Date: March 1st (Friday) at 1:00 PM ET
Presenter: Yong Zhu, Distinguished Professor, North Carolina State University in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Location: Wu & Chen Auditorium, Levine Hall, 3330 Walnut Street
Abstract: To mitigate crop loss due to various biotic and abiotic stresses, new sensor
technologies to monitor plant health, predict, and track plant diseases in real time are
desired. The application of wearable electronics to agriculture and plant science is in its
infancy. The sensors can detect the status of plant health by profiling various trait
biomarkers and microenvironmental parameters, transducing bio-signals to electric
readout for data analytics. In this talk, I will start with reviewing the recent progress in
wearable plant sensors including plant growth sensors, physiology and microclimate
sensors, chemical sensors, and multifunctional sensors. Then I will discuss our efforts in
developing soft conductive nanocomposite materials and their application in soft
wearable sensors for human health monitoring. I will focus on our recent work in soft
wearable sensors for plant health monitoring. Sensors for detecting volatile organic
compounds (VOCs), temperature, and humidity are integrated into a single platform. This
versatile platform, combined with machine learning, enables various stress monitoring
applications, ranging from tracking plant water loss to early detection of plant pathogens.
