June 30, 2025, 1-5:30 PM, Texas A&M Hotel and Conference Center
Agricultural robotics is advancing rapidly in response to the growing need for sustainable and efficient farming. However, its adoption remains limited due to gaps in technology readiness and real-world deployment. A major barrier is the lack of interdisciplinary collaboration, resulting in solutions misaligned with practical farming needs. Addressing this requires coordinated efforts across academia, industry, and government, with a focus on adaptable and scalable automation.
This workshop aims to bridge these gaps by fostering interdisciplinary dialogue and innovation. By uniting experts in robotics, agriculture, and related fields, it will promote knowledge exchange, highlight emerging research, and develop actionable strategies to advance robotics in agriculture. Such collaboration is key to driving sustainable transformation in the industry.
This workshop is offered in a hybrid format: In-Person or Online. Online link will be provided to all registered participants before the workshop begins.
Special Invited Speakers
- Amir Ibrahim, Associate Director & Chief Scientific Officer of Texas A&M AgriLife Research
- Steven J. Thomson, National Program Leader at the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture
- Martin Vesper, Chief Digital Officer (CDO) & Managing Director, Pfeifer & Langen GmbH & Co. KG
- Gilwoo Lee, CEO & Founder, Zordi
- Kamil Shafiq, Co-Founder, Poket
How to Participate
If you are interested in participating in this workshop, please complete the online registration form. Completing this form together with the online registration for the workshop is required for both attendees and presenters. Workshop registration is due
June 12, 2025June 19, 2025 (extended). If you have completed the Google Form, but did not complete the registration yet, please visit the conference registration site and select the “Workshop Option”.
Schedule
| Time | Agenda / Title | Speaker |
| 1:00 – 1:10 | Opening Remark & Workshop Introduction | Kiju Lee, Associate Professor, Texas A&M University |
| 1:10 – 1:30 | Invited Talk: Overview of NIFA & Funding Opportunities (online) | Steven Thomson, National Program Leader, The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), USDA |
| 1:30 – 1:45 | Invited Talk: Autonomous Vertical Farming Optimization (online) | Martin Vesper, Chief Digital Officer (CDO) & Managing Director, Pfeifer & Langen GmbH & Co. KG |
| 1:45 – 2:00 | Invited Talk: Poket: Platform for Field Data Collection & Farmer Feedback (online) | Kamil Shafiq, Co-Founder of Poket |
| 2:00 – 2:15 | Research Talk: Weed Image Datasets and Robotics for Precision Weed Control in Agricultural Systems | Muthu Bagavathiannan, Professor, Texas A&M University |
| 2:15 – 2:30 | Research Talk: ShaRE: Shared Robotic Ecosystem for Smart and Collaborative Agriculture | Kiju Lee, Associate Professor, Texas A&M University |
| 2:30 – 2:45 | Research Talk: Advancing Peanut Breeding: UAV Applications for Crop Monitoring, Phenotyping, and Ongoing Genetic Improvement- Mission and Updates | Basu Kafle, Research Associate, Texas A&M AgriLife Research |
| 2:45 – 3:15 | Networking Coffee Break | |
| 3:15 – 3:30 | Invited Talk: Overview of Texas A&M AgriLife Research (online) | Amir Ibrahim, Associate Director & Chief Scientific Officer of Texas A&M AgriLife Research |
| 3:30 – 3:45 | Research Talk: The Ultimate Dexterity will come from Agriculture | Gilwoo Lee, CEO & Founder of Zordi |
| 3:45 – 4:00 | Research Talk: Developing a low-cost modular robotic fleet for resilient lavender harvesting | Jung Yun Bae, Assistant Professor, Michigan Technological University |
| 4:00 – 4:15 | Research Talk: An Economic Framework for Evaluating the Financial Feasibility of Smart Robotics in Sustainable and Resilient Agriculture | Yuri Calil, Assistant Professor, Texas A&M University |
| 4:15 – 4:30 | Research Talk: Revitalizing Tomato Farming in South Texas via Autonomous Growing and Harvesting Cell | Dugan Um, Associate Professor, Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi |
| 4:30-4:45 | Research Talk: NexCot: A Model for Determining the Number of Growing Degree Days Remaining Until a Cotton Boll is Open | Caleb Lindhorst, Doctoral Student, Texas A&M University |
| 4:45 – 5:30 | Panel: Future of “Agriculture + Robotics” and Funding Strategies | Panelists: Luis Tedeschi, Professor, Texas A&M University Ali Fares, Professor, Prairie View A&M University Gilwoo Lee, CEO/Founder, Zordi Mahendra Bhandari, Assistant Professor, Texas A&M AgriLife Research Moderated by Kiju Lee |
Workshop Organizers
| Kiju Lee | Texas A&M University |
| Mahendra Bhandari | Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Corpus Christi, Texas |
| Muthu Bagavathiannan | Texas A&M University |
| John Cason | Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Stephenville, Texas |
| Robert Hardin | Texas A&M University |
| Ali Fares | Prairie View A&M University |
| Juan Landivar | Texas A&M AgriLife |
| Dugan Um | Texas A&M University |