简介

Dr. Joel Cuello is a globally recognized expert in the engineering of sustainable biological and agricultural innovations. His technical expertise in both engineering and biology provides the platform for the engineering of agricultural and biological systems with emphasis in optimizing performance while fostering resource sustainability and environmental protection. Dr. Cuello conducted his postdoctoral research in the Controlled Ecological Life Support System Division at NASA John F. Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida as a U.S. National Research Council Postdoctoral Research Associate. He earned his Ph.D. in Agricultural & Biological Engineering, with Minor in Chemical Engineering, from The Pennsylvania State University in 1994. He also earned two M.S. degrees (Agricultural & Biological Engineering; Plant Physiology) from The Pennsylvania State University, and obtained his B.S. in Agricultural Engineering (cum laude) from the University of the Philippines at Los Banos. Dr. Cuello is a lifetime Visiting Professor at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China and a Faculty Fellow at the Innovation Center of the Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines. He has designed, constructed and implemented varied types of engineered agricultural or biological innovations, including those applied in bioregenerative space life support, crop hydroponics, plant tissue culture, micropropagation, industrial mass production of algae and plant cell and microbial cultures for production of biomass, nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, etc. He is co-inventor of the patented algae photobioreactor -- the Accordion photobioreactor -- and is the creator of the Minimally Structured, Modular and Prefabricated Vertical Farm (the Vertical Greenbox® Solution), considered an archetypal design for Vertical Farming 2.0. Dr. Cuello has lectured and has been invited as Guest or Keynote Speaker in numerous countries all over the world, including Brazil, China, South Korea, Israel, Palestine, Germany, United Kingdom, Canada, Chile, Mexico, Norway, Philippines, India, Italy, Jordan, Egypt, Japan, Australia, Spain, Singapore, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. He is an active member of a number of scientific and professional societies, having served as officer of technical committees for the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) and the Institute of Biological Engineering (IBE). He recently served as President of the Arizona Chapter of the ASABE, and is a member of the Steering Committee for the annual Global Forum for Innovations in Agriculture (GFIA). Dr. Cuello has been inducted as member of three U.S. professional honor societies, including the U.S. National Honor Society of Engineering, the U.S. Honor Society of Agriculture, and the U.S. Honor Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineering. He was elected to the Philippine-American Academy of Science & Engineering in 2012, and was the 2012 Recipient of the Excellence in Global Education Award by The University of Arizona’s Global Initiative Program. Dr. Cuello is a 2015 Recipient of the I-Squared Award (Innovation & Impact) conferred by Tech Launch Arizona.