Telofarm Inc. Founded by SNU Professor Lee Junghoon Wins the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment Award at UAE

- Top Award of Innovation in Agriculture and Air Quality Sector at 2018 Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week
- Present the Potentiality of Future Agriculture Incorporating ICT Technology


▲ SNU Department of Mechanical And Aerospace Engineering Professor Lee Junghoon (Left),
Professor Lee Winning the MoCEE Award of Innovation in Agriculture and Air Quality Sector (Right)

 
SNU College of Engineering (Dean Cha Kook-Heon) announces on 23^rd that Professor Lee Junghoon (Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering) has won the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MoCCE) Award of the Innovation in Agriculture and Air Quality Sector at the Climate Innovation Exchange (CLiX) of the 2018 Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
 
Telofarm Inc. founded by Professor Lee was launched as an affiliated company of Seoul Technology Holdings (CEO Park Dongwon) on February 21^st, 2017 and is currently sponsored by the Tech Incubator Program for Startup (TIPS) program of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. Only six months after its launch, Telofarm Inc. has succeeded in commercializing agricultural sensors, which are already being supplied and delivered. This technology, with the implementation of ICT, has demonstrated the potentiality of innovative future agriculture and has allowed Telofarm Inc. to be nominated as the winner of the top award of “UAE MoCCE Award”.
 
CLiX is a major sector of the 2018 ADSW, which is an international event on the environment where over 30,000 people visit annually. It invites venture companies working in the areas of air quality, clean mobility, and innovation agriculture to host investment competitions, lectures, and exhibitions.
 
This year, over 312 teams around the world applied for participation and Telofarm Inc. was chosen as the only Korean venture of the Innovation in Agriculture and Air Quality Sector to pass the preliminaries. At the finals, Professor Lee successfully made a speech on investment attraction of venture companies, including their technology, management, and future plans, to finally be nominated as the MoCCE Award laureate.
 
Professor Lee also took part in a panel discussion with the UAE’s Minster of Food and Agriculture, an American investment company CEO, and Netherland’s former Minister of Food and Agriculture. His suggestion to apply engineering technology on food problems in hostile environment received much appraisal. This discussion has been broadcasted globally through the World Energy TV (https://www.worldenergytv.org).
 
In addition, Professor Lee also lectured to the local students on cases where Korean agricultural technology was implemented with ICT. He received applaud from the students for demonstrating new possibilities of agriculture in desert areas like UAE. Other than the lecture, Professor Lee also appeared on numerous major broadcasting like Dubai Eye to publicize Telofarm Inc. and Korea’s ICT technology to the Middle East.
 
Furthermore, Telofarm’s plant precision sensor technology was also displayed at the CLiX agriculture exhibition. High-ranking government officials like Minister of State Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Environment, and Minister of Education who are close to the crown prince showed exceptional interest in this technology.
 
Telofarm Inc. has received numerous investment proposals from companies participating in this event and is currently working on establishing a foreign branch in UAE. This joint corporation aims to develop technology specialized in agricultural innovation and climate change of extreme conditions and eventually lead space farming after successful manned missions to Mars.
 
Telofarm’s mass-manufacturing procedure of agricultural sensor was developed at SNU’s Inter-university Semiconductor Research Center. Micro sensor probes attached to plant’s stem can measure sap flow in plant stems and nutrient concentrations. Using this information, water and fertilizer supply is controlled and drainage waste is minimized.
 
Professor Lee states, “Synthesis of Korea’s world-class IT technology with the agricultural wisdom of our ancestors has given Korea the chance, after thousands of years, to open a new frontier and lead the future of humanity. It is our ambition to use urban agriculture to turn Seoul into a Tech Mecca that can send humans to Mars.”
 

▲ Professor Lee Making a Speech on Investment Attraction of Telofarm Inc.
 

▲ Professor Lee Participating in a Panel Discussion



▲ Professor Lee on a TV Show Explaining Telofarm’s Technology



▲ Telofarm’s Technology on Display at the Agricultural Exhibition


▲ Micro Probe Sensors Attached to Tomato Stem for Sap Flow Measurement