemaker Award and $3,000, sponsored by Thought for Food. Team IMPACKT Farm from Madrid, Spain, came in third place winning the Explorer Award and $1,500, sponsored by Globumbus.
“I am totally thrilled to be able to present our idea to the summit as we really hope this idea will become a reality. From the presentation, we intend to search for possible collaboration,” said Zhao Wei Kim.
For more information
Illumitex, Inc.
KellyWilson
T:512-279-1828
www.illumitex.com