"Research meets innovator" is a dynamic gathering designed to bring together horticulture researchers and innovative companies.
The event will begin with a welcome by GreenTech and short presentations from the two winners of the Innovation & Concepts Award. Following this, there will be speed-dating sessions where innovators and researchers engage in brief, focused conversations. A networking coffee break will follow, providing an opportunity for deeper discussions and connections.

Research meets innovator

The workplace is the best learning environment. Beanstalk assumes that all knowledge is already available.
As coach and trainer I am concerned with the individual people in the organization and I facilitate coaching processes to realize human growth.
Beanstalk helps to build future-proof companies in the agricultural sector by developing the people in the organization.
We approach learning and development of people as a growth process. We are continuously learning and developing! You can accelerate this process by working consciously and purposefully on development.  Together with Peter Klapwijk and Sjoerd Nieboer (family business 😊), we also organize away days for directors, management and entrepreneurs to reflect on leadership, trends, day to day activity and the future. 
I am also involved with Peter Klapwijk in the content and development of this Power day. Nice to meet you there.

Trainer/coach

Annie van de Riet is the President of AVAG, the association for the Dutch greenhouse technology sector. With a background in economic geography and extensive experience in both horticulture and advocacy, she is committed to driving the industry forward. AVAG represents 80 companies with a combined turnover of €3 billion, 80% of which comes from exports. These companies collaborate to develop quality standards, conduct research, and drive innovation in a pre-competitive environment. This collective effort has made the sector a global leader. A Dutch supplier is synonymous with state-of-the-art technology and top-quality solutions.

President

Alberto López is a Systems Engineer at Agritecture Consulting, where he advises on optimizing operations and energy performance for Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) facilities. With an MSc in Biosystems Engineering from Wageningen University and previous experience managing operations at GROWx’s vertical farm in Amsterdam, Alberto has extensive hands-on expertise in greenhouse and vertical farm design, climate control, and energy efficiency.
Throughout his career, Alberto has worked on cutting-edge projects including climate adaptation studies in Costa Rica, vertical farming system analyses with the German Aerospace Center (DLR), and plant selection methodologies for space missions. His deep technical knowledge, combined with practical industry experience, equips him to help growers innovate and improve sustainability and profitability in CEA ventures.

Systems Engineer

Specialist data-driven growing

Jouke Campen became an engineer in Applied Physics at the Technical University of Delft, specialized in heat and mass transfer. He started working at Wageningen UR in 1997. His main field of research is energy and climate control in protected horticulture. He finished his PhD on dehumidification of greenhouses October 2009. Currently he is the coordinator of the energy program of the ministry of Agriculture in The Netherlands involving annually 7 million EURO of projects on reducing energy use in the Dutch protected horticultural sector. Aside of this task he is international project manager for the last 20 years working on numerous projects all around the world.

International Project Manager

Technical Consultant

Marketing Manager

Laura van de Kreeke is a passionate advocate for sustainable food systems and one of the original farmers at Growy, a vertical farming company changing the way food is grown. Committed to making tasty, healthy, and affordable food accessible to all, Laura plays a key role in Growy’s mission to help create a more sustainable and resilient food ecosystem.

Farmer

Ronald Hoek is CEO and co-founder of Blue Radix, a pioneering company revolutionizing horticulture through AI-driven solutions. With a profound commitment to sustainable greenhouse production, Ronald spearheads innovations that optimize crop yields while minimizing resource usage. With the Blue Radix team he unlocks the value of Autonomous Growing for greenhouse companies worldwide.

Learn to grow! 
Beanstalk stimulates the growth and development of people and organizations within the horticulture sector. We create an inspiring learning environment for all who work in our beautiful sector. A place to explore and develop talents, where your company is supported to evolve towards a future-proof (self-learning) organization.

Trainer

Niko Simos is an Operations Associate at Agritecture Consulting, specializing in vertical farming, project management, and sustainable food systems development. With a background in agricultural sciences from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and an ongoing MSc in Land, Water, Energy Resources, and Rural Environment Management, Niko brings a strong foundation in CEA research and practice. His research includes studying yield optimization for leafy greens under innovative vertical farming systems with artificial lighting.
At Agritecture, Niko manages daily operations across marketing, consulting, and business development, supporting strategic partnerships and delivering CEA workshops globally. His industry publications focus on advancing vertical farming practices, and he is passionate about leveraging technology and collaboration to create resilient food systems for the future.

Operations Associate

Lija Groenewoud van Vliet is the co-founder and creative director of In4Art. As an independent institute for art-driven responsible technological innovations, In4Art is interested in making connections between science, technology and the arts. The organisation’s work focuses on creating space for experiments that enable responsible innovations to be envisioned and brought into being.

