Food Hub Development, Engineering Management
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aesthetics steam turbine vertical farming mills renovationWe are working with Domtar Paper Mill in Dryden, Ontario to establish a new food hub that includes indoor vertical farming, a new outdoor greenhouse, commercial vendors, food preparers, and a non-profit food distribution hub. The old sawmill building (picture included indicating site) needs extensive renovations to be made suitable for an agricultural and commercial venture.
In addition, the facility will be integrated with the Domtar Paper Mill to harvest waste heat, power, and carbon, establishing a first-of-its-kind carbon negative indoor farming operation. The integration with the Mill's combined heat and power (CHP) steam turbine generator will be a complex challenge on its own.
Since we are converting to a commercial venture, improving the aesthetics of the site will be necessary, as the City of Dryden wishes to establish this as an AgriTourism location.
Benjamin has taught independent studies, led capstone projects, and fulfilled internships/co-ops for mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, computer scientists, and architects. He has fulfilled such obligations with positive results for more than fifty students ranging in practice from research at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to industry experience.
About the company
AgriTech North is an Indigenous- (Métis), disabled-, and LGBTQ-owned social enterprise corporation with a mission to grow nutritious food for Northern Ontario, focusing on Far North indigenous communities, that is of a consistently high quality, available year-round, and provided at a competitive price. The facility will be located in Dryden, Ontario, Canada to harness the waste heat, energy, and carbon from the Domtar Mill, establishing a Biohub with carbon negative operations. Dryden is ideal because of favorable transportation capabilities throughout the region and workforce access. The revenue from the food sold will ensure it is self-sustaining long-term as a research center. After proving the success of novel methods, AgriTech North will expand successful research projects throughout Canada to tackle a wider variety of food security issues throughout the country, made possible in part via several academic and indigenous partnerships.