Urban Mist Farms

Who are we designing our product for?

 

We want to market our product to businesses and institutions that provide or are looking to provide healthy meals to employees, students, and patients. Examples of these businesses include but are not limited to Google, Zynga, Adobe, and Twitter. Examples of institutions are hospitals, schools, and senior 

care centers.

 

 

What is the focus of our design?

 

The focus of our business design is on 3 main purposes. 

 

• Minimal Space – The aeroponics system is designed for locations with minimal space, therefore we want to focus on urban settings and setup the system onto rooftop of urban buildings.

• Variety – Because aeroponic systems are designed to control the plant’s micro environment, we will focus on growing a variety fruits and vegetables regardless of the season or its exoticism. 

• Low Resource Use – We want to lower our environmental footprint; therefore, we chose aeroponic farming because we wanted a product that uses as little water and nutrients as needed to support the plants. NASA research has presented that aeroponics requires 65% less water and 75% less nutrients compared to hydroponics (Wikipedia).

 

 

What are the design constraints?

 

The business design constraints are identified in the weaknesses and threats of the SWOT analysis. The aeroponic design constraints are:

 

• Root and Stem Space – To grow plants for the long-term, we need to ensure the roots and stems are unrestricted. Minimal physical contact is necessary to encourage natural growth and access to water, air, and disease-free surroundings.

 

• Mineralization - In order for the roots to receive the necessary amount of water and nutrients there needs to be a significant amount of pressure from the mist sprays. Mineralization can cause the mist heads to degrade and lose pressure thereby creating an environmental imbalance and causing plants to wilt. To prevent mineralization, constant maintenance will be required.

 

• Droplet Size - We need to ensure the droplet size is an appropriate size. If the droplet is too large, then roots have less access to oxygen. If the droplet is too small, then the roots will not develop laterally for sustained growth. (Wikipedia)

 

The following points were also considered in the process of designing the Urban Mist Farms 

business model. 

 

• Be innovative and innovations can be in the technology and/or business model related to a product or service.

 

• Idea must include a biological or chemical technology.

 

• Utilize the expertise of an undergraduate science major to help with technical analysis and descriptions. 

 

• Develop a business model using the business model canvas from Business Model Generation, including key drivers for each of the nine building blocks.

 

• Generate an initial assessment of the opportunity using tools learned in the reading and in class.

 

• Utilize the expertize of a project advisor affiliated with Venture Greenhouse.

 

• Meet with advisor a minimum of two times, the first before deciding on the idea and the second to follow up.