Creative Director

WR Onderzoeker

Senior Research Scientist

David de Best is a scientist at the Data Science department of TNO since 2023. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in mathematics (2020) and computer science (2020) and a master’s degree in mathematics (2023) from Utrecht University, focusing on graph theory, graph algorithms and parallel algorithms. Within TNO he works on semantic interoperability, ontology engineering and applications for knowledge graphs in the agricultural and other domains.
In practice, the goal is often to connect many different sources in a semantically standardised way, such that communication of data becomes unambiguous and well aligned. This allows for easy integration of new data sources into a network. The main use case within in the greenhouse domain is his work on the Common Greenhouse Ontology and its application within the CODIT project.

Scientist Innovator

Head of Plant Science

Born and raised in the heart of the Dutch Westland, Renko Schuil has been immersed in fresh food production from an early age. His career in the Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) industry spans over two decades, during which he has gained extensive expertise across various facets of the sector. From hardware and growing systems to climate control, lighting, logistics, and automation, Renko has developed a comprehensive understanding of the intricate relationships between these key components. His broad experience enables him to take a holistic approach, helping growers and industry leaders optimize their operations with innovative solutions.
Renko is now representing TTA-ISO as Sales Manager Food. At TTA-ISO, ‘Food’ refers to all edible and medicinal crops grown in controlled environments, from high-tech greenhouses to fully enclosed vertical farms. With a strong focus on plant handling and processing, TTA-ISO applies its 25+ years of expertise in robotics and automation to develop turnkey solutions that improve efficiency and consistency in indoor farming.

Sales Manager Food

R&D Manager

Luuk Graamans is a researcher from Wageningen Research, where he researches high-tech greenhouses and vertical farms in the business unit Greenhouse Horticulture. Our recent research focuses on the effects of the Energy Transition on the technical design of greenhouses. We will present the KasEnergieWijzer, an intuitive tool to design and calculate the performance of the greenhouses of the future.

Researcher

Business and product development for data driven innovations in the horticulture market. Solid background in the field of software development, energy technology and product development. Passionate about new technology, especially AI, robotics and analytics. 
As Chief Product Officer of Blue Radix responsible for the product strategy, data science development, technical ecosystem and HR.

Chief Product Officer

Dr Harrison is the Managing Director of the Plant Sciences Group, which comprises approximately 1400 staff split across 20 chair groups in Wageningen University and 8 Business Units within Wageningen Plant Research. In the Netherlands he is a member of the Top Team Tuinbouw en Uitgangsmaterialen, representing all Dutch Knowledge Insitutes . He provides strategic oversight of several programme boards for large regional and national initiatives on behalf of Wageningen U&R.  He is an honorary  professor at the University of Birmingham,UK. 
Previously he was an executive Director at NIAB (UK) with overall responsibility for NIAB’s portfolio of arable genetics, pathology, biotechnology, data science and crop characterisation. Alongside that he led NIAB’s contribution to the Crop Science Centre, the alliance between the University of Cambridge and NIAB, designed to bridge the gap between discovery science and societal impact. This alliance has received significant philanthropic support and rapidly established its position in the national innovation landscape. Prior to his role in Cambridge, he worked at East Malling as head of genetics, where he specialised in horticultural genetics and genomics of fruit crops.  
Dr Harrison has a PhD in evolutionary systems biology. His research group has worked to understand the evolution and genetic basis of complex traits, such as interactions between plants and microbes. Outputs have included scientific knowledge, tools, techniques and products to underpin the sustainable development of the agricultural, horticultural and food industries, using both breeding and biotechnology solutions. His group was among the first to implement gene editing techniques in key horticultural crops and in fungi used for alternative protein production. Through collaborative work with industrial partners, he and his team have delivered disease resistance traits into multiple commercial breeding programmes, as well as having initiated new public-private breeding programmes funded by global partners.

Managing Director Plant Science Group

Project Manager

Senior Principal Engineer

Mariska Dreschler has more than 25 years of experience in entrepreneurship, business strategy, business development and event management. As Director of Horticulture, GreenTech Global at the RAI Amsterdam, she supports the global food- and flower production industry by organizing trade fairs for these communities to connect, both face-2-face and digital. The GreenTech portfolio consists of GreenTech Amsterdam as the worldwide leading trade show on horticulture technologies and GreenTech Americas as the regional trade show in Mexico.

