You Can Be Anything › All careers › Space & Emerging Fields
Vertical Farm Engineer
Designs indoor farming facilities that grow crops in stacked layers — using 95% less water than traditional farming.
Did you know?
The term 'vertical farming' comes from a 1915 book by Gilbert Ellis Bailey, though he meant something different from today's LED-lit indoor farms.
How subjects help
- Engineering: Design stacked shelves, pumps and lights that grow crops inside a warehouse.
- Biology: Choose the light colours and day length that help lettuce and herbs grow fast.
- Chemistry: Mix the nutrient solution plants grow in, balancing its minerals and acidity.
- Computer Science: Program sensors that adjust temperature, water and light automatically on every shelf.
A famous name
Dickson Despommier: Developed the modern vertical farm idea with his students from 1999 and wrote The Vertical Farm (2010).
Try it yourself: Build a paper bridge
- Put the books about a ruler apart and lay one flat sheet across the gap.
- Add coins to the middle one at a time. How many before it sags to the table?
- Now fold a new sheet into a zigzag (like a fan) or roll it into tubes, and test again.
- Which shape held the most? Can you beat your record with one more idea?
Engineers and builders do the same loop for real: build, load it, find the weak spot, improve the shape.
Also try: Pick the best growing conditions.
Known for it in
Singapore, Japan, Netherlands, USA, UAE