Source: UNIVERSITY OF PUERTO RICO AT MAYAGUEZ submitted to
EMPOWERING FUTURE PROFESSIONALS: A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TOWARD AGRICULTURE 4.0 CAREER READINESS IN PUERTO RICO
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
ACTIVE
Funding Source
OTHER GRANTS
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1031324
Grant No.
2023-70008-41048
Cumulative Award Amt.
$200,000.00
Proposal No.
2023-05539
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Sep 1, 2023
Project End Date
Aug 31, 2026
Grant Year
2023
Program Code
[AA-Q]- Resident Instruction Grants for Insular Areas
Project Director
Acuna-Guzman, S. F.
Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF PUERTO RICO AT MAYAGUEZ
P. O. BOX 9000
MAYAGUEZ,PR 00681
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
The proposal aims to attract and support undergraduate and graduate students in food and agricultural sciences to meet national demands of the next generation of agricultural professionals. It proposes to provide technical training in remote and proximal sensing, computer programming, and mechatronics to students. This project will promote multidisciplinary interactions between agriculture and engineering students to develop solutions to emerging agricultural challenges. The University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez (UPRM) will provide the necessary infrastructure for the project. This project intends to contribute to the training of a competent and better-qualified workforce to serve future demands within the Agriculture 4.0 paradigm. The project is well-aligned with institutional goals to incorporate 21st-century skills and will aim to increase student retention and produce more resilient and skillful professionals. This 3-year project will impact directly at least 4 graduate students, and 36 undergraduate students. Nearly 100 agricultural sciences and engineering undergraduate students will be impacted indirectly from the products associated with this grant. The outcomes of this project will promote multidisciplinary capacity building at UPRM to develop future educational and research projects to face the challenges in the food and agricultural sciences.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
0%
Applied
100%
Developmental
0%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
9037210302050%
9037299208025%
9037410302025%
Knowledge Area
903 - Communication, Education, and Information Delivery;

Subject Of Investigation
7299 - Research equipment and methods, general/other; 7410 - General technology; 7210 - Remote sensing equipment and technology;

Field Of Science
3020 - Education; 2080 - Mathematics and computer sciences;
Goals / Objectives
The overall goal of this project will be to broaden the learning experience through a multidisciplinary interaction among students and faculty members from agriculture and engineering by providing technical training in remote and proximal sensing, computer programming and mechatronics to develop comprehensive solutions to emerging challenges in agriculture and natural resources. The specific objectives of this project proposal include the following:Objective 1: To provide students with career readiness training in remote and proximal sensing, computer programming and mechatronics with applications in agriculture and natural resources.Objective 2: To promote capstone projects for undergraduate students in the College of Engineering to solve real-life problems in agriculture.Objective 3: To contribute to the training of a competent and better-qualified workforce to serve the current and future national demands within the Agriculture 4.0 paradigm.Objective 4: To strengthen the relationship between the College of Agriculture and the College of Engineering by promoting additional training to engineering students interested in pursuing a curricular sequence in Agricultural Systems.Objective 5: To develop leadership, problem-solving, and communication skills in undergraduate and graduate students who participate in multidisciplinary training opportunities.
Project Methods
This educational project will mainly focus on providing students from the Colleges of Engineering and Agricultural Sciences with educational learning opportunities (seminars) and hands-on workshops to confront real-life challenges in which usage of Agriculture 4.0 technologies (remote and proximal sensing, mechatronics and computer programming) are crucial tools to collect and analyze data to make informed decisions. This project is innovative because it brings together students and faculty members from different fieldsto provide asupportive and intelectually nurturing environment. Students will engage in a combination of individual and group activities(e.g., seminars, workshops on Agriculture 4.0 technologies, discussion meetings, applied research projects), which are preponderant for achieving the project objectives, and for ensuring participants success.Students will be recruited from different disciplines, including Agro-environmental Sciences, Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, Computer Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering. Involvement of undergraduate and graduate students will demand a multidisciplinary and problem-based approach to achieve the project objectives. Each participant in the team will bring its vision and expertise; however, additional knowledge and skills must be acquired and developed to attain the expected outcomes.PD Salvador F. Acuña-Guzman will be responsible for the project management, overall coordination of the project activities, and the development of instructional materials and workshop activities related to proximal and remote sensing, and