Director Horticulture - GreenTech Global

Business Manager

Co-founder & Chief Research & Development Officer

Vakredacteur vakblad voor de bloemisterij

Manager Delphy Digital

Product manager

Tom Zoellner is a proven expert for innovative agri-tech initiatives and has 25 years’ experience in agricultural consulting as well as in being in the forefront with innovation and resilience solutions in the agriculture community. Tom helped initiate and develop numerous major international projects for acclaimed agriculture innovation showcases in the US, CH, DE and the Benelux and has a MSc. in environmental policy from the Bard Graduate Center for Sustainablity, New York.
He is the co-founder and the secretary-general of the FarmTech Society based in Brussels with many years being part of the agriculture expert networks and policy development working groups in the US and the EU.

Secretary-General

Manager Smart Growing

As a biologist, Johanna Bac-Molenaar is inspired by the nature around her. She is fascinated by the wondrous processes that ensure that inanimate things come to life. During her studies in biology and in her PhD research, she specialized in the study of plants and their interaction with the environment. She currently works as a 'Plant Health' researcher at the Greenhouse Horticulture business unit of Wageningen University and Research. Strengthening the plant's natural defenses against diseases and pests is central to many of her projects. Because she is involved in many strawberry projects, she also became a specialist in strawberry cultivation. Cultivation choices, such as type of substrate, fertilization, irrigation strategy, light spectrum, plant density, influence the natural defenses of the plant. Her goal is to work on resilient cultivation systems where increasing plant resilience is supported by the aforementioned cultivation choices.

Researcher Plant Health

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rikclymans/

Research coordinator greenhouse vegetables

Kjell holds a MSc in Plant sciences with a specialization in Greenhouse Horticulture from Wageningen University. Kjell’s research focused on the effects of light intensity and spectrum on the growth and development of medical cannabis.
As a cannabis cultivation consultant, Kjell is involved in multiple growing and research projects. Kjell oversees the daily operations at the “Cultivation for Compounds” consortium on behalf of Cultivators. Kjell is also one of the main teachers of the “Operational Excellence Training” project, hosting both lectures and practical sessions on the cultivation of medical cannabis. He can also be found advising growers around Europe.

Cultivation consultant - Project Manager

CO- Founder

Director of Business Development & Sustainability

Joost holds a Master's degree in Biosystems Engineering from Wageningen University. With a strong technical background, he specializes in developing strawberry cultivation planning and management software at Delphy. Joost leverages his expertise to create data-driven solutions that enable growers to improve their cultivation practices.

Cultivation Engineer Soft Fruit

Jacob Boxhoorn is a seasoned Technical Sales Consultant at Bosman Van Zaal specializing in multidisciplinary projects with a special interest for optimal internal logistics. Jacob earned his BA in Mechanical Engineering and his MSc in Financial Management at Nyenrode University. 
After gaining experience since 2001 in the design and execution of multiple international projects Jacob took on his commercial role in 2018. 
Bosman Van Zaal is a leading specialist in horticultural technology, with more than 100 years of experience and currently 300 employees worldwide.
It offers a wide range of products and services for greenhouses and indoor farms. Whether it's cultivation systems, climate control, lighting, irrigation, construction, vertical farms or software: Bosman Van Zaal is your one-stop-shop partner for Turnkey projects, all in the field of Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA).
Jacob has a leading role in the design and installation of what is seen as one of the worlds most advanced vertical farms. This facility is designed for growing and packing salad leaves into retail-ready bags. It includes all farming and packhouse operations including logistics and robotics for the process of seeding, picking and placing, germination, harvesting, mixing and packing. As the product is grown ready-to-eat without washing meticulous attention was given to the hygienic design of all elements of the farm.

Technical Sales Consultant

Tom Webster is the Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder at award-winning vertical farming business, GrowUp Farms. 
Since 2013, Tom has worked with Co-Founder Kate Hofman to take the concept of vertical farming from a small unit in London to a huge vertical farm in Kent, UK. GrowUp is a certified B Corp, using 100% renewable energy to produce their salads, which are distributed through major UK retailers such as Tesco, Iceland, and SPAR.
As Chief Technology Officer, Tom leads on plant science, data, and optimisation of our state-of-the-art controlled environment production systems that grow tasty, ready-to-eat leafy greens with minimal environmental impact.
In 2017, Tom was featured in the Forbes 30 under 30 list for his work addressing some of the fundamental flaws in the agricultural systems in a way that contributes to a more sustainable society.

Rien Kamman is the CEO and co-founder of Source.ag, the leading provider of AI solutions for fruit and vegetable growers. Rien and his co-founder Ernst van Bruggen (CPO) started the company in November 2020 after meeting during their studies. Source.ag's technology offers real-time, customized advice to growers on how to optimize their crop growth and helps them to start, run, and expand a successful farming business. Before founding Source.ag, Rien worked for over 8 years at Boston Consulting Group, where he led data science teams that developed custom AI software for some of the world's largest corporations. Rien studied Mechanical Engineering at TU Delft and earned an MBA from Columbia University in New York.

