Our Team
OUR TEAM
Executive Board
I’m honoured to join the Farm Tech Society board. As proud producers of Indoor Ag-Con in Las Vegas, our commitment to cultivating knowledge and fostering collaboration perfectly aligns with the mission of the Farm Tech Society. I look forward to working together towards an even brighter future for CEA.
CEA has an important task to ensure the availability of nutritious, affordable, and sustainably produced food for a growing population.
FarmTech Society provides a unique opportunity to drive action to make food production more resilient, secure and safe
FTS has the same goals I have been working toward my entire professional life – zero hunger, nutrition security, industry innovation, and climate action, to name a few. I realised that FTS is the vehicle for positive change. I wanted to join the executive board to share my experience and knowledge and help the organisation achieve its Sustainable Development Goals
Working with the FarmTech Society and its international membership, we're getting things done on behalf of the entire indoor agriculture industry—and ultimately, introducing millions more consumers to fresh, nutritious, indoor-grown produce. I'm proud to be part of an organization that's opening doors for the farmers of tomorrow!
I strongly believe Controlled Environment Agriculture can play an important role in a sustainable food system feeding the growing global population. We can only reach our potential by collaborating. I am excited and honoured that I can be part of the journey forward. Reach out if you want to join us!
General Management
Creative Board
Michael Hanan works as North American Sales Manager at Fluence Bioengineering. Driven by a passion to help people live healthier and happier lives and to improve the sustainability of our food and agriculture systems, Michael has been working on the front lines of urban agriculture as Co-Founder of Ten Acre Organics and as CEO of Agua Dulce Farm.
Mariska Dreschler is Director Horticulture at RAI Amsterdam. As Director Horticulture, she supports the global food and flower production industry by organising trade fairs for these communities to connect, both face-2-face and digital. The GreenTech portfolio consists of GreenTech Amsterdam as the worldwide leading trade show on horticulture technologies and GreenTech Americas as the regional trade show in Mexico.
Nico Domurath is currently working as Research Assistant in Agriculture / Horticulture at Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKT engaging in the development of CEA competency within the Fraunhofer Group. He was plant scientist at INFARM in Berlin and is the Co-Founder of the Horticulture Consultancy INTEGAR.
Charlotte Langerak-Visser is CSO of the Vison Group. She is focusing on strategy both internally and externally. She is inspired by asking herself daily what needs to be done to thrive, long term and short term. Which people, which ideas, which processes, which products, which solutions will make us thrive? Viscon has been a family company since 1967 and has been growing in turnover, markets, products and regions over decades now.
Brian Gandy is a Horticulturist at Valoya. It is his goal to facilitate advances in Horticulture and Agriculture through Sustainable Business practices and implementing appropriate technologies on an industrial scale. He now sits as the VP of North America for Valoya Inc after starting as the Technical Sales Director in early 2021.
Ian Kanski is Executive Director at the Center for Advanced Agriculture and Sustainability. As an entrepreneur with a career dedicated to technologies that enable positive social and environmental impact across Agriculture, Education, Energy and Software, Ian built a portfolio of business and humanitarian projects spanning Europe, West Africa, Central America and the South Pacific.
Peter Rietveld is Business Development Director at Eurogroep and a frequent attendee of industry leading events worldwide. Over the past five years, Peter has developed greatly within Eurogroep and become a member of the board. He has vast experience in Business Development within the Agtech industry, logistics and the solar industry.
Mark Horler is Chairman at UK Urban AgriTech. An experienced industry association leader, he has founded and worked with national and international associations in the Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) and wider AgriTech space. Mark is a systemic thinker passionate about the complex integration of the technological, social and environmental towards lasting resilience & sustainability.
After six years of service as President Obama’s appointee as the Director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) in Washington, DC, as of July 1, 2018 Sonny Ramaswamy assumed the presidency of the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. Previous to this he worked for 30 years at several Land-Grant Universities, rising through the ranks from assistant professor, to head of department and ultimately all the way to dean.