The University of Technology has partnered with Microsoft volunteers and the College of Agriculture Science and Education (CASE) for the launch of the Jamaica Education AgriTech (Jamaicans EAT) Programme and Technology Competition.

Set for October 16-17 at the university’s Papine campus, ‘Jamaicans EAT’ is a non-profit social impact initiative which aims to address climate change and food security challenges through innovative technology-driven solutions.

Industry leaders, academics and government stakeholders will convene at UTech’s Papine campus under the theme,’Transforming Jamaica’s Agriculture Through Technology.’ 

They will seek to advance discussions on digital transformation, resilience and productivity in Jamaica’s agricultural sector. The event will coincide with the global observance of World Food Day on October 16.

Sustainable empowerment for tertiary students

Corrinne Martin, director of Jamaicans EAT, noted that the programme will help to promote the integration of STEM education in climate change, environmental preservation and food security awareness.

“Through the integration of technology and hydroponics, we hope to incentivise Jamaican youth to reenvision agriculture as profitable, impactful and exciting,” Martin mentioned.  She explained that the ‘Jamaicans EAT’ team will continue to partner with other stakeholders to expand the initiative regionally over the next few years.

Thirty students across various disciplines at UTech and CASE will receive hands-on training from UTech and Microsoft experts as they work in groups to design and create functional and scalable hydroponic systems for deployment in 100 high schools across the island.

The Jamaica Education AgriTech (Jamaicans EAT) programme and Technology Competition will run from October 2025 to March 2027, with training sessions being delivered virtually by Microsoft and other subject matter experts weekly.  Students from the partnering universities can now register for the programme ahead of the October 10 deadline. The programme will be executed in five phases over the two years.

Phase I: October 2025 – November 2025

Students will engage in virtual training sessions on hydroponics, artificial intelligence (AI), Internet-of-Things (IoT), photovoltaic solar systems, manufacturing and computer-aided design (CAD) to boost their competence in delivering market-ready hydroponic systems. In groups of six, they will also be required to design and build five proof-of-concept (POC) systems. 

Phase II: December 2025 – May 2026

The teams will be required to prove the functionality and effectiveness of their prototypes by monitoring crops cultivated in them over a five-month period. At the end of this phase, the winning design will be selected. The winners will be presented with laptops and printers, and the team will earn an automatic entry into the Microsoft Imagine Cup for a potential prize of US$100,000. 

Phase III: May 2026 – June 2026

The winning team will be facilitated in UTech’s Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Lab to construct the first five of the 100 hydroponic systems to be deployed in five selected high schools. 

Phase IV: July 2026 – September 2026

The first five systems will be handed over to Denbigh High School, Papine High School, Port Antonio High School, Knockalva Technical High School and Newell High School.

Phase V: October 2026 – March 2027

The remaining 95 systems will be manufactured and delivered to other selected high schools.

Strengthening Jamaica’s STEM curriculum

Dr Shallon Stubbs, head of the School of Engineering at UTech, said the university is pleased to be a key partner for the Jamaicans EAT initiative, highlighting the institution’s strong record in STEM-related research and teaching.

“This collaboration represents an important step towards strengthening Jamaica’s STEM curriculum with an emphasis on the agricultural application of STEM. It is hoped that by engaging our students in such a critical and innovative program, we will not only be able to generate greater enthusiasm towards the agricultural sciences but also achieve greater student enrolment, across the board in STEM courses,” Dr Stubbs said.