Managing Director

Researcher Greenhouse Technology

Senior Manager - Strategic Development

For the past 20 years Jorik Bremer MSc, has been on the forefront of industry disruptions and operated in the centre of new technological advances. Having worked at large companies (e.g Microsoft) and founding several technology startups his focus has been on the agricultural industry for many years. Backed by Google R&D Jorik launched the world's first purpose-built industry cloud for agriculture in the EMEA region for India based Cropin. As a director he currently oversees international growth at Hudson River Biotechnology, a CRISPR gene editing company based out of Wageningen the Netherlands.

Director Sales

chair of association "De Versnellers"

Senior Plant Scientist

Green architect, inspirator and strategist.

Director

Tisha Livingston is the CEO of Infinite Acres, a wholly owned subsidiary of 80 Acres farms.  The company was originally founded as a global joint venture between the Dutch company Priva, a greenhouse technology company, an American indoor farming company, 80 Acres Farms and the British Ocado Group, U.K.’s largest online grocer.
Prior to forming Infinite Acres, Tisha was the co-founder and President of 80 Acres Farms, a pioneer in the field of vertical farming in the United States, where they grow, operate, sell and distribute the freshest vegetables and herbs delivered to supermarkets and restaurants year round. In her prior role, Tisha was Chief Operating Officer of Sager Creek Vegetable Company, a Division of Del Monte Foods. She connected with many American farmers and valued the role of local food in enabling stronger and healthier communities. She brings to 80 Acres Farms her strong track record of growing revenues, reducing costs and enhancing capital efficiencies.
Tisha began her career in the food industry over 25 years ago, encompassing Finance, Manufacturing, Procurement, Warehousing, Logistics, Demand Managing, Planning, S & OP, Quality, R & D, Business Intelligence, IT, and Engineering.

Global Sales Director

Executive Director

Monika earned her Master’s in Research Architecture at the University of London Goldsmith College in 2011, having previously graduated in Social Design, Design Academy Eindhoven and the Estonian Academy of Arts. Monika is interested in reading of contemporary political issues within a constructed, real or imaginary architecture. through all stages of design and construction projects in Estonia and London.
 
Monika joined CRA in 2012. She currently acts as a COO and Partner-in-Charge, leading research and planning projects in the urban environment. She has been involved in CRA projects such as CapitaSpring, the Italian Pavilion in EXPO Dubai and masterplans in the Middle East.

Urban design, Partner-in-Charge, COO

As the Cluster Manager of High Tech Greenhouses at TNO, I manage the business development, knowledge development, and operations of a team that combines relevant technologies and expertise to create innovative solutions for the greenhouse horticulture sector. With over 20 years of experience at TNO, I have a proven track record of building consortia, initiating projects, and delivering results that contribute to a more sustainable built environment and food production.
My main drivers are a passion for working on a more sustainable world, a broad interest in technology, and the ability to make connections between people and stakeholders. Some of the remarkable projects that I have been involved in are the Greenhouse of the Future, the Food Production Unit for Mars, the Energy Indicators for Greenhouses, and the System Integration for Greenhouse Concepts. I also founded the Fieldlab Greenhouse Horticulture, a facility that serves as a marketplace for innovation where growers, suppliers, and TNO meet and discuss innovations. I am always eager to learn, explore new opportunities, and collaborate with partners who share my vision and enthusiasm.

Business Developer

Egon Janssen is Manager Greenhouse horticulture at TNO. In this function he is a broker between innovation needs of growers, suppliers and TNO’s experts. The main drivers of Egon Janssen are a broad interest in technology, the ability of making connections between people and a lot of enthusiasm. After finishing his Msc Structural engineering in 1998 he started his career at TNO. Remarkable projects are Greenhouse of the future, presented on the Floriade 2002, the development of a Food production unit for use on MARS (2004) and the development of energy indicators to reduce energy use of greenhouses. In 2004 he formed the greenhouse horticulture team within TNO, combining all relevant technologies (greenhouse structure, water technology, energy, light, CO2, ICT, Robotics and logistics). To make an easy entry to the knowledge of TNO he founded the Fieldlab greenhouse horticulture in 2007. This facility, nowadays known as World Horti Centre is a marketplace for innovation where growers, suppliers and TNO meet and discuss innovations. In greenhouse units new technologies are demonstrated on small scale, where after research and development projects are started. In 2017 he started a strategic partnership with Hortivation. TNO is developing new knowledge and transfers this to the companies associated with Hortivation.

