Dr. Rodrigue El Balaa holds a PhD in agriculture from ENSAIA France and is the Chairman of the Department of Agriculture at the Issam Fares Faculty of Technology at the University of Balamand. A multidisciplinary approach enthusiast, he is a big supporter of technological complementarity for the advancement of agriculture. He is also involved in many technological entrepreneurship initiatives and has been coaching, mentoring and judging for many agricultural technology programs such as Berytech's Agrytech program, AgFoodWater start up week end, Hult Prize, etc.

He has also been an expert for many rural and value chain development projects with Save the Children, Expertise France, Fair Trade Lebanon, Danish Refugee Council, Concern Worldwide, World Vision, etc.

His main focus is to help youth take charge of their future through the development of their entrepreneurial spirit and the integration of the latest smart technologies in agriculture such as IoT, AI, PLC, robotics, etc.