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New project at the LU: A multidisciplinary platform for drug development and smart agriculture
Researcher Dr. Mohammad Khalil—Director of Azm Center for Biotechnology Research at the Doctoral School of Science & Technology—has completed a pioneering project in the field of Smart Hydroponics, funded and supported by the PRIMA Program initiative as part of the Mara-Mediterra project, and with support from the IEEE Humanitarian Technologies Board.
The project, which was carried out in collaboration with Dr. Antoine El Samrani, Dr. Fawaz El Omar, and Dr. Fatima Yahya, is a multidisciplinary educational and research platform that students and researchers can utilize as follows:
- Pharmacy students: to extract medicinal compounds from plants grown in a precise, controlled environment and study their therapeutic properties.
- Agriculture students: to improve agricultural production, ensure safe agricultural yields, and study the impact of environmental factors on plant growth.
- Biotechnology students: to develop advanced biotechnological applications, improve plant quality, and produce value-added compounds.
- Industrial Engineering and Control students: to design control systems using PLCs and integrate sensors with operational systems.
- Smart Systems/Artificial Intelligence students: to analyze agricultural data and build predictive models and intelligent decision-making systems.
The project relies on an integrated system that includes advanced sensors, industrial control systems, time-series databases, and smart control panels that enable the tracking of vital indicators such as pH, EC, temperature, humidity, and nutrient levels, as well as making automatic adjustments to achieve optimal growing conditions and safe production.
Dr. Khalil emphasizes that this initiative represents an advanced model of applied education by establishing an integrated scientific platform that combines agriculture, medicine, engineering, and artificial intelligence, thereby fostering innovation and strengthening the Lebanese University’s role in development.
The project is expected to contribute to:
- Producing high-quality plants for the pharmaceutical industry.
- Developing smart and sustainable agricultural solutions.
- Promoting interdisciplinary scientific research.
- Supporting food and pharmaceutical security in Lebanon.
The project also serves as a bridge for scientific cooperation between Lebanon and Mediterranean countries within the framework of European research and innovation programs, and is set to be launched soon by the University Presidency.