cluster manager High Tech Greenhouses

My 15 years in Horticutlrue have been paved with enormus passion for growing plants. It's been an ongoing jurney, from managing tree nursery production in continental climate in Bosnia, to overseeing hi-tech vegetable production in the Omani desert, my experiences have been very rewarding and uplifting. 
Without neglecting my main passion, growing, I’ve developed into substrate industry consultancy, drawing inspiration from the stunning Nordic landscapes. My passion lies in helping fellow growers optimize their crop performance by analyzing their crop data set and selecting the ideal growing media solution.
Last years I've put my energy and focus into helping growers transition easily into new future and start learning about new generation of growing media.  
I’m grateful for the opportunity to share experiences and consult with various growers across the globe. Not only with the growers who use high tech facilities, but also with the ones that are just staring to enter soiless growing practices.
From North American leafy greens and ornamental growers to Chinese blueberry growers in Yunnan, I do my best to help them choose the optimal substrate solution and use their crop resources in the best way.

Director, Portfolio Management

Bas is one of the project leaders at the Delphy Improvement Centre where he focuses on energy efficiency and crop health. He has experience in several horticultural crops including vegetables and ornamentals. After receiving his Master of Science degree in Plant Sciences at Wageningen University & Research, he worked as a crop health specialist. The experience and knowledge he has gained during this period are now applied in energy efficiency research.

Director of Business Development at Skytree, who develops and deploys smart technology that captures atmospheric carbon dioxide, enabling its use or storage to combat climate change and aid society and businesses around the world.

Business Development Director

Paolo de Heer is working as data science consultant at the Digital Built Environment department of TNO. His research interests are artificial intelligence and optimisation, and he is currently the lead of the ‘computational models & tooling’ technology line of the department. In the High-Tech Greenhouses team of TNO, he advises on algorithms and modelling. Further more, he is also leading the AI team of the unit Mobility & Built Environment. He has a strong operational & long-term view, connecting people and knowledge through his extensive network and knack for effective and inspiring communication.

Data Science Consultant

Lead data science for robotics

Roel Janssen is the head of Business Development  at Planet Farms, a technology company that builds and operates fully autonomous vertical farms at scale. Before devoting his work full-time to Planet Farms Roel spent 13 years at Signify (previously known as Philips Lighting), where he was the Global Director for City Farming. In his years at Signify Roel became an industry expert in the field of vertical farming and has been invited to speak and share his views all around the globe. He was also a guest lecturer at the HAS University of Applied Science in the Netherlands. Roel graduated Business Administration in Eindhoven, where he still lives with his wife and 2 kids. Next to growing plants in a sustainable way Roel has a great passion for wine, which resulted in a WSET 3 certification.

Head of Business Development

Connecting people and organisations, address sustainability challenges, facilitate cross-disciplinary collaborations and find innovative solutions is my passion.  Connect business partners with the well-known knowledge institute Wageningen Plant Research in order to enforece collaboration and making it possible that knowledge and innovative ideas finds its way to the market and vice versa

Program Manager

Senoir Architect

Chairman Caring Doctors

The team Rootzone Dynamics from Wageningen University & Research BU Greenhouse Horticulture focuses on investigating processes around the plant roots and in the irrigation system. Research topics: alternative growing media, microbiology, belowground phytopathology, water quality, fertigation and virology. My personal focus has been on the application of water technology to achieve a zero-emission cultivation system with optimal recirculation water quality: prevent distribution of diseases via water, removal of plant protection products from discharge water, optimization of filtration and selective ion removal. Focus is on finding technologies that have specific effects on water quality, without inhibiting plant productivity, for example for prevention of biofilm formation in irrigation lines. The role of water composition and treatment on the rootzone microbiology is another topic that still requires a lot of attention.

Team lead Rootzone Dynamics

Maarten Ameye obtained his PhD at Ghent University in 2017. He focused on the use of innovative ways of protecting plants against fungal pathogens. In his post-doc at Ghent University, he spearheaded the deployment of multispectral phenotyping in plant-pathogen interactions.
From 2021 he started working as research leader at Inagro of the research cluster Controlled Environment Agriculture. He is responsible for setting out the short and long term research objectives and strategy. Special focus is paid on ensuring a sustainable primary production through circular economy, efficient use of resources and smart technologies in greenhouses. His group is involved in several regional, and international projects connecting fundamental science partners with farmers. Using science-based insights to safeguard horticulture production for the future is the mission of his group.

Research Coordinator Controlled Enviroment Agriculture

Tenair

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