MrRakesh Rayapureddi

Rakesh Rayapureddi is an interdisciplinary researcher, engineer and technology innovator working at the intersection of sustainable agriculture, environmental diagnostics, engineering and research commercialisation. His work focuses on translating scientific and engineering research into practical technologies that can operate in real-world agricultural and environmental systems.

At University College Dublin, Rakesh is Technical Lead on MEHAL, an Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Fund-supported project developing a new environmental DNA (eDNA)-based pest-intelligence platform for protected horticulture. He leads technical product development and systems engineering, working across molecular ecology, sampling technology, sensing, automation and field validation to translate laboratory-based molecular detection into a practical tool for earlier identification of crop pests. The work is being developed in close collaboration with researchers, growers, Teagasc and industry partners, with a strong emphasis on user needs, integrated pest management and commercial deployment.

His wider research spans sustainable agri-food systems and the circular bioeconomy. As a researcher with the EcoLOGIC Research Group at Maynooth University, he contributes to the DAFM-funded Duck-FEED project, examining the technological, economic, regulatory and stakeholder conditions required to translate alternative protein innovations such as duckweed-derived feed from research into practical adoption.

Rakesh's background combines mechanical and mechatronic engineering, computational modelling, robotics and product development. His previous research has included biomimetic underwater robotics, computational fluid dynamics, urban wind and microclimate modelling, agricultural machinery and renewable-energy systems. His research has resulted in peer-reviewed publications and multiple patented inventions.

Alongside academia, Rakesh is the founder of FarmOn Agristack, an agri-technology venture focused on sustainable and intelligent agricultural machinery. Through this work he has led technologies from early problem identification and engineering design through prototyping, field validation, intellectual-property development and commercialisation. His entrepreneurial work has included participation in Enterprise Ireland's New Frontiers programme, where he received the Most Innovative Business Idea Award, and UCD–Teagasc FAST-IP, where the early foundations of MEHAL were developed through intensive industry engagement and customer discovery.

Across his research and innovation activities, Rakesh is particularly interested in the space where engineering, biological science and entrepreneurship converge. His aim is to develop technologies that are scientifically robust, technically practical and commercially capable of creating measurable impact in agriculture, food systems and environmental sustainability.