Tech center sparks growth for farmers and students
By his own admission, Enrique Martinez is no farmer. He doesn’t even own a plant.
“My mom has a lot of plants. She’s a big plant person,” said Martinez, who graduated in May. “She likes flowers and gardening, all that stuff. And I’m like, ‘Don’t involve me.’”
The information and cybersecurity technology student is part of a smart agriculture senior capstone project through the ECU Center for IoT Engineering and Innovation, where students are using technology to help farmers make informed decisions.
IoT, or Internet of Things, describes physical objects that are embedded with sensors, processing ability, software and other technologies that connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the internet or other communication networks. At ECU, the center is part of the College of Engineering and Technology and develops tools for areas such as environmental monitoring, water management, smart farming and building management. At the core of that work is PITON — Platform for IoT Open Networks — which collects and analyzes real-time data from sensors.
“These stakeholders who do not have deep technological expertise need the tools, such as PITON, but also the education and the innovation guidance to find creative solutions to today’s problems,” said Ciprian Popoviciu, center director and associate professor in the Department of Technology Systems.
One of those solutions is taking shape in a greenhouse outside Wilson at The Source, a smart agriculture test site operated by Greenlight Community Broadband and RIoT, a 12-year-old organization that started in Raleigh, with support from the city of Wilson and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
There, ECU students installed and manage sensors that track air temperature, humidity, soil moisture and pH, allowing growers to monitor crops and control conditions remotely.
“We’re able to wirelessly communicate and have an online dashboard and be able to set and manage all these things online,” said Koray Neely, an information and cybersecurity technology major from Wake Forest who also graduated in May. “That’s really where this ties in with having an ICT degree. … You need it to be secure.”
For students, the project shows how technology can solve problems for people.
“The idea of integrating agriculture with technology and seeing how technology can make farmers’ lives better and much easier, I think that’s pretty cool,” Martinez said.
Popoviciu said the work reflects ECU’s mission of student success, public service and regional transformation.
“It provides students a unique, hands-on learning experience where they get a chance to apply the knowledge acquired at ECU and learn how to run a real-life project while having clear and positive impact,” he said.