KMap
Joel L. Cuello is a Professor of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering and Director of the Global Initiative for Strategic Agriculture in Dry Lands (GISAD) at The University of Arizona. A globally recognized expert in the engineering of sustainable biological and agricultural systems, his technical expertise in both engineering and biology provides the platform for engineering designs in various agricultural and biological systems with emphasis on optimizing biological and agricultural productivities while fostering resource sustainability and environmental protection.  Prof. Cuello has designed, constructed and implemented varied types of engineered agricultural or biological systems, including those applied in bioregenerative space life support, hydroponics, tissue culture, and industrial mass production of algae, plant cell and microbial cultures for production of biomass, nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, etc. He is the Principal Inventor of the patented algae photobioreactor series -- the Accordion photobioreactors -- and is the creator of the Minimally Structured, Modular and Prefabricated Vertical Farm design (the Vertical Greenbox® Solution) that is considered an archetypal design for Vertical Farming 2.0. Prof. Cuello conducted his postdoctoral research in the Controlled Ecological Life Support System Division at NASA John F. Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida as a U.S. National Research Council Postdoctoral Research Associate. He earned his Ph.D. in Agricultural & Biological Engineering, with Minor in Chemical Engineering, from The Pennsylvania State University in 1994. He also earned two M.S. degrees (Agricultural & Biological Engineering;  Plant Physiology) from The Pennsylvania State University. He obtained his B.S. in Agricultural Engineering (cum laude) from the University of the Philippines at Los Banos. He is a lifetime Visiting Professor at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China, a Faculty Fellow at the Innovation Center of the Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines, and a Visiting Professor at De La Salle University in Manila, Philippines.

VOSviewer

Courses
  • IESFWEN
    Integrated Engineered Solutions in the Food-Water-Energy Nexus

  • GSI
    Globalization, Sustainability and Innovation

  • EBP
    Engineering of Biological Processes

  • IE
    Introduction to Engineering

  • IBE
    Introduction to Biosystems Engineering

Grants
  • Funding agency logo
    FMRG: Bio: Distributed Methane Conversion into Value Chemicals via Synthetic Microbial Consortia

    Key Personnel (KP)

    2022

    $3.2M
    Active
  • Funding agency logo
    Industrial Hemp Cell Cultures for CBD Production

    Principal Investigator (PI)

    2019

    $160.6K
    Active
  • Funding agency logo
    Hydrodynamic Simulation of the ACCORDION Photobioreactor Using Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulation and Experimentation

    Principal Investigator (PI)

    2017

    $15.3K
  • Funding agency logo
    Design of a Cost-Effective Microalgae Cultivation System

    Principal Investigator (PI)

    2017

    $15.2K
  • Funding agency logo
    Design of a Low-Cost Vacuum Oven for the Drying of Algal Biomass

    Principal Investigator (PI)

    2017

    $14.3K
  • Funding agency logo
    A Molecular Dynamics Study for Process Improvement of the Algae Industry in the Philippines

    Principal Investigator (PI)

    2017

    $8.4K
  • Funding agency logo
    Optimization Of Growth Of And Astaxanthin Production By Haematococcus Pluvialis

    Principal Investigator (PI)

    2016

    $37.2K
  • Funding agency logo
    Semi-Continuous Operational Mode of the Accordion Photobioreactor

    Principal Investigator (PI)

    2015

    $20.7K
  • Funding agency logo
    Planning and Benefit Analysis of QNFSP Demo Farm

    Principal Investigator (PI)

    2013

    $120.1K
  • Funding agency logo
    National Alliance for Advance Biofuels and Bioproducts - An Algal Biofuels Research Consortium

    Co-Investigator (COI)

    2010

    $2.2M
Technologies / Patents
      News
      • Small but mighty: How UArizona researchers are harnessing the power of algae to capture carbon

        2022

      • Despite COVID, UArizona Reports Strong Year for Innovation and Commercialization

        2021

      • The Future of Farming Takes Root

        2018

      • UA, Saudi Universities Partner on Farming

        2016

      • TLA to Honor Innovation, Impact

        2015

      • UA Shares Agricultural Technology With World

        2015

      • UA Documentary Shows How a Veggie Garden for the Moon Can Sustain Life on Earth

