When tech companies and universities team up, growers succeed

Added on 15 January 2024

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When tech companies and universities team up, growers succeed

In October, GLASE held its Summit in Leamington, Ontario, where attendees went on a tour of Horteca, a cucumber greenhouse operation. Photo: Gretchen Schimelpfenig

Tech companies and universities are partnering to jointly generate ideas, test them in the field, and commercialize them. While one group is for-profit and the other isn’t, the two pair well together. When tech companies partner with research institutions to bring new ideas from research into production, growers benefit, too. White papers and trial results from these partnerships are unbiased and repeatable, allowing growers to evaluate and make solid decisions about new methods or equipment.

GLASE (Greenhouse Lighting and Systems Engineering) is based out of Cornell University and includes researchers from Cornell, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Rutgers University. Founded on a public-private membership model, GLASE has an industry advisory board. Although initially funded by NYSERDA (New York State Energy Research and Development Authority), they’re not limited to government-sponsored projects.

“Via our Industry Advisory Board, we also perform our research with the input of the tech companies and the growers, the utilities, and other stakeholders,” says Gretchen Schimelpfenig, Executive Director of GLASE. “I would say that GLASE stands firmly in the academic arena, but we have endeavored since our creation to get buy-in from our private industry members.”

GLASE acts as a facilitator between academia and industry.