Remembering Ed Harwood: AeroFarms cofounder, chief science officer

Ed Harwood, cofounder and emeritus chief science officer at AeroFarms, has died, leaving a legacy of patented innovative agriculture technology and expansion beyond his expectations.

A framed photo of Harwood’s smiling face greets those who arrive at the indoor, vertical aeroponic farm company’s headquarters in Newark, N.J., said Marc Oshima, chief marketing officer and cofounder with Harwood and David Rosenberg. The company began in 2004.

Whenever someone schedules a meeting in the conference room, they do so at “Ed’s Garage.”

It was in his dining room and then garage where Harwood tinkered with the nozzles that transport water and nutrients to leafy greens. He patented a way to keep them unclogged, Oshima said.

Harwood also patented a new clean, inert, reusable growing medium: cloth. It’s lighter than water and soil, making it more suitable for vertical farming in urban areas where space is scarce. And it’s a growing medium made from recycled water bottles plucked from the waste stream.

“Ed’s early work led us on that path of a circular economy, sanitary design, performance and measuring that performance. Ed’s spirit of inquiry helped foster the same in our team and in our practices,” Oshima said. “His legacy is part of our culture today.”

Harwood’s focus and early discoveries helped commercialize the urban vertical farming movement, he said.

Today, AeroFarms is a Certified B Corporation striving to feed more people on less arable land by using breakthroughs in indoor agtech, artificial intelligence and plant biology to improve the food system’s way of growing and distributing produce, locally and globally. The company is on its way to going public and has expanded with several locations including commercial farms, community farms and research and development farms, like the newest one in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

The company’s awards surpass the dozens. Harwood won United FreshTEC Achievement Award in 2018, a kind of lifetime achievement award for driving innovation in agriculture.

“I was really excited for Ed to be recognized for that by the broader produce community,” Oshima said. “I mean, 15 years ago he was having these conversations.”

Harwood’s training and prior experience provided the foundation of this success.

He earned his doctorate degree in dairy science with a minor in artificial intelligence. He was able to translate the dairy sector’s leading food safety principles and practices into procedures that work for indoor agriculture at AeroFarms, Oshima said.

Harwood was the associate director for agriculture at Cornell Cooperative Extension, where he worked for nine years.

Preferring to be called "Ed" rather than "Edward," Harwood was a man with a sense of fun, a soccer coach and family man.

Family members were by Harwood’s side when he died from cancer. He had stepped back from his duties gradually in recent years, serving as emeritus chief science officer and continuing to consult with the company, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and in academia.

Harwood lived with a positive outlook, a smile and a sense of wonderment about the world, Oshima said.

“He was not one for titles or pretenses. It was just about the work. It was about ‘How can we do something for the greater good, have a greater impact?’” Oshima said. “He would say where we’ve gone has blossomed far beyond his dreams.”

“But it was his principles of curiosity, acting with a sense of urgency and responsibility — those have been the hallmark of our organization.”

Those who wish to send anecdotes or photos can do so at EdHarwoodTribute@AeroFarms.com.