Engineering and entrepreneurship share more than just innovative thinking. Both are characterized by value creation, problem-solving, and impact-driven results. Logan Goswick, a Barrett Honors student studying computer science, took this to heart during the spring semester of his junior year in FSE 301 – Entrepreneurship & Value Creation. Throughout the semester, he developed a new venture: SproutSmart, an IoT application that utilizes cloud enabled sensors to connect busy gardeners with their plants by tracking crop status and maintenance needs, all on single platform.
As both an accomplished programmer and president of the ASU Gardening Club, Logan understood that maintaining a garden was no easy task, especially for those with full-time jobs or limited experience. His field research revealed that gardening has seen explosive growth since the pandemic, with nearly 18.3 million new gardeners entering the space since 2020. Many of these newcomers struggled to maintain consistent care routines for their plants amidst busy schedules.
Logan’s research showed that the problem was more nuanced than it initially seemed. “The mental overhead of tracking watering schedules, sunlight requirements, and seasonal needs creates a significant barrier to entry for new gardeners,” explained Noah Moon, a local community garden coordinator he interviewed. Logan determined that the best way to help busy professionals experience the joy of gardening was to create an intuitive system that monitored soil moisture, sunlight exposure, and plant health through affordable sensors, eliminating the guesswork.
To Logan, this project represented an opportunity to blend his computer science expertise with his passion for gardening to help people access the benefits of gardening, from good food, to a better understanding of where the food they eat comes from. SproutSmart will make gardening accessible to anyone with an interest, regardless of experience or time constraints, while fostering a new generation of gardening enthusiasts who might otherwise miss out on this fulfilling hobby.
*Pictured above is an early prototype of the sensors that Logan intends as the backbone of his app*
Want to watch the latest pitch for SproutSmart? Click here.