“Agriculture needs to convert data into information for making decisions. In India, there is a lot of infusion of drone technology and sensors, a plethora of data that is generated by their use could transform farming practices of small and marginal farmers there.”

An agriculture-related project at Purdue University has created an open-source framework and community for sharing data and algorithms with the goal to improve sustainable food and agricultural systems to help feed the growing world population.

“Once we came to the idea of the Purdue CARES Hub, we really spent a lot of time solidifying what it would look like. We wanted a concrete space where students could come and get help,” said Stern, a senior in biological engineering from Saline, Michigan. "The wellbeing initiative is something that’s near and dear to my heart."

“We’ve shown that our nanocarriers, at least in another plant system, can get into the phloem and down to the roots. If we make our nanocarriers encapsulate an antibiotic that will kill this disease, then put them on the leaves of a tree. We think they’ll go inside the tree, down the phloem to the roots and they’ll release their antibiotic drug along the way. Maybe it can kill all the bacteria and maybe it can cure the disease,” Ristroph said.

The goal in agriculture is similar, says Kurt Ristroph, assistant professor of agricultural and biological engineering. “If you can improve the utilization efficiency of these agrochemicals, maybe you can apply less mass and get the same protective quality.”

Kingsly Ambrose, Purdue University professor of agricultural and biological engineering and report author, said that despite the increase in explosions from the previous year and 18 total injuries this year, no fatalities were reported.

The technology uses biosensor technology to detect DNA from Bacteroidales, a fecal microorganism found in swine, poultry and cattle, as a marker for the contamination of fresh produce.

Klein Ileleji, professor of agricultural and biological engineering, is leading a team of faculty across six universities to develop a master’s level program alongside co-principal investigator Kingsly Ambrose, professor of agricultural and biological engineering to pool faculty expertise, courses and institutional resources in one or more aspects of the grain value chain to develop a master’s level curriculum in grain value chain.

The team says polystyrene currently encompasses 30% of U.S. landfills and does not decompose. StyroSoy, they posit, could significantly reduce the final disposal of polystyrene.

This invitation comes a year after Chaterji won the NSF CAREER award for her project (Sirius) on streaming analytics for the Internet of Small Things (IoST).