Non Technical Summary
Modern agriculture driven by technological innovations and smart farming practices aims at increasing efficiency while protecting natural resources. This shift towards sustainability is facilitated by integrating cutting-edge technologies, digital tools, and data-driven strategies. However, it also highlights a growing gap in the skillset required for modern farming practices, particularly among younger generations from rural areas. Recognizing the pressing need for increased food production due to population growth, it is utmost important to equip youth especially women and minority students with the skills, knowledge, and experiences necessary to modern farming practices while promoting diversity, sustainability, and rural development.To address this gap, the RAISE (Robotics, AI, and Sensor Education) program is proposed. It targets women and underrepresented minorities aged 17 to 22 from rural areas of South Dakota, offering tailored STEM education and experiential learning. The curriculum focuses on key areas such as artificial intelligence, robotics, sensors, and mobile application development, with an emphasis on sustainable agriculture and natural resource preservation. Hands-on learning experiences will engage youth in building smartphone-based imaging system, robots, utilizing AI, and developing mobile applications, making agriculture appealing and future-oriented to them.Furthermore, the program underscores its commitment to community and rural development by preparing students to contribute to the prosperity and resilience of rural communities. By fostering a competitive workforce in agriculture science and emphasizing broader goals of sustainable rural development, the project aims to have a positive impact beyond individual skill development.

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
404	7299	2020	60%
402	7299	2020	20%
402	5310	2080	20%

Knowledge Area
404 - Instrumentation and Control Systems; 402 - Engineering Systems and Equipment;

Subject Of Investigation
5310 - Machinery and equipment; 7299 - Research equipment and methods, general/other;

Field Of Science
2020 - Engineering; 2080 - Mathematics and computer sciences;

Goals / Objectives
Modern agriculture driven by technological innovations and smart farming practices aims at increasing efficiency while protecting natural resources. This shift towards sustainability is facilitated by integrating cutting-edge technologies, digitaltools, and data-driven strategies. However, it also highlights a growing gap in the skillset required for modern farming practices, particularly among younger generations from rural areas. Recognizing the pressing need for increased food production due to population growth, it is utmost important to equip youth especially women and minority students with the skills, knowledge, and experiences necessary to modern farming practices while promoting diversity, sustainability, and rural development.To address this gap, the RAISE (Robotics, AI, and Sensor Education) program is proposed. It targets women and underrepresented minorities aged 17 to 22 from rural areas of South Dakota, offering tailored STEM education and experiential learning. The curriculum focuses on key areas such as artificial intelligence, robotics, sensors, and mobile application development, with an emphasis on sustainable agriculture and natural resource preservation. Hands-on learning experiences will engage youth in building smartphone-based imaging system, robots, utilizing AI, and developing mobile applications, making agriculture appealing and future-oriented to them.

Project Methods
The participating undergraduate students will be provided comprehensive and immersive research and outreach experiences by 3 faculty mentors from 2 different departments. This approach will engage students to work in 3 different research laboratories located at South Dakota State University in Brookings to explore the intersection of these fields and gain a broader perspective of multidisciplinary research.We will attract students from women, underrepresented students and economically disadvantaged groups in South Dakota and surrounding areas as well as Native American students from technical colleges. We have established collaboration with Lake Area Technical College in this regard to recruit students for WAMS program and train the future workforce.All students will be provided opportunities to work in 3 different laboratories to learn the following general techniques as well: Experimental design. Statistical analysis. Installation of equipment and collection of data. Analysis, quantification, and interpretation of results obtained from experiments. Preparation of technical reports. Preparation of manuscript drafts for peer-reviewed conferences and journals.