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University of Essex homepage Centres and Institutes Essex Plant Innovation EPIC Launch Event
Essex Plant Innovation Centre

Our launch event

Three rows of people sitting on white chairs. On the right a woman wearing a pink headscarf is looking diagonally up towards something out of shot on the left hand side.

The Essex Plant Innovation Centre (EPIC) launch event saw the joining of research and industry to discuss the future in the agricultural sector.

Over forty companies and as many academics came to the launch of EPIC on 20th September 2019. We had presentations from all parts of the agri-tech industry which outlined the key challenges faced by the agricultural sector, and how agri-tech can provide solutions.

Speaking at the launch, the Director of EPIC Professor Tracy Lawson said: “The centre will provide an opportunity to explore new opportunities to engage with industry. We want our experts to interact with industries and technologists in the agricultural and horticultural sectors to address real-world problems in these areas.”

The global challenges to food agriculture which EPIC’s researchers and innovators look to address include soil health, increasing crop productivity in a changing environment as well as changes in work forces. The launch of EPIC saw the meeting of industry with our experts in the fields of plant soil microbial interactions, plant productivity, robotics, artificial intelligence and data analytics.

Below you’ll find our launch report with our plans for the future as well as key academic and corporate presentations.

Academics and companies came together for our launch event, to find out more about how research can support agriculture.

Academics and companies came together for our launch event, to find out more about how research can support agriculture.

Small groups allowed individual academics to discuss their areas of expertise with interested parties.

Small groups allowed individual academics to discuss their areas of expertise with interested parties.

Throughout the launch event we presented our research, and industry partners how they're using agri-tech in their work.

Throughout the launch event we presented our research, and industry partners how they're using agri-tech in their work.

The launch event was an ideal opportunity for us to showcase some of the technology we use in our plant productivity research.

The launch event was an ideal opportunity for us to showcase some of the technology we use in our plant productivity research.

Along with networking, our attendees saw some of our latest work, such as the strawberry-picking robot.

Along with networking, our attendees saw some of our latest work, such as the strawberry-picking robot.

Launch report

Our report (.PDF) discusses our launch event, including the key themes discussed by our academics, and the actions we will be taking over the next three months and beyond.

Academic presentations

Soil health - Professor Alex Dumbrell (.PDF)

Robotics and sensors - Dr Vishwanathan Mohan (.PDF)

Data science and artificial intelligence - Dr Spyros Samothrakis (.PDF)

Plant productivity group - Professor Tracy Lawson (.PDF)

Corporate presentations

Green Futures Biofuel - Arturo Lopez (.PDF)

Sensors, Systems & Phenotyping - Dr John Molloy nd Dr Imran Mohamed (.PDF)

Transforming food production - Katrina Hayer (.PDF)

Can agricultural R&D do better for the industry through stronger partnerships? - Graham Jellis (.PDF)

Challenges of glasshouse growing - technology & system production - Abbey View Produce Ltd (.PPTX)

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