• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Tuesday, August 5, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Biology

Multi-sensor drone technology for plant phenotyping receives $4.5 million

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
December 2, 2019
in Biology
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

IMAGE

Credit: Matt Bechdol/AgriNovus Indiana


WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – A Purdue University-affiliated agbioscience startup is creating technology to help meet the growing global demand for bioenergy and, in partnership with Purdue, has received new support from the U.S. government.

GRYFN offers precise geomatics solutions for coaligned and repeatable multi-sensor drone data collection. The approach enables breeders to scale research operations and empowers them with precise, repeatable analytic solutions for high throughput phenotyping in the field.

“Data collection in plant breeding is a labor-intensive and slow process, and measurements can be highly subjective,” said Matt Bechdol, an alumnus of Purdue’s College of Agriculture who serves as CEO at GRYFN. “Data quality expectations are high, and we are working to offer relatively easy-to-use flying laboratories. We believe our system helps make field data collection faster, more automated and consistent, and will be collaborating with leading commercial crop breeding partners to validate this value.”

The startup, which presented its technology in September at the Forbes AgTech Summit in Indianapolis, is partnering with Purdue on a $4.5 million grant from the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), a division of the U.S. Department of Energy. Eight Purdue professors founded GRYFN with backgrounds in aeronautic technology, biology, plant sciences, agricultural and biological engineering, civil engineering, and electrical and computer engineering.

The technology was originally developed under the Transportation Energy Resources from Renewable Agriculture (TERRA) program, through a $6.6 million ARPA-E grant awarded in 2015.

GRYFN is using the technology, developed at Purdue and licensed through the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization, to help in the rapid genetic improvement and production of sorghum crops for biofuel.

The team at Purdue started developing the technology as part of the university’s push for world-changing research in plant sciences to create innovative approaches to the growing demand for food, fuel and fiber. Purdue’s strategic investment in plant sciences and the entrepreneurial ecosystem helped secure the first TERRA grant and performance justified a second ARPA-E investment in continued research and technology to market efforts.

“High throughput phenomics is our go-to-market focus, but much like our multidisciplinary history, our solution provides value far beyond agriculture alone,” Bechdol said.

The GRYFN team is working to develop the patented geomatics technology for other uses where the advanced sensor systems could provide sustainable and cost-effective options.

“We are creating easy-to-use systems that combine sensors, advanced processing, artificial intelligence and drones to produce consistent, quality data for predictive and decision making tools,” Bechdol said.” This innovation has natural resource, infrastructure, and even archeological survey applications.”

GRYFN also is one of the companies chosen by the Purdue Foundry for its first cohort of the Double Down Experiment (DDX), which includes nine businesses ready for scalable growth with technologies designed to advance the world.

###

About Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization

The Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization operates one of the most comprehensive technology transfer programs among leading research universities in the U.S. Services provided by this office support the economic development initiatives of Purdue University and benefit the university’s academic activities through commercializing, licensing and protecting Purdue intellectual property. For more information on licensing a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization at [email protected]. The office is managed by the Purdue Research Foundation, which received the 2019 Innovation and Economic Prosperity Universities Award for Place from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. For more information about funding and investment opportunities in startups based on a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Foundry at [email protected]. The Purdue Research Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation created to advance the mission of Purdue University.

Writer: Chris Adam, 765-588-3341, [email protected]

Source: Matt Bechdol, [email protected]

Media Contact
Chris Adam
[email protected]

Tags: Agricultural Production/EconomicsAgricultureBiologyBusiness/EconomicsEarth ScienceFood/Food ScienceTechnology TransferTechnology/Engineering/Computer Science
Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

blank

Bacterial Diversity Across Developmental Stages of Anopheles subpictus

August 5, 2025
blank

Nigella sativa Nanoparticles: Fighting Bacteria, Oxidants, and Mosquitoes

August 5, 2025

Decoding Black Garlic’s Chemistry and Health Benefits

August 5, 2025

Species Extinction Threatens the Unique Biodiversity of Macaronesia

August 5, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • blank

    Neuropsychiatric Risks Linked to COVID-19 Revealed

    72 shares
    Share 29 Tweet 18
  • Overlooked Dangers: Debunking Common Myths About Skin Cancer Risk in the U.S.

    61 shares
    Share 24 Tweet 15
  • Predicting Colorectal Cancer Using Lifestyle Factors

    46 shares
    Share 18 Tweet 12
  • Dr. Miriam Merad Honored with French Knighthood for Groundbreaking Contributions to Science and Medicine

    47 shares
    Share 19 Tweet 12

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Bacterial Diversity Across Developmental Stages of Anopheles subpictus

CT Scans: Raised Arms Improve Clavicle Age Estimates

Nigella sativa Nanoparticles: Fighting Bacteria, Oxidants, and Mosquitoes

  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.