Search Site   
Current News Stories
Solar eclipse, new moon coming April 8
Mystery illness affecting dairy cattle in Texas Panhandle
Teach others to live sustainably
Gun safety begins early
Hard-cooked eggs recipes great for Easter, anytime
Michigan carrot producers to vote on program continuation
Suggestions to celebrate 50th wedding anniversary
USDA finalizes new ‘Product of the USA’ labeling rule 
U.S. weather outlooks currently favoring early planting season
Weaver Popcorn Hybrids expanding and moving to new facility
Role of women in agriculture changing Hoosier dairy farmer says
   
News Articles
Search News  
   
Agricultural tech leading the way at U of I Research Park
 

By TIM ALEXANDER

NORMAL, Ill. — Agriculture-based technical startups are leading the way in new businesses choosing to locate at the University of Illinois Research Park in Champaign, the business incubator’s associate director told attendees of the recent WILLAg.org Farm Assets Conference.

Calling ag tech the fastest-growing sector there, Laura Weisskopf Bleill noted there are more than 120 companies employing 2,100 employees at Research Park in Urbana, with more than 800 U of I students employed year-round.

“The University of Illinois Research Park is a dynamic place that combines both startups as well as large, corporate research and development centers, or what we call corporate innovation centers. About half of our 120 companies are new startups,” said Bleill.

“What distinguishes our research park from many other university research parks – and yes, we are a little competitive about this – is the 800 students we have working at our park. Because we are contiguous to campus, we are available as an on-campus work location for our students.

“Ag tech is the fastest-growing sector in the research park. Everything from seeds to tractors, from commodities to ag finance, to fiber processing, across the value chain you will see companies working in that field.”

New ag tech startups recently established in Research Park include Agrible-Nutrien, Earth Sense, LifeFoundry, AirScout, EIWA, Farm Afield and more. They join established companies such as John Deere, Dow Agrosciences, ADM, AGCO, Anheuser-Busch In-Bev, CME Group, Syngenta and others working in or on the edges of the agriculture industry.

All 120-plus companies will be spotlighted during the U of I Research Park’s annual open house March 6, 2019, according to Bleill.

Many of today’s ag-tech students have never been on a farm, she noted, but are working indirectly in the agricultural industry through data analytics, mobile app development and many other tech fields with agricultural applications.

“Perhaps they are working in augmented reality or other fields that do not require agricultural knowledge or expertise. (These students) are helping ag tech companies thrive,” she said.

Students are employed part-time during studies and full-time over the summer at the research park. “There is no one type of student at Research Park. There are students from math, physics and the engineering disciplines, as well as students from ag,” Bleill explained.

“They come from across the campus, both undergraduate and graduate students. This is true for all sorts of companies looking to build efficiency and move forward with their business, not just in the ag tech sector.”

The John Deere Technology Innovation Center is one of the longest-tenured tenants of the U of I Research Park, which opened in January 2001 following an expansion of the South Park sector of the campus.

“All of the apps that John Deere has developed over the past three or four years have come out of Champaign,” she said. “Now they are shifting their focus towards robotics.”

Much of Syngenta’s digital agriculture platform was created at the U of I Research Park, Bleill added. “They recently expanded and doubled their size. They are now a leader in that field, and much of the work is happening at the research park. They have a mix of full-time employees as well as student interns who are developing models that really put smart agriculture to work.”

In 2003, the state of Illinois provided funding to build the EnterpriseWorks early-stage tech firm incubator at Research Park, with the first tenants setting store the following year. One of the business vendors on hand for the conference, Bob Coverdill – CEO of Champaign-based AirScout, a thermal energy field-based scouting service – has a permanent address at the U of I Research Park.

“For our business, which is heavily involved in precision agriculture, being located in the EnterpriseWorks incubator has been critical for us on several fronts; direct contact and access to faculty at the university who are involved in research in agriculture, machine learning and computer vision; accessibility to a large pool of students interested in internships; networking with investments; and collaboration with other companies which are interested in exploring how our technology fits within their business model,” said Coverdill.

He was exhibiting his company’s thermal crop imaging technology at the Farm Assets Conference. “It is an exciting place to locate and grow a company.”

The fifth annual WILLAg.org FM Farm Assets Conference Nov. 20 in downtown Normal, brought together about 300 people engaged in a wide spectrum of agricultural endeavors.

 

 

12/12/2018