About

About Maya Culpa

Maya Culpa is an Ohio LLC created by Tyler Reed in 2012 as a vehicle to engage in work on multiple projects. Based in Columbus, Maya Culpa is involved in a myriad of initiatives including enterprise modeling and optimization, software and systems development, urban agriculture and waste remediation.

About Tyler Reed

Tyler Reed is a Systems Thinker. Tyler Reed was raised on a small farm in rural northwest Ohio, the son of an OSU agricultural extension agent, He grew up tending the family garden, orchard and livestock. He spent 8 years participating in the local 4-H program and during college, he volunteered in the Defiance College greenhouse and worked on restoration ecology projects in the area.

Over 8 years, Tyler attended 4 separate colleges majoring in electro-mechanical engineering, music, psychology, philosophy and finally graduating from The Defiance College with a B.S. in Computer Science and emphasis in Mathematics. He has completed graduate-level coursework in Space Science through the University of North Dakota.

Professionally, Tyler has designed and built software systems for multiple chemical manufacturers, the Air Force Research Laboratories, Battelle Memorial Institute and a private aerospace company.

In 2012, Tyler officially launched HAPI, the Hydroponic Automation Platform Initiative. HAPI is an open source collaboration between individuals, companies and schools worldwide. The project has expanded substantially in scope since its creation. In addition to core technology development, the team is actively developing educational programs. While HAPI is essentially a social enterprise, Tyler acts as the defacto leader, spokesperson, funder and webmaster, as well as a key contributor of software and firmware code. His company Maya Culpa, LLC owns and maintains HAPI-centric prototyping efforts and runs the HAPI website.

Through the HAPI project, Tyler has led educational efforts that include building a Learning Management System and creating educational content around hydroponics, as well Tyler in his natural environment as teaching numerous urban agriculture classes at the Columbus IdeaFoundry and at Indoor Grower’s World in Nashville, TN. He has spearheaded a nascent collaboration with Miami Valley School (Kettering, Ohio), helping their staff to expand their educational activities related to urban agriculture. Tyler has contributed time, money, equipment and expertise to urban farms in Columbus and Detroit. He is a member of the Franklin County Local Food Council and was a guest on its Organic Diversions Working Group.

Tyler has been a presenter at the Engineers for a Sustainable World Regional Conference at OSU, Columbus SOUP, the Ohio LinuxFest, and the Columbus State Community College STEM Club. His work with local food initiatives has been the topic of articles in Urban Farm Magazine, Global Food Security, 614 Magazine and The Metropreneur. Tyler is a member of the Planetary Society, American Mensa and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).