The trip is nearing its end, so we are doing our best to take in every last moment! Today we traveled to Utrecht, which is a smaller city a little ways outside of Amsterdam. There, we visited a company called Aurea Imaging.
Aurea Imaging is a small company, but has a very interesting business. They specialize in precision farming, which involves high tech equipment to survey farms. The clearest example is that they will build drones with technology that can survey crops. They will then rent the drones to farms, and fly them over the fields. These drones, and other pieces of equipment, can provide a variety of services. One example is the identification of overcrowding in crops. This data will then be processed into a tractor, which will drive through the crops spraying only the overcrowded areas in order to thin the plants. This process was fascinating to learn about, as I had never even heard of this technology before. Unfortunately because the tech is relatively new, it is very expensive, so Aurea’s clients are all major commercial farms. I was interested to learn that they have worldwide reach, as they even work with clients in California.
This imaging technology is a supply chain accelerator. Whilst the processes of surveying farms are typically long, and require tons of manpower, the imaging provided by Aurea greatly speeds up the process. The supply chain of farming starts with a plant, which is tended to by a farmer. The farmer then sells their crop to stores, who sell to the common consumer. Sometimes there are also farmers markets, which allow farmers to sell directly to the consumer. Aurea plays an important role in accelerating the beginning of this chain, by making the farmers’ lives easier. Ultimately, this helps products reach consumers faster, and with better quality. I also found the location of the Aurea office to be interesting. It was in a modern building, with a number of other small companies. The building was equipped with tons of common space, a gym, and a cafeteria(with good food). It seemed like a cool place to work, and it certainly fostered healthy interactions between people in the tech/architecture world.
After the visit, Sophia gave us a personal walking tour of her home city of Utrecht. I really enjoyed the vibe, it was small but lively and filled with shops. It felt like a mix of Amsterdam and Rotterdam, with some old architecture and some modern. Today was a shorter day, as we were released to travel home at around 4. The rest of the evening is to ourselves, and we have to make the most of it!