The person who sows the "seeds of knowledge" for green agriculture in Vietnam

Associate Professor, Dr. Le Minh Thuy (third from left) with students and graduate students of the Sensor Lab.

From the lecture hall to the field

From the concern of "how to encourage students to be passionate about researching and applying high technology to solve practical problems in life", Associate Professor, Dr. Le Minh Thuy and his colleagues and students have been diligently searching for solutions, bringing the achievements of the Automation-Internet of Things (IoT) industry out of the laboratory, to the fields, contributing to the goal of developing green and sustainable agriculture .

Although not raised on the farm, when entering the teaching and research profession, Associate Professor, Dr. Le Minh Thuy soon realized the challenges of Vietnamese agriculture: How to increase productivity, boost exports, reduce labor, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and digitize farming processes? Ms. Minh Thuy shared that knowledge is only truly valuable when applied to life, contributing to solving social problems. From that concept, the research group "Girls in the ground" of her and students of the Faculty of Automation was born.

Associate Professor, Dr. Le Minh Thuy and students report weekly progress in the laboratory at Hanoi University of Science and Technology.

Third and fourth year students actively cooperated with experts from the Vietnam Academy of Agriculture to design a wireless sensor network to continuously monitor soil parameters in the fields, especially soil moisture at a depth of several tens of centimeters, in order to make accurate irrigation decisions, helping to save water and energy. The system was designed based on the knowledge of the subject "Wireless Sensor Network", thanks to which, learning and research become more vivid, attractive and effective.

The research results brought Ms. Minh Thuy and her students the Hitachi Global Foundation's 2023 Asia Innovation Award. But more than anything, this achievement affirms that Automation technology can accompany farmers, helping to reduce hardship, improve farming efficiency and move towards green, clean, and sustainable agriculture.

Following that success, Ms. Le Minh Thuy and her domestic and international colleagues continue to develop the Emerald project - Multi-source green energy system for sustainable agriculture. The project integrates IoT, artificial intelligence (AI), advanced 5G/6G communications and renewable energy, aiming to comprehensively solve the problem of digitalizing agriculture from green farming to using renewable biofertilizers from burning straw after harvest. Initial research results show that the system helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 50%, increase productivity, and is independent of grid electricity, thanks to the multi-source energy harvesting solution (waste heat, biomass, solar, RF waves, etc.).

Currently, the project is being tested in rice-growing areas in northern Vietnam, opening up prospects for widespread practical application.

Students and agricultural experts during the implementation of the EMERALD project in Gia Lam, Hanoi.

Under the hot summer sun, beside the green fields, the image of lecturers and students diligently taking notes and experimenting with international partners is a vivid proof of the spirit of persistent and passionate scientific work . For them, research is only truly meaningful when it originates from practice and serves practice itself.

The person who inspires creative aspirations in students

In the eyes of students, Ms. Le Minh Thuy is not only a passionate scientist but also a person who inspires and arouses the desire for continuous creativity. According to Dinh Bao Ngan, a student of class 64, currently an engineer at Viettel Aerospace Institute, the first impression when meeting Ms. Minh Thuy is her closeness and openness, but when it comes to work, she is extremely serious, meticulous and has very high requirements. That is what inspires students and makes them learn a lot.

According to Bao Ngan, projects like “The Girls in the Underground” or EMERALD all have new research directions, requiring students to self-study and explore a lot. Ms. Thuy always encourages students to be proactive, dare to experiment, present ideas and not be afraid of making mistakes. She not only guides the techniques but also helps students understand how to look at a scientific problem from the stage of forming ideas to implementing and evaluating results.

For this female student, the most valuable lesson she received from her instructor was perseverance and responsibility in research. “No matter how difficult or unsuccessful she was, she always remained calm and never gave up. She taught us that doing science requires honesty, meticulousness and true dedication to life,” Bao Ngan shared.

Associate Professor, Dr. Le Minh Thuy shared that the proudest thing is not only the international scientific publications or prestigious awards, but also the generation of students who have grown up from his laboratory. The nights when the whole group worked until late at night, the days when the epidemic left only a few people in the lab to keep up with the progress... have become memorable memories. In that journey, the teacher is not only the one who imparts knowledge, but also the one who learns - learning from the students the spirit of creativity, enthusiasm and desire to contribute.

From the small laboratory, many students have grown up, working at high-tech enterprises in the country or won scholarships to study abroad in the US, France, and Japan. For them, Ms. Minh Thuy is not only a teacher but also a companion who helps nurture their passion for research, aiming for values of contribution to the community.

Associate Professor, Dr. Le Minh Thuy and students of class 65 of the protective sensor laboratory graduating in 2024.

For her, the lecture hall is the source of knowledge and innovation; students are companions in creating meaningful works, and science is the bridge connecting education with life - from the city to the fields, from the "Net zero" goal to specific actions for a green future for Vietnam.

Associate Professor, Dr. Le Minh Thuy always hopes to inspire students to spread knowledge to the community, so that Vietnam's fields in the digital age are green, sustainable, and full of aspiration. Because, for her, the teaching profession is a journey to light up innovation, from the lecture hall to the laboratory, and from the laboratory to the field.

Associate Professor, Dr. Le Minh Thuy's main research interests include: antennas, RF circuits, wireless energy harvesting and transmission, smart sensors and the Internet of Things (IoT). With more than 100 international scientific publications, Ms. Le Minh Thuy is currently a reviewer and chair at many prestigious IEEE conferences and journals, and is an Associate Editor of Microwave and Optical Technology Letters. She holds 3 patents on antennas for 3G/4G/5G networks.

Associate Professor, Dr. Le Minh Thuy has received many prestigious awards: Hitachi Scholarship (2016); Outstanding Lecturer of the Ministry of Education and Training (2024); Certificate of Merit and Emulation Fighter at the Ministry level (2017, 2020, 2023); APEC Women in Research Fellowship (Australia, 2022); Hitachi Asia Innovation Award (2023); Women in Technology and Innovation Award (2025) of Australia and the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Typical projects such as Greenes (green energy harvesting solution) and SUPA (self-powered soil moisture sensor for precision agriculture) demonstrate efforts to connect advanced research with sustainable applications, especially in smart agriculture and environmental protection, contributing to bringing scientific results closer to production and life.

QUYNH NGUYEN

Source: https://nhandan.vn/nguoi-soow-hat-giong-tri-thuc-cho-nong-nghiep-xanh-viet-nam-post922623.html