Franco A. Montalto, P.E., Ph.D. of Drexel Engineering

Biography:

Franco A. Montalto, PE, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering at Drexel University, where he also directs the Sustainable Water Resource Engineering Laboratory. His expertise includes urban ecohydrology, stormwater management, green infrastructure, hydraulic and hydrologic modeling, and cross-cutting topics in urban sustainability, adaptation, and resilience planning. In addition to his academic teaching and research he is the founder and president of eDesign Dynamics LLC, an environmental consulting firm based in New York City.

Address:Pennsylvania, United States

Jack Nachamkin and David PIckering of J&J Farm

J&J Farm in Glen Mills Pennsylvania is a four-acre “small farm.” But we consider ourselves innovative and productive, applying most up-to-date yet practical methods. In this presentation we will describe how we plant, propagate, and cultivate a large variety of vegetables, and fruit. We have four greenhouses, two of which are high tunnels, one made of recycled sashes, and one built from scratch to match eastern Pennsylvania year-round climate and solar energy conditions. Three of the four are respectively heated with electricity, propane, or solar energy. One has no heat. Each has its purpose. Each supports growing crops all year round, even in the coldest winters, adapted to the individual greenhouse microclimates. We will describe winter pre-season indoor seeding of different varieties and subsequent transplanting to the field. A discussion of soils and improving soils will emphasize that we are not really growing crops but growing soil. Processes such as making apple cider and vinegar, fermenting vegetables, and preserving the harvest by canning will be discussed. Planned mushroom growing is our next big project. Our egg-laying chickens and their care will be discussed. On the more technical side, the solar energy projects for heating the newest greenhouse and an innovative off-the-grid solar oven based on a personal patent will be discussed. Marketing is important for even small farmers, and will be discussed, with a website, Facebook, and having Farmers Market and CSA sales being important.

Biography:

Dr. Jack Nachamkin was born in New York City in 1940. He completed his requirements for a Ph.D. in theoretical physics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1964. After Postdoctoral appointments at the University of Kansas and Atomic Energy of Canada, he was employed at Los Alamos National Labs from 1968-1980. Among other things, his work there involved theoretical and computational aspects of weapons systems, laser fusion, plasma dynamics, wind-power systems, vacuum electronics, superconducting-magnet microscopy, and electric-vehicle technology. In 1980 he joined Exxon's EPID division in Sunnyvale/San Jose California, working as a computational physicist and a colloidal chemist on a team designing a wet-chemistry electronic display. He was voted an Exxon Fellow in 1983. From 1984-1989 he worked at Lockheed's Palo Alto Labs. He was Principal Investigator on an Air Force project developing a large three-dimensional radar-scattering code. He continued his radar work at McDonnell-Douglas Technologies in San Diego. In 1991-1992 he had an appointment with the University of Dayton at Edwards AFB to work with the Air Force’s West Coast Office of Emerging Technologies, investigating “anomalous” phenomena. From 1992 until the end of 1997 he worked on broadband ultrasound and sonar technology at Martin-Marietta/Lockheed-Martin in San Diego. He was with Boeing in Philadelphia from 1998 to 2004, specializing in the study of electromagnetic phenomena affecting aircraft. Dr. Nachamkin has published papers in Group Theory, nuclear and electromagnetic scattering, and numerical analysis. His patents deal with detection of defects in aircraft skins, alternate energy, and recovery of electromagnetic energ y from background radiation.

Dr. Nachamkin was always an avid gardener. At the age of ten years old he was the youngest member of the Brooklyn, NY Botanical Gardens. He owned and ran a small seed company in New Mexico. He is a past president of the Santa Fe New Mexico Orchid Society. He and his wife moved to a “farmette” in Glen Mills Pennsylvania. After retirement this farmette has evolved into a farm business organically growing produce and marketing farm products.

David Pickering is the manager of J&J Farm. He graduated from James Madison University in 2010 with a B.S. in geographic sciences. Before getting into farming at the age of 23 the only real experience David had was picking pumpkins with the family for Halloween, and eating fresh veggies from the backyard garden. Although these were important formative experiences, they do not fully explain how and why a university graduate would become a farmer? It turns out that David’s grandpa Gerry would have a big influence on his decision to farm. Gerry was concerned by our shaky economy and the inevitability of peak oil. These issues will not be problems for Gerry in his lifetime, and may not be a problem for his children; but are definitely part of a legacy that will have to be dealt with by his grandchildren. All things considered, he concluded that sustainable farming would help remediate these troubling issues. David agreed with his grandpa’s insight. After working at a goat dairy, cow dairy, and a different vegetable farm, David eventually linked up with Jack Nachamkin. “It takes a rocket scientist to farm these days” is a phrase grandpa Gerry likes very much. Well, as it turns out, Jack Nachamkin is a retired physicist and closely fits that bill. Under Jack’s mentorship David has spent the last two years working at J&J Farm and learning how to i ntegrate cutting edge technology and ideas with old and timeless farming methods.

Address:Pennsylvania, United States

Franco A. Montalto, P.E., Ph.D. of Drexel Engineering

Biography:

Address:Pennsylvania, United States

Jack Nachamkin and David PIckering of J&J Farm

Biography:

Address:Pennsylvania, United States