Bourlai Named Faculty Innovation Fellow
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IIPA member Mahos Bourlai has been named one of the inaugural members of the Faculty Innovation Fellows program, a group of faculty leaders chosen to help expand a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship across campus. The program, part of the Innovation District initiative, equips Fellows with training in business development, strategic planning and campus resources so they can serve as ambassadors and advisors within their colleges.
Over the course of the fellowship, participants will complete discovery projects, connect colleagues with innovation opportunities, and host events that bring researchers closer to industry, entrepreneurial partners and each other. By acting as liaisons between their colleges and the Innovation District, the Fellows are helping more faculty take their first steps toward turning ideas into impact. |
Raj Khosla Talks Precision Ag As 2025 D.W. Brooks Speaker
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Raj Khosla has been involved in precision agriculture since its inception, making significant contributions to its development and global adoption. He is the founder and past president of the International Society of Precision Agriculture. Khosla’s research focuses on harnessing spatial and temporal variability in managed agro-ecosystems to improve decision making. Currently, Khosla is co-leading multi-state, multi-year, federally funded projects to develop and evaluate next-generation sensors and novel AI algorithms designed to enhance water and nitrogen use in irrigated systems.
The D.W. Brooks Lecture Series and Faculty Awards for Excellence are named for a Georgian whose contributions to agriculture are respected worldwide. An alumnus of the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, D.W. Brooks (BSA—Agronomy, 1922, MSA—Agronomy, 1924) devoted his career to improving lives through innovations in agriculture. The 2025 D.W. Brooks Lecture and Awards will be held on November 13, 2025 at the University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education & Hotel.
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IIPA Seminar Series – September 18 – Dr. Liang Dong
Next-generation Sensors for Integrative Precision Agriculture by Dr. Liang Dong
Description
This presentation covers a range of wearable, in-plant, embedded miniature sensors capable of detecting nitrogen, water, carbon, and plant pests and diseases. These low-cost sensors provide real-time data that support smarter decision-making in agricultural management practices, enable more efficient resource use, and improve our understanding of Genotype × Environment × Management Interactions.
About Dr. Dong
Dr. Liang Dong is a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Precision Agriculture. His research focuses on the development of novel sensor technologies for real-time monitoring of soil conditions, plant health, and environmental factors, with the goal of addressing challenges in the water-energy-food-health nexus. His work enhances agricultural management practices and supports crop breeding efforts by facilitating the development of stress-resilient cultivars through data-driven insights. In addition to plant-focused applications, Dr. Dong is also interested in advancing sensor systems to promote animal health and welfare. His research has attracted global media attention and earned multiple best paper awards and finalist recognitions at leading conferences and in journals. He is a past recipient of the NSF CAREER Award.
Before joining UGA, Dr. Dong served from 2007-2025 as the Vikram Dalal Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Iowa State University, where he also directed the Microelectronics Research Center and was a Faculty Scholar of the Plant Sciences Institute. He earned his Ph.D. in Electronic Science and Technology from Tsinghua University in 2004 and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 2004-2007.
Dr. Dong currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of Sensors and Actuators A: Physical and Associate Editor of IEEE Transaction on AgriFood Electronics. He holds 17 U.S. patents, four of which have been licensed to industry. He co-founded and served as CTO of EnGeniousAg, a startup that commercialized nitrogen sensor technology developed in his lab and was acquired by CropX in 2024.
Time & Location
12:00 – 12:30
Virtual via Zoom
IIPA Seminar Series – October 7 – Dr. Noel Anderson
How Precise is Enough? A 33-year Journey in Precision Agriculture
Description
Modern precision agriculture began when GPS satellites became operational in the early 1990s. Advances in localization, imaging, computing, and other core technologies have enabled sensing resolution and control to move from whole field to sub-plant. The presentation includes personal reflections on some of the technical waypoints on the digital agriculture journey to sub-plant resolution. It ends by questioning assumptions of digital precision agriculture and speculating on elements of a trans-digital agriculture.