        2014

      • UA Faculty Present at Global Agriculture Forum in Abu Dhabi

        2014

      • Biofuels From Algae Hold Potential, but Not Ready for Prime Time

        2012

      • Small Grants Make a Big Impact

        2012

      • More Than Mere Pond Scum

        2011

      • Harnessing the Power of Pond Scum

        2011

      • UA Part of Federal Effort to Develop Advanced Biofuels

        2010

      • Project Sage Special Report: Achieving Sustainability Through Agriculture

        2010

      • Wanted: A Viable Arizona Biofuel Crop

        2008

      • Faculty Senate Announces Election Results

        2006

      Publications (34)
      Recent
      • Evaluation of a recirculating hydroponic bed bioreactor for removal of contaminants of emerging concern from tertiary-treated wastewater effluent

        2021

      • Hydrodynamics of a hydroponic bed bioreactor with different substrate media

        2020

      • Application of Artificial Neural Networks in prediction of pyrolysis behavior for algal mat (LABLAB) biomass

        2019

      • Assessing Microalgal Biodiesel Sustainability via MCI and LCA Frameworks

        2019

      • Effect of structural and dynamical properties of lipid bilayer on water permeation studied using course-grained molecular dynamics simulation

        2018

      • Mediterranean Cities and Vertical Farming: Fostering Sustaianble Local Food Production and Building Neighbourhood Esprit de Corps

        2018

      • Course-grained molecular dynamics investigation on the effects of uniform electric field on DPPC lipid bilayer: With and without vacuum space

        2018

      • Determination of soil nutrients and pH level using image processing and artificial neural network

        2018

      • Linear programming modelling of an integrated sugarcane microalgal biofuel plant

        2018

      • Quality assessment of lettuce using artificial neural network

        2018

      • A comparative assessment for algal biodiesel production in the Philippines

        2017

      • Growth and lipid profiles of the Antarctic snow microalga Chlamydomonas sp. in response to changes in temperature, photoperiod, salinity and substrate

        2017

      • Fuzzy mixed integer non-linear programming model for the design of an algae-based eco-industrial park with prospective selection of support tenants under product price variability

        2016

      • Hydrodynamic Analysis of the Accordion Photobioreactor for Microalgae Cultivation using Computational Dynamics Analysis

        2016

      • A fuzzy mixed-integer linear programming model for optimal design of polygeneration systems with cyclic loads

        2016

      • Application of Stochastic Analytic Hierarchy Process for Evaluating Algal Cultivation Systems for Sustainable Biofuel Production

        2015

      • Fuzzy Mathematical Programming Approach in the Optimal Design of an Algal Bioenergy Park

        2015

      • Multi-Criterion Evaluation of Cultivation Systems for Sustainable Algal Biofuel Production using Analytic Hierarchy Process and Monte Carlo Simulation

        2014

      • Allocation of Carbon Footprint in an Integrated Algal Biorefinery using Fuzzy Fractional Programming

        2014

      • Multi-Regional Multi-Objective Optimization of an Algal Biofuel Polygeneration Supply Chain with Fuzzy Mathematical Programming

        2014

      • Fuzzy multi-objective optimization approach to designing an algal bioenergy park

        2014

      • Notes from a Decade of Travels in a World Without Walls

        2013

      • Effects of implementing PSI-Light on Hydrogen Production via Biophotolysis in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii Mutant Strains

        2013

      • Bioethanol production from the macroalgae Sargassum spp.

        2013

      • Acid Hydrolysis and Fermentation of Microalgal Starches to Ethanol by the Yeast Saccharomyces cereviseae

        2012

      • A Passage to the Philippines (and Globalization 2.0)

        2012

      • Strategies to Achieving Sustainability in Algae Production for Biofuels and High-Value Bioproducts

        2012

      • Sustainable Development of Algal Biofuels in the United States

        2012

      • Innovative Strategies to Achieving Sustainability in Algae Production

        2012

      • Design of new strategy for green algal photo-hydrogen production: spectral-selective photosystem I activation and photosystem II deactivation

        2012

      • Linking Knowledge to Action: Innovations for Connecting Algae to the Marketplace

        2011

      • ACCORDION Photobioreactor for Algae Production of Biofuels and Biochemicals

        2011

      • Flocculation of wall-deficient cells of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii mutant cw15 by calcium and methanol.

        2011

      • Innovations for Algae as Biofuel and Biochemical Factories

        2011

      Grants
      Citations
      H-Index
      Patents
      News
      Books
      Opportunities