Abstract

We have numerous reasons to celebrate the remarkable productivity and convenience that have resulted from our profession's research and development endeavors. Our collective efforts have successfully created highly productive systems that bring significant societal benefits. However, we are increasingly aware of the challenges we face in maintaining and further enhancing productivity and convenience while ensuring environmental sustainability and combating climate change. This growing awareness has emphasized the need for a shift away from the linear "take-make-use-dispose" approach towards a circular bioeconomy. Fortunately, we possess a diverse and effective toolkit that can aid us in planning and executing this transformative shift.

This presentation will underscore the crucial role of digital technologies in facilitating the transition to a circular bioeconomy. We will explore how we can leverage the existing platforms we have developed to advance from precision farming to regenerative agriculture. Additionally, we will examine opportunities to expand biomanufacturing and bio-derived material production, devise strategies for resource recovery and reuse, and utilize farm-to-market sensing and supply chain optimization to enhance circularity. The integration of digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence, robotics, connectivity, data-driven decision-making, and advanced analytics, plays a pivotal role in establishing sustainable practices, mitigating environmental impacts, and bolstering the resilience of the agricultural sector.

Keynote Speaker

John F. Reid, PhD, Research Professor
Departments of Computer Science/Ag and Biological Engineering/Electrical and Computer Engineering
Affiliate in the Center for Digital Agriculture
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

About Dr. Reid

Dr. Reid is Research Professor in Computer Science, Ag & Bio Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. Reid has more than 35 years of highly accomplished technology leadership experience in industry and academia. From 1986-2000, he served on the faculty at the University of Illinois where his research focused on sensing, automation, and control of food and agricultural systems. He then spent 19 years with Deere and Company where initiated the development of enterprise field robotics capabilities. He has experience in innovation management having served as Director, Enterprise Product Innovation and Technology for 14 years. In 2017 he was recognized as John Deere Technical Fellow for his contributions in Technology Innovation. From 2020-2022, he was Vice President of Enterprise Technologies for Brunswick Corporation.

Reid received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Agricultural Engineering from Virginia Tech. Reid received his PhD in Agricultural Engineering from Texas A&M University where his dissertation topic was automatic tractor guidance via computer vision. His research interests have broadly focused advancing agricultural and biological systems through advance sensing, automation, and control. He and his collaborators have produced more than 30 patents in these research areas.

Dr. Reid’s external leadership includes Chairmanship of the Innovation Research Interchange from 2018-2019, serving on Board of Directors of Fraunhofer USA from 2013-2022, and Dr. Reid is a full member of the Club of Bologna, a global taskforce for the development of strategies for agricultural mechanization. Awards include University of Illinois University Scholar (1995), ASABE Fellow (2004), and John Deere Industry Fellow (2017) and Virginia Tech Academy of Engineering Excellence (2020). Dr. Reid was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2019 for contributions to automation in agriculture.