GIS. He will oversee recruiting graduate and undergraduate students for the project, coordinate field activities and experiments, evaluate student progress, and prepare and submit reports to USDA.Co-PD Sierra-Gil and Co-PD Resto-Irizarry will develop the instructional materials and workshop activities related to computer programming and mechatronics, respectively.Dr. Sierra-Gil is an associate professor at the Computer Science and Engineering Department at UPRM. She will be responsible for the development of educational material on the introduction to computer programming principles to be offered in the form of short courses and workshops. The activities will be oriented towards experimentation and hands-on experience to provide skills to solve problems that require basic principles of computer programming. A series of short courses will be developed to introduce image processing and data analysis, machine and deep learning concepts for decision making and the use of open-source libraries such as Keras and TensorFlow applied to remote sensing data processing.Dr. Resto-Irizarry is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering (ME) at UPRM. He will be responsible for developing instructional materials and workshop activities related to mechatronics including an introduction to the Arduino microcontroller, Arduino programming and control logic (if, for, while statements), analog and digital sensor data acquisition, and motor control using relays, transistors, and an external power supply. Instructional modules may include the following: temperature measurements using RTDs and thermistors, humidity measurements (ambient and soil) using digital sensors, distance measurements using an ultrasonic sensor, turbidity measurements using a turbidity sensor or an LED and photodiode pair, and DC and servo motor control using pushbuttons, a potentiometer or sensor readings.The project will involve a total of 36 undergraduate and four graduate students from the Colleges of Engineering and Agricultural Sciences. The students will be grouped into three multidisciplinary teams by annual cohorts (12 undergraduate students per year). Each team will be mentored by a senior faculty member; therefore, the project will provide hands-on experiential learning (mechatronics, proximal sensors, geospatial data management), and multidisciplinary applied research opportunities to develop computer programming skills, leadership, apply machine learning based solutions and teamwork competencies.The team will utilize the different Agriculture 4.0 technologies to analyze and discuss problems related to climate changes, erosion and sediment control, environmental impacts, plant stresses, flood mitigation, among other relevant topics. This project will promote a multi- and transdisciplinary environment with diverse backgrounds, where participants will bring their unique perspective and expertise while acquiring additional knowledge via learning-by-demonstration and practical applications.The main activities of the experiential learning component will come in two different forms: 1) Seminars, and 2) Workshops. It is expected that the availability of the acquisition of materials (15 Arduino sets and sensors) to support these experiential learning activities will accelerate the interest of undergraduate and graduate students in Agriculture 4.0. Specific activities will include a Seminar/Workshop series throughout the academic year for undergraduate and graduate students at UPRM of diverse academic backgrounds; fundamentals of proximal sensing and usage of proximal sensors to characterize various materials; fundamentals and hands-on practices using Arduino microelectronics, as well as fundamentals of computer programming. Lastly, students will learn the basics of signal processing to utilize remote sensing technologies and their applications in natural resources, as well as food and agriculture production.Overall, our goal is to improve the inner motivation of students during their learning process, while increasing their competencies in the use of novel technologies to acquire knowledge and transdisciplinary technical skills to develop comprehensive solutions to problems in agriculture and natural resources (Objectives 1, 3 and 5).The management of this project will be a shared responsibility among PDs. Each PD will be responsible for developing assigned activities to ensure the project's success and monitoring its progress, and outcomes. Additionally, an External Evaluator will be brought in to assess the project's financial progress, ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations, and provide an objective evaluation of the project's effectiveness. A variety of assessment tools (rubircs,surveys, student assessments and evaluations) will be used at each of the different phases of the project. Each tool will be helpful in providing specific feedback from participants and identifying areas for improvement.PDs are aware of the possibility of unexpected pitfalls that can interfere in the execution of this project. The mayor limitation that this project might confront is the low participation of students. If the project faces this situation, a logistic plan torecruit students and to redesign activities will be developed by the PDs.External collaboration will occur by the interaction with the Puerto Rican Association of Agronomists (PRAA). It is expected that someparticipants willpresent during the PRAA meetings aboutautomation of agricultural processes (e.g.,irrigation, greenhouse control), orin-situmonitoring of relevant parameters (e.g., temperature, moisture, pH, Eh) usingopen-source microcontrollers (e.g., Arduino), as well as remote sensing technologies.

