Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Affiliated Faculty, Agricultural Autonomy Institute

Mississippi State University

FAA Certified sUAS Remote Pilot (6/2017–Present)

Email: xz248@msstate.edu 

Email: xin.zhang2@uga.edu 

Phone: (662)325-1983

Office: ABE 241

Experience Record

• 8/2021–Present, Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Mississippi State University

• 7/2024–Present, Affiliated Faculty, Agricultural Autonomy Institute, Mississippi State University

• 6/2020–7/2021, Postdoctoral Research Associate of Remote Sensing, Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, University of California, Davis (PI: Dr. Alireza Pourreza)

• 8/2016–5/2020, Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Biological Systems Engineering, Washington State University

Education

• Ph.D. of Biological and Agricultural Engineering in Agricultural Automation Engineering, Washington State University (Advisors: Dr. Qin Zhang & Dr. Manoj Karkee)

• M.S. of Agriculture in Horticulture Engineering, Northwest A&F University

• B.S. of Agronomy in Facility Agriculture Science & Engineering, Gansu Agriculture University

Major Award

• “Giuseppe Pellizzi Prize 2020” by Club of Bologna for the Best Ph.D. Dissertation in Agricultural Engineering

• 2020 ASABE “Rain Bird Engineering Concept of the Year Award”

• 2019 ASABE “Superior Paper Award”

• 2018 Joint International Conference on Smart Agriculture and Bio-Robotics 2nd Prize of “Best Paper Award of University of Nottingham”

• 2017 WSU BSE Scholarship Award: Arnie & Marta Kegel Endowed Fellowship

Professional Service

• Managing Editor - Computers and Electronics in Agriculture

• Committee Chair - ASABE ITSC-318 Mechatronics & Robotics Committee

• Task Force Member - MSU DAFVM Vision 2030 Special Task Force – focusing on AI in agriculture and forestry in Mississippi

• Advisory Board/Committee Member - MSU University Data Science Committee (UDSC)

  • Subcommittee Chair - UDSC Capstone and Partnerships Subcommittee

• Guest Editor/Associate Editor

  • IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) 2023 – SS “Robotics and Cybernetics for Future Farming”

  • Computers and Electronics in Agriculture - "Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture"

  • Frontiers in Plant Science - "Sustainable and Intelligent Phytoprotection"

  • Agronomy - “Crop Yield Estimation through Remote Sensing Data" & “Crop Production Parameter Estimation through Remote Sensing Data"

  • AgriEngineering - "Automation and Digitalization in Orchard Machinery"

• Editorial Board Member - Frontiers in Plant Science

  • Sustainable and Intelligent Phytoprotection

  • Plant Breeding

• Member

  • Club of Bologna

  • American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE)

Teaching

• ABE 1911 - Engineering in Life Sciences (Fall 2022; guest instructor)

• ABE 1912 - Computational Problem Solving for Biological Systems (Fall 2023-2024; co-instructor for 5/16 weeks)

• ABE 3513 - GPS/GIS in Agriculture & Engineering (Spring 2022)

• ABE 4000 - Directed Individual Study (DIS) (Spring 2025)

• ABE 4423/6423 - Measurement and Control in Biological Systems (Spring 2023-2025)

• ABE 4961 - Seminar (Fall 2022-2024)

• ABE 4463/6463 - Introduction to Imaging in Biological Systems (Fall 2021/2024; co-instructor for 8/16 weeks)

• ABE 7000 - Directed Individual Study (DIS) (Fall/Spring 2024-2025)

• PSS 4143/6143 - Advanced Fruit Science (Spring 2025; guest instructor)

• PSY 8731 - Applied Cognitive Research Seminar (Spring 2023; guest instructor)

• POUL 8270 (UGA) - Applied Deep Learning-Based Computer Visions in Agricultural Systems (Spring 2025; guest instructor)

Thesis/Dissertation Committee

• Dakota Hester (Ph.D.) (major professor: Dr. Vitor S. Martins)

• Yi Jing (Ph.D.) (major professor: Dr. Wenbo Liu)

• Saad Aqerrout (Ph.D.) (major professor: Dr. Wenbo Liu)

• Yican Yang (Ph.D.) (major professors: Dr. Nuwan K. Wijewardane & Dr. Lorin Harvey)

• Bala S. Sivarathri (Ph.D.) (major professor: Dr. Raju Bheemanahalli Rangappa)

• F. H. Chamika A. Silva (M.S.) - "Moisture effects on visible near-infrared and mid-infrared soil spectra and strategies to mitigate the impact for predictive modeling" (major professor: Dr. Nuwan K. Wijewardane)

• Sushma Perati (M.S.) - "Evaluation and characterization of two capacitive sensors for cotton moisture measurement in static and dynamic modes for real-time use in cotton gin" (major professor: Dr. S. D. Filip To)

• Jonathan Harjono (M.S.) - "Detection and removal of plastic contaminants in seed cotton using a custom feeder unit and convolutional neural network" (major professor: Dr. S. D. Filip To)