Alumnus testimonial
Research in Greenhouse Horticulture
My name is Anna Selini Petropoulou and I come from Greece. I graduated from the Biosystems Engineering program in Wageningen. My previous educational background consists of a BSc degree in Agriculture and a MSc degree in Hydraulics, Soil Sciences and Agricultural Engineering at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
I have the opportunity to participate in cutting-edge research projects that combine IoT, AI, and climate modelling.
Internationally acclaimed researchers
Protected horticulture, and particularly, greenhouse production appealed to me, for offering opportunities for automation, control and practical sustainable solutions. Due to my passion in horticulture, I decided to pursue this MSc with focus in the Farm Technology track. During my studies I had the opportunity to work with internationally acclaimed researchers who shared their knowledge and experiences with me. My thesis project was in collaboration with the Climate and Energy group of the Greenhouse Horticulture Business Unit of Wageningen University and Research. There I studied the effect of different lighting systems, HPS and LEDs, on the resource use efficiency for tomato cultivation. In my internship I explored machine learning techniques for predicting crop status using data collected with weighing gutter systems. With these topics I gained experience in both mechanistic and statistical modelling for greenhouse production systems.
After my studies
Directly after the completion of my studies until today, I work as a Researcher in the Greenhouse Horticulture Business Unit of WUR. I am part of an international group developing sustainable concepts for crop productions and innovative technologies in climate control, greenhouse construction and energy saving. Results of my work, are the simulation and evaluation of greenhouse climate and crop data, for the development of intelligent algorithms that can improve our understanding in underlying cultivation processes, increase their efficiency and support growers in strategic and operational decision making. I have the opportunity to participate in cutting-edge research projects that combine IoT, AI, climate modelling to promote innovation and automation for sustainable greenhouse management systems.
Solving real-world problems
The Biosystems Engineering program prepares its graduates to design engineering solutions through various types of challenging topics. A great part of being a master student of this program is the chance to get acquainted with technologies and data to solve real-word problems in the field of precision agri- horticulture with application as remote sensing and modelling among others. As a student I gained high quality academic and practical knowledge that I implement in my professional day-to-day work.
For more information regarding my activities and the Greenhouse Horticulture Business Unit visit our website or contact me via anna.petropoulou@wur.nl.