The UNACOMA Vision Event
At AgEng2008 in Crete in June 2008, EurAgEng will again be asking younger people to demonstrate their vision of agricultural and biological systems engineering in the future in the UNACOMA Vision Event. If the presentations at AgEng2002, AgEng2004 and AgEng2006 are anything to go by, it will be a high point in the conference!
Competition
At the Event, ‘young’ people (aged 35 or under) will present
papers on what they think will be important in the profession in years
to come. The ideas should show lateral thinking and should take into
account ecological and economic factors. Entrants will be allowed to
bring details of inventions and prototypes if appropriate, to demonstrate
their vision.
The prize
As in previous years, the winners will be rewarded with a generous cash
prize from UNACOMA, the Italian Farm Machinery Manufacturers Association.
How to enter
Anyone interested in entering is stronly advised to contact Constantino
Valero
(constantino.valero@upm.es) or Prof. Margarita Ruiz-Altisent
(margarita.ruiz.altisent@upm.es)
at the Polytechnic University of Madrid as soon as possible. They
will discuss ideas, offer coaching and advice and answer questions.
They won the prize in 2004 and know how to do it. After that, entrants
should send a half-page description of their ideas to Prof. Ruiz-Altisent
by the end of January 2008. The best entries will be invited to give
full presentations at the Vision Event at AgEng2008 in Hersonissos, Crete in June
2008.
The past
The winning entry at AgEng2006 was a paper on The
future of protected agriculture in arid regions: autonomous mobile robots
for quality and safety by Alfredo Sánchez-Gimeno and José Luis Guzmán-Sánchez,
both of University of Almería, Spain.
The winning presenter, Alfredo Sánchez receiving a cheque from Ettore Gasparetto.
An entry from University College, Dublin was the runner up with a paper on Integrating Engineering and Biology – The Final Frontier by Daniel Delahunty, Terence Delaney, Gerard Kennedy, Nicholas Lacey, Ciara McNestry, Timothy O’Connell, Domhnall O’Hanlon and Joseph Spollen.
At AgEng2004, the team (pictured below) from the Polytechnic University of Madrid won with a presentation and scale model of their glowing Greenfactory.
In 2002, a team from Holland (pictured below) won with an entertaining display of robot ants.
The Vision Event has built up a reputation for innovative thinking and enthusiastic presentations in an enjoyable atmosphere. If you are a 'young' person, do consider entering for the award in 2006.