May 19—20, 2026
Animal, Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences (AVBS) Building Southeast Lobby & Room 102
Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences will host the annual Technologies for Agriculture and Living Systems Symposium at the University Park campus on May 19 and 20, 2026. The theme of this year's symposium is "Building Partnerships for a Holistic AgTech Ecosystem in Pennsylvania," with an aim to bring partners across academia, government, industry, and other stakeholders together to help us refine our understanding of opportunities and challenges along the technology pipeline from discovery to delivery. Over two days, we will explore and learn how to not only create new partnerships but also how to steward them for long-term impact across the innovation pipeline.
Tuesday, May 19, 2026
Animal, Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences (AVBS) Building Southeast Lobby & Room 102
Registration, Breakfast, Networking
8:00 | AVBS Building Southeast Lobby
Welcome
8:30 | 102 AVBS Paul Heinemann Director of TALiS Professor, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, College of Agricultural Sciences, Penn State Troy Ott Dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences, Penn State
Faculty Research Presentations
Moderator: Erin Connolly
8:50 – 9:05 | Advancing spraying solutions for tree fruit orchards - Shan Kumar 9:05 – 9:20 | Big Data for Better Decisions: Using Technology to Support Agricultural Decision-Making - Heather Grab 9:20 – 9:35 | Isolation of auxotrophic Pseudomonas tolaasii mutants with bacterial blotch biocontrol potential - Tim McNellis 9:35 – 9:50 | Advancing Smart Agricultural Machines: From Engineering Fundamentals to Field Applications - Shirin Ghatrehsamani 9:50 – 10:05 | Genome Editing of Cacao for Biotic and Abiotic Stress Resistance - Mark Guiltinan 10:05 – 10:20 | Understanding Microbial Interactions in Agricultural Systems - Veronica Roman-Reyna
Networking Break | 10:20 - 10:35
Faculty Research Presentations (continued)
Moderator: Heather Grab
10:35 – 10:50 | Molecular mechanisms of iron uptake and compartmentalization in plants - Erin Connolly 10:50 – 11:05 | Various uses of AI in different settings globally and also PA and Tilva - David Hughes 11:05 – 11:20 | Maize & Sorghum Metabolites: From Genetic Markers to Plant & Animal Health Innovations - Surinder Chopra 11:20 – 11:35 | AI-Enabled Precision and Robotic Specialty Crop Management - Long He 11:35 – 11:50 | Embodied Intelligence in Mesoscale Robots - Baxi Chong 11:50 – 12:05 | From Field Scout to Research Partner: The Open Crop Manager Journey - Paul Esker
Lunch | 12:05 - 1:O0
Faculty Research Presentations (continued)
1:00 – 1:15 | Building a Future-ready Apple Orchard – Sara Serra 1:15 – 1:30 | AI and Robotics in Agriculture: Current Progress and Future Directions – Magni Hussain
Perspectives on Partnerships and the Application for AgTech
External Perspectives on Partnerships
Moderator: Paul Heinemann
1:30 - 1:35 | Introduction - Paul Heinemann 1:35 – 1:55 | Keystone Community Partnerships - Jamison Malcolm 1:55 – 2:15 | Building and Stewarding Relationships for Development - Lauren Steinberg 2:15 – 2:45 | Accelerating Innovation through Strategic Private Sector Partnerships - Dan Ciolkosz and Luca Pandolfi (Woodland Biomass Innocations)
Networking Break | 2:45 - 3:00
Examples of the Triple Helix of Partnerships for AgTech
Moderator: Rita Graef
3:00 - 3:45 | Advisory board partners to enhance academics and workforce development - Steve Chmely (Penn State), Kimberly Packard (Avery Denison), Josiah Newman (NTM Engineering), Tim Peters (NRCS)
Tour & Reception
Rodney Erickson Food Science Building Food Pilot Plant, Keeney Commons, & Room 252
4:00 - 5:00 | Food Pilot Plant Tour 5:00 - 7:00 | Reception
Wednesday, May 20, 2026
Animal, Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences (AVBS) Building Southeast Lobby & Room 102
Registration, Breakfast, Networking
8:00 | AVBS Building Southeast Lobby
Partnerships for Workforce Development: Panels
Moderator: Jeff Remington
8:30 – 9:00 | Perspectives on student-driven entrepreneurial opportunities - Jared Yarnell-Shane (Penn State) 9:00 – 9:45 | Perspectives on academic/industry partnerships through capstones - Britta Teller (Steller Floors), Jesse Torba (Penn State), Stan Ernst (Penn State), Juliana Vasco (Penn State), Jeff Catchmark (Penn State)
Networking Break | 9:45 - 10:15
Partnerships for Industry Solutions: Panels
Moderator: Wendy Clemens
10:00 – 10:45 | CNH – John Peterson (Penn State), Jason Bechdel (Penn State), Heather Burkholder (Penn State), Philip Eby (CNH)
Moderator: Long He (Penn State)
10:45 – 11:30 | Enhancing Specialty Crop Production through Academic / Industry Partnerships - Yu Jiang (Cornell AgriTech), Jaiver Moreno Blanc (MoBlanc Robotics), Nicholas Gunner (Orbitist, LLC)
Moderator: Gretta tRITCH roMAN
11:30 – 12:15 | Penn State Sustainable Labs Program - Kristin Dreyer (Penn State), Steve Chmely (Penn State), Gavin Maxim (Electrical Power Generation (EPG)), Tara Mather (Penn State), John Lease (Penn State)
Lunch | 12:15 - 1:00
Closing Remarks
1:00 | TALiS Impact and Future Vision
Credits:
Created with images by DusanJelicic - "The Caucasian farmer and the Chinese agronomist in a carrot field have closed a deal.,They shake hands, satisfied with the yields and their successful collaboration." • CreativeIMGIdeas - "Advanced farm setup with blockchain for supply chain management, data points hovering above crops, perfect for ag-tech designs."