Cosearch Teams 2024

 

The winners: HydroInk Alliance

This winning project combines groundwater flow and contaminants transport model to assess water quantity and quality, and nanobionic and plant tattoo sensors for detecting hazardous chemicals in soil and plants. The team proposes to blend statistical, machine learning, and AI methodologies to provide innovative solutions for irrigation decisions.

the HydroInk Alliance team

Amie Norton, Entomology: I’m going to develop nano-sensors and materials to detect different contaminants in water. The goal is to provide inexpensive detection methods that can give real-time assessments so that farmers can identify contamination and less expensive remediation solutions.

Xuan Xu, Statistics: I am the statistician, data scientists, and interdisciplinary strategist for our team. I’ll be integrating data from different sources and developing a data bank for our research. This means that decisions about aquifer management will be evidence-based, robust, accurate, and predictive.

Jeeban Panthi, Bio and Ag Engineering: As a hydrologist, I’ll develop a computer model to simulate groundwater flow and contaminant transport in western Kansas. Ultimately, the model aims to enhance water management strategies, safeguard long-term groundwater availability, and contribute to regional sustainability efforts.

Guarav Jha, Agronomy: My focus will be on deploying nanobionic sensors in a greenhouse environment to develop unique spectral signatures associated with plant water stress. This work will help our team identify the materials we will need to design our sensors and “plant tattoos” for use in the field.

 

members of Team CLARA
Team: CLARA

This team pitched an idea called “CLARA – Climate Adaptive Resilience for Agriculture.” It integrates data and modeling to ensure resilience of food production systems under limited water availability. By taking multimodal data and training integrated interactive models, farmers will be able to use a dynamic application to make smarter water management decisions.

Team members, from left: Nathan Albin (Mathematics), Vaisali Sharda (Bio and Ag Engineering), Saranya Puthalath (Biology), and Shing Chang (Industrial Engineering).

 

members of Forage Group take a selfie
Team: Forage Group

This project focused on AI and data fusion to improve irrigation efficiency in forage cropping systems in western Kansas. By understanding water needs in the short-term, the team proposes to help farmers make smart decisions about best way to use water to grow crops for animal feed. In the long term, this helps farmers save money and use water resources wisely.

Team members (from left): Jeremy Davies (Animal Science), Deepak Joshi (Agronomy), Augustine Obour (KSRE-Hays Research Center), Rocio Rayes Esteves (KSRE-Garden City Research Center), and Andy Bennett (Mathematics)

 

a group photo of the Renew Crew team
Team: Renew Crew

They pitched a concept called RENEW-AgBio: Reclaimed Effluent for Nutrient Enhancement and Water Sustainability in Agriculture and Biomanufacturing. In essence, the project aims to develop and implement innovative water cleaning technologies using sunlight and natural materials. This will create a system that is sustainable, affordable, and beneficial for both the environment and human society.

Team members (from left): Placidus Amama (Chemical Engineering), Davood Pourkagar (Chemical Engineering), Darrin Smith (K-State Olathe), Steve Ensley (Vet Med), Keyhan Shams (Leadership Studies), and Won Min Park (Chemical Engineering)