Global food demand is increasing, and climate change is making it increasingly difficult for farms to meet this demand, especially in hot, arid regions like the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), where population growth and water scarcity place additional pressure on agricultural systems. Controlled environment agriculture (CEA), particularly greenhouse-based production, offers a promising pathway for local food production in these desert-like environments. However, greenhouses have high energy and water demands that present a hurdle for scaling local crop production, with climate control accounting for 65-85% of greenhouse energy use. While models such as KASPRO have been developed to simulate greenhouse performance, these are tailored to different climates and are not designed for the local-scale production needs of the MENA region. This project addresses the question: how can greenhouse cooling be optimized to reduce water consumption without increasing energy use in hot, arid climates? The project will develop and simulate an energy and water balance model to evaluate various greenhouse cooling strategies, including evaporative cooling, natural ventilation, hybrid cooling, and shading, benchmarking results against the KASPRO model and values reported in literature where possible. My role will involve researching greenhouse technologies for hot, arid climates, comparing cooling design options, and helping develop a model to evaluate system performance, working closely with my research supervisor. Anticipated deliverables include a quantified comparison of cooling strategies, identification of the optimal strategy for sustainable, local-scale greenhouses in the MENA region, and a final technical paper or presentation summarizing the design process, results, and recommendations.

I am excited about this project because it allows me to apply my thermal-fluids engineering background to a rigorous, interdisciplinary problem that could have a significant social and environmental impact. Specifically, I will help improve the sustainability and feasibility
of food production in water- and energy-constrained environments. I look forward to strengthening my skills in energy modeling, simulation, and optimization, while also improving my professional communication and collaboration skills in a graduate-level environment.