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Eric Verploegen was 2019-2022 principal investigator in the Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab (J-WAFS) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he is also a research engineer as part of MIT's D-Lab since 2014.

Between 2019 and 2022, Eric conducted several J-WAFS-funded projects. Recently, his work focuses on an open-source evaporative cooling design system for vegetable preservation which piloted the design in Mali, Kenya, Uganda and Gujarat, India. The design received support from a 2021 J-WAFS Solutions Grant. Eric has also been a lecturer for D-Lab's energy classes, 'Introduction to energy in global development' and 'Applications of energy in global development'. In 2022, Eric founded CoolVeg to disseminate and commercialise the training programs and technologies he has developed while at D-Lab.

Prior to D-Lab, Eric worked on developing materials for solar cells and waste remediation systems for the oil and gas industry. He is passionate about helping organisations based in off-grid regions identify technologies, products and distribution strategies to increase energy access and reduce food loss in their communities.

Eric has a background in materials science and received his PhD in polymer science and technology from MIT in 2008.

Eric Verploegen

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Addressing food insecurity in arid regions with an open-source evaporative cooling chamber design