Click each project title to expand the project details.
DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF MICRONUTRIENT SENSOR FOR FORTIFIED FOOD
Nelms Institute Contact: Juan AndradeMicronutrient deficiencies continue to afflict populations living in low- and middle-income countries. Though other strategies to address it exist, food fortification is the most cost-effective strategy to improve micronutrient status among vulnerable populations. Despite its effectiveness, the food industry as well as local governments lack tools to monitor fortified food entering the different markets. This is partially due to the limited availability of affordable and valid sensors to support these efforts. Our work focuses on expanding the use of colorimetric sensors to detect micronutrients in fortified foods such as wheat and corn flours. Our paper-based sensors are inexpensive and are as accurate and reliable as the gold standard method, i.e. atomic emission spectrometry.
DIGITAL TWIN TECHNOLOGY TO ENSURE FOOD SAFETY
Nelms Institute Contact: Janise McNairThis seed project will demonstrate the concept of Digital Twin technology in the cold chain applications of fresh produce. The temperature of the refrigerated case and temperature-related quality of fresh produce will be monitored based on the sensor data and mechanistic models run real time. User interface will provide optimum shelf life decision criteria for the refrigerator (e.g., assets) operation or food handling (e.g., sale incentives, donation, etc. Findings from this project will be extended to enable IoT-based monitoring, tracking and management of system-wide distributed cold chain fresh produce.
CPS: MEDIUM: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ROBUST AND INTELLIGENT OPTIMIZATION OF CONTROLLED-ENVIRONMENT AGRICULTURE SYSTEM FOR FOOD PRODUCTIVITY AND NUTRITIONAL SECURITY
Nelms Institute Contact: Aditya SinghOperation control optimization and automation for growing nutrient rich produce from recycled graywater in containerized hydroponic systems.
LANDSCAPES IN FLUX: THE INFLUENCE OF DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE AND INSTITUTIONAL MECHANISMS ON LAND COVER CHANGE, CLIMATE ADAPTABILITY AND FOOD SECURITY IN RURAL INDIA
Nelms Institute Contact: Aditya SinghThis project combines household-scale surveys and regional-scale socioeconomic data with remote sensing imagery to assess the causes and consequences of land cover change and food insecurity in India.