Lab Mission:
Labor shortage and rising costs raise challenges to the agricultural industry. We are a team of engineers striving to tackle the issues facing agricultural production including optimizing the use of farming inputs, autonomy in the farm, aerial and ground mechatronics system, and artificial intelligence (AI) in precision agriculture.
What are Specialty Crops?
Specialty crops are defined as fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, and horticulture and nursery crops, including floriculture. Specialty crops are plants that are intensively cultivated.
Exciting News:
[02-22-2024] Graduate student Weiyun Hua successfully defended her Ph.D. dissertation. Congrats, Dr. Hua!
[12-21-2023] Graduate student Weiyun Hua received a college Graduate Student Competitive Grants Program Award. Congrats, Weiyun!
[10-9-2023] Graduate student Xinyang Mu successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation. Congrats, Dr. Mu! Thanks to his committee members, Drs. Paul Heinemann, James Schupp, Minghui Zhu, and Manoj Karkee!
[09-15-2023] Dr. He, Xinyang Mu, and Dr. Chenchen Kang presented and demonstrated advanced spraying technologies at 2023 Penn State FREC Crop Protection Field Day!
[09-11-2023] Graduate student Xinyang Mu, received Presentation Excellence Award at ASABE AIM 2023. Congrats, Xinyang!
[08-01-2023] Magni Hussain, Ph.D. will join The Pennsylvania State University as an Assistant Research Professor. Congrats, Magni!
[08-01-2023] Graduate student Magni Hussain placed 2nd in the NABEC 2023 Graduate Student Oral Competition. Congrats, Magni!
[07-27-2023] Graduate student Magni Hussain successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation. Congrats, Dr. Hussain!
[07-12-2023] Graduate student Magni Hussain won 1st place in the Boyd-Scott Graduate Research Award in the Ph.D. category at ASABE AIM 2023. Congrats, Magni!
[07-12-2023] Graduate student Rashmi Sahu won 3rd place in the Boyd-Scott Graduate Research Award in the M.S. category at ASABE AIM 2023. Congrats, Rashmi!
[06-15-2023] Graduate student Rashmi Sahu successfully defended her M.S. Thesis. Congrats, Rashmi!
[05-26-2023] Chenchen Kang, Ph.D. is starting his postdoc with the Ag Robotic Sensing Lab. Welcome to the FREC!
[05-17-2023] Graduate student Magni Hussain has been selected as a top 3 finalist for the Boyd-Scott Graduate Research Award competition in the Ph.D. category. Congrats, Magni!
[05-17-2023] Graduate student Rashmi Sahu has been selected as a top 3 finalist for ASABE AIM 2023 Boyd-Scott Graduate Research Award competition in the MS category. Congrats, Rashmi!
[05-03-2023] Special guests Dr. Zhou from MU visits the FREC covering Digital Ag Technologies & Application. Welcome Dr. Zhou to the FREC!
[03-03-2023] Special guests Dr. Zhang & Dr. Karkee from WSU visits the FREC covering AI and Robotics in Specialty Crop Agriculture. Welcome Drs. Zhang & Karkee to the FREC!
[11-16-2022] Graduate students Magni Hussain, Weiyun Hua and Rashmi Sahu were initiated into the Alpha Epsilon Honor Society Omicron Chapter! Congrats, Magni, Weiyun & Rashmi!
[11-02-2022] Graduate student Rashmi Sahu successfully passed her qualifying exam and is now a Ph.D. candidate! Congrats, Rashmi!
[08-16-2022] Graduate student Magni Hussain successfully passed his comprehensive exam. Congrats, Magni!
[08-03-2022] Graduate student Xinyang Mu (Roger) successfully passed his comprehensive exam. Congrats, Roger!
[08-02-2022] Graduate student Magni Hussain placed 2nd in the NABEC 2022 Graduate Student Oral Competition. Congrats, Magni!
[08-01-2022] Graduate students Magni Hussain and Xinyang Mu (Roger) received the 2022 Northeast SARE Graduate Student Grant. Congrats, Magni & Roger! | Grant Link
[07-20-2022] Long He, Ph.D, and Azlan Zahid, Ph.D. received the 2022 Rain Bird Engineering Concept of the Year Award from ASABE. Congrats, Drs. He & Zahid!
[05-18-2022] Graduate student Md Sultan Mahmud successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation. Congrats, Mahmud.
[08-01-2021] Azlan Zahid, Ph.D. will join Texas A&M University as an Assistant Professor. Congrats, Azlan!
[06-15-2021] Graduate student Azlan Zahid successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation. Congrats, Azlan!
[05-5-2021] Graduate student Haozhe Zhang successfully defended his MS thesis. Congrats, Haozhe!
[03-31-2021] Graduate student Md Sultan Mahmud received the 2021 Paul Hand Research Award from Penn State College of Ag Sciences. Congrats, Mahmud.