Progress 09/01/23 to 08/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience:During this reporting period, our project engaged a broad range of audiences within the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez (UPRM), targeting undergraduate and graduate of various academic departments of the Colleges of Engineering and Agricultural Sciences. This diverse audience base allowed us to reach and impact participants while being part of amultidisciplinary approach. Undergraduate Students (Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, Agro-environmental Sciences, Computer Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering): Our project successfully engaged 13 undergraduate students across various disciplines during Year 1, creating a cohort that represented diverse academic backgrounds. By focusing on students enrolled in agriculture and engineering fields, we aimed to foster a foundational understanding of Agriculture 4.0 principles and technical skills, such as GIS, remote sensing, and mechatronics. These students benefitted from seminars, workshops, and capstone projects designed to enhance technical competencies and prepare them for modern challenges in agriculture. Graduate Students: Three graduate students participated in our Agriculture 4.0 training activities, contributing their advanced disciplinary knowledge to the projects and serving as mentors to undergraduates. Their involvement enabled peer learning and provided graduate-level insight into project design and implementation, strengthening the educational ecosystem within the program. These graduate students were key to bridging theoretical concepts and applied solutions in agriculture, thus enhancing the practical learning experiences for all participants. Changes/Problems:During the first year of the project, we encountered a few challenges that required minor adjustments to our approach to ensure project continuity and maximize student engagement. These changes were primarily aimed at overcoming logistical and resource-based limitations while maintaining alignment with the project's core objectives. 1. Challenges in Student Recruitment and Participation Problem: Initial recruitment efforts for program participation resulted in lower-than-anticipated enrollment from undergraduate students in the early stages of the academic year. Change in Approach: To address this, we developed targeted outreach initiatives, including partnerships with student organizations and the UPRM Office of Student Affairs, to increase visibility and accessibility. These efforts included informational sessions to strengthen the recruitment pipeline for Year 2. 2. Resource Allocation for Hands-On Equipment and Software Problem: Acquisition delays for critical hands-on equipment, such as Arduino kits and sensors, impacted the timely execution of some planned workshop activities in the fall semester. Change in Approach: We adjusted the project timeline by shifting certain hands-on activities to later in the academic year, allowing us to focus on theory-based seminars and preliminary coursework until the equipment arrived. Once the equipment was available, we intensified hands-on training sessions to ensure students completed the necessary practical components. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Implementation of Core Training Modules in Agriculture 4.0 Skills Seminars and Workshops Developed:Three primary modules were designed and implemented, covering:Remote Sensing and GIS (led by Dr. Salvador Acuña-Guzmán),Mechatronics(led by Dr. Pedro Resto-Irizarry), andProgramming and Data Analysis(led by Dr. Heidy Sierra). Practical Applications in Agriculture 4.0:Modules emphasized real-world applications in agriculture, preparing students for challenges in data management, climate resilience, and resource monitoring. Equipment Utilization:Acquired Arduino sets and sensors were integrated into workshop activities, giving students hands-on experience with essential Agriculture 4.0 tools. These resources allowed participants to apply skills in real-time, using microcontrollers and sensors to monitor agricultural parameters. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The PI presented in Kansas City, MO during the USDA-NIFA Insular and ANNH Project Director Meeting (May 29-31, 2024). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?For the upcoming year, our objective is to build on the successes of Year 1 while refining and expanding our content to provide with aneven broader set of tools and skills for Agriculture 4.0. We aim to maintain effective practices and introduce enhancements that will deepen student learning, increase cross-disciplinary engagement, and strengthen the practical applications of emerging technologies in Agriculture.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? 1. Successful Recruitment and Engagement of Diverse Student Cohorts Cohort Composition: We recruited 16students across engineering and agricultural sciences disciplines, of which all of them qualify as underrepresented students, aligning with the USDA-NIFA's mission to increase diversity in agriculture-related fields. This cohort included undergraduate and graduate students from various departments, providing a multidisciplinary foundation essential for Agriculture 4.0 learning. Consistent Participation: Bi-weekly seminars and workshops engaged students in hands-on learning and provided continuity for skill development throughout the academic year. These activities demonstrated strong student interest in Agriculture 4.0 applications, boosting engagement in each session. 2. Development and Completion of Capstone Projects Capstone Projects Completed: Four capstone projects were successfully carried out, showcasing students' ability to solve real-life agricultural issues by applying Agriculture 4.0 technologies. Project topics included: 1. Landslide Susceptibility Mapping in Puerto Rico 2. Opportunities for Aquaculture Industry Development 3. Arduino-based Turbidity Monitoring System 4. Hydroponic System Development with Arduino Technology Student-Led Research and Reports: Each project culminated in a final technical report, documenting the project's methodology, results, and practical implications, demonstrating students' analytical and technical skills. These reports are being considered as resources for further course integration and future Agriculture 4.0 projects at UPRM. 3. Strengthened Collaboration between Colleges of Agriculture and Engineering ?Interdepartmental Partnership: This project marked a milestone in collaboration between UPRM's College of Agricultural Sciences and College of Engineering, uniting faculty and students in a shared learning environment. Faculty members from both colleges contributed their expertise, fostering an interdisciplinary framework. Pathways for Interdisciplinary Learning: The curriculum and hands-on learning opportunities provided students from engineering backgrounds with insights into agricultural applications, while agriculture students gained exposure to engineering technologies. This cross-disciplinary approach directly contributed to more comprehensive project outcomes and supported UPRM's strategic goal of strengthening interdepartmental collaboration.

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