About Dr. Anderson
Dr. Noel Anderson earned a PhD in computer engineering from Iowa State University. He was on the faculty of the electrical engineering department at North Dakota State University from 1988 until 1994 when he started a 30+ year career in the ag equipment industry, working for Concord Inc, Case Corporation (now CNH), and John Deere. In 2019, Noel was named a John Deere Fellow in Strategic Intellectual Property. In June 2024, he left John Deere and has been working as a collaborative consultant and educator on invention, innovation, and technology. This includes a part-time role as a technical advisor for Grand Farm. Noel’s creativity and prolific invention was recently recognized through the issuance of his 238th US patent. Many of his patents focus on ag equipment automation and autonomy spanning tillage, planting and seeding, crop care, harvesting, and logistics. These patents have garnered over 5500 forward citations on later granted patents. Sensing, machine health, machine intelligence, ag UAV applications, and precision agriculture are other major themes in his patent portfolio.
Time & Location
9:30 am – 10:30 am
115 Poultry Science Building and via Zoom
IIPA Seminar Series – October 27 – Dr. Mark Risse
Research Needs Related to Aquaculture Development in Georgia
Description
Because of the rapid growth in seafood consumption and the associated health and ecological benefits of Aquaculture, a UGA Presidential Seed grant team has been working an Aquaculture Development Plan for Georgia. This plan identifies several opportunities for the state and suggests that indoor, recirculating, controlled environment systems represent one of the greatest opportunities for the State. It also recommends working with the Institute for Integrated Precision Agriculture as a priority for meeting some of the research and technology transfer needs in Georgia. In this webinar, Aquaculture Development team members and producers will share information on this effort as well as specific research and technology needs to advance controlled systems aquaculture.
About Dr. Risse
Mark Risse has served as the director of Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant since 2013. In his role he oversees the unit’s research, education and extension programs and manages budgets, personnel, and policy issues related to the unit. Prior to this, he spent 18 years with UGA Cooperative Extension as a water resources specialist in Biological and Agricultural Engineering. His expertise is in non-point source pollution management, stormwater management, and soil and water conservation.
Risse is a double dawg, having received his bachelor and master’s degrees at UGA in agricultural engineering and his Ph.D. in biological and agricultural engineering at Purdue University. At UGA, Risse has received recognition as a Fellow in the International Soil and Water Conservation Society. He is a Walter Bernard Hill Fellow, the university’s highest honor for public service and outreach and is a life member of the UGA Rugby Club. Risse lives on a small beef cattle farm outside of Athens with his wife, Chris, and enjoys fishing, gardening, visiting his daughters and watching Georgia football games.
Time & Location
12:30 pm – 1:30 pm
Virtual via Zoom
Building Breakthroughs Through the Vertically Integrated Projects for Research (VIRP)
In a world where food systems, energy production and environmental health are deeply connected, the Vertically Integrated Projects for Research (VIPR) program at UGA empowers students to bridge those fields through research in robotics, agrivoltaics and ecological monitoring.
Artificial Intelligence in Livestock and Poultry Farming Conference – September 2-3, 2025
Make plans to attend the Artificial Intelligence in Livestock and Poultry Farming Conference to be held at the University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education on September 2 and 3, 2025.
Attendees will participate in conversations relevant to Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) including:
- Frontiers in AI
- Machine vision and sensor pattern-recognition
- AI and livestock production efficiency and environmental footprint
- PLF feasibility versus need
- Practical challenges of PLF adoption
- AI and precision agriculture education
- Digital genomics
- View the Conference Program (.pdf)
Don’t miss it! Register for the Artificial Intelligence in Livestock and Poultry Farming Conference now!
Registration is FREE, but required.
Chai Receives Award at PSA ’25
IIPA member Dr. Lilong Chai received the American Egg Board Research Award at the 2025 Poultry Science Association annual meeting in Raleigh, NC.
The purpose of this award is to increase the interest in research pertaining to all things related to eggs. This could include areas related to egg production, safety, product quality, or egg science technology.
Congratulations, Dr. Chai!
