Events
2012 National Safety Conference for the Poultry Industry >
June 6 - 8, 2012
Sawgrass Marriott Resort
Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
ATRP is now on Facebook
GTRI’s Agricultural Technology Research Program (ATRP) is now on Facebook, featuring information about exciting research initiatives underway, interesting poultry and food industry news, industry events, photos, videos, and more! We invite you to become a fan by clicking the “like” button on our page — www.facebook.com/ATRP.GTRI
Special Interest
Poultry 2020: Building a vision >
How do we become relevant players in the public and political discourse about the future of agriculture without becoming politicos and policy pundits ourselves? How do we as the poultry community become the "go-to" resource that the federal agencies rely on for information and guidance when forming these programs?
The answer begins with: Cast the Vision! Thinking outside the box for just a moment, envision what poultry production could look like ideally in 10, 20, or even 50 years from now? Will we still be raising birds the same way? Will "hot-deboning" be the accepted method for removing the meat from the frame? Will irradiation systems be standard equipment in all plants for ensuring food safety? Might the chiller become a thing of the past?
Publications
PoultryTech Newsletter >
Fall 2011
To receiveyour free subscription to the PoultryTech newsletter, simply complete the short form located here.
It’s that easy!
As a PoultryTech subscriber, you will receive two printed issues mailed directly to you in the Spring and Fall and one electronic issue sent to your email address each Summer.
Your information will remain confidential, and we will only send you the newsletter, research updates and event invitations with your permission. You can unsubscribe any time.
RESEARCH AREAS
Advanced Imaging and Sensor Technologies
Robotics and Automation Systems
Environmental and Biological Systems
Food and Product Safety Research
Food Processing Technology Building
View the Food Processing Technology Building brochure >
Directions: Food Processing Technology Building >
RESEARCH NEWS
GTRI's Britton Testifies Before Georgia House Science and Technology Committee
Doug Britton, program manager of the Agricultural Technology Research Program (ATRP), testified before the Georgia House Science and Technology Committee on March 14, 2012, at the state Capitol in Atlanta.
The Committee is responsible for legislation that promotes the appropriate and safe development, as well as use of science and technological advances in the state. The Committee met to hear testimony about the applications of science and technology to agricultural activities in Georgia. Agribusiness is Georgia’s leading industry, comprising $68 billion of the state’s $727 billion economy and employing 13 percent of Georgia’s work force.
Britton’s testimony focused on ATRP’s long history of collaborative research and development with the poultry and food processing industries in Georgia, particularly the program’s focus on robotics and automation systems, advanced imaging and sensor concepts, environmental and energy systems, and worker and product safety technologies.
Advances in these areas help poultry and food processors improve productivity, reduce costs, and enhance workplace/product safety and health, all of which benefit the state’s economy. The Committee also heard testimony from Jaymie Forrest, managing director, Georgia Tech Supply Chain & Logistics Institute, and Robert Shulstad, associate dean for Research, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Georgia.
GTRI's Food Processing Technology Division Hosts STEM Robotics Event for Guide Right
The Georgia Tech Research Institute's (GTRI) Food Processing Technology Division (FPTD) recently hosted more than 40 young scholars from the Alpharetta-Smyrna Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity’s Guide Right mentoring program.
Students participated in two team-based problem solving activities centering on robotics and the application of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) concepts. The overall theme of the day was teamwork, and each activity demonstrated the breadth of work required to analyze a problem, find a possible solution, test that solution, and compare theoretical with experimental results.
The Guide Right mentoring program seeks to positively impact the lives of African-American youth by providing mentoring, homework assistance, leadership and educational exposure activities.
The day's activities were led by FTPD staff members Research Engineer Ai-Ping Hu, Research Engineer Michael Matthews, Research Assistant Matt Marshall and Development Associate Kristi Campbell. Lonnie Parker, doctoral candidate in Georgia Tech’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering's Human-Automation Systems (HumAnS) Laboratory, also participated.
A Message from Doug Britton, ATRP Program Manager
Fundamentally reinventing poultry production and processing is a monumental task. If we hope to be successful at this endeavor, it will require participation and expertise from the entire poultry community. Many have already begun to think about future challenges, and I want to encourage you to take the opportunity to participate in industry and professional meetings that focus on innovation and the future of the poultry industry.
Innovative Robot Uses 3D Imaging and a Novel Cutting Approach to Automatically Debone Poultry
Gary McMurray, chief of the Food Processing Technology Division at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), is spearheading the development of an Intelligent Cutting and Deboning System that uses 3D imaging and a robotic cutting arm to automatically perform precision cuts that optimize yield while eliminating the risk of bone fragments in finished product.
Encoding Expert Knowledge for Food Processing Technologies
People are versatile and can learn to function expertly in many different capacities. As we move forward into conceiving a poultry processing plant of the future — which will be made up of highly adaptable and scalable systems that are simultaneously capable of handling “lot sizes of one” — this kind of versatility will be invaluable. In the context of automation, we invite the reader to envision a new breed of all-purpose robots working inside a poultry processing plant. These robots would be made of almost generic hardware (in the same way that human beings are all physiologically similar), but their control algorithms (their “training,” from which expertise in using one’s five senses is derived) would be custom-tailored for accomplishing a myriad of different processing tasks. In all likelihood, some of the tasks in the poultry processing plant of the future have yet to be foreseen.
Trends in Remote and Mobile Information Access Technologies
As access to the Internet becomes more commonplace and more mobile, the ability to gather information from anywhere has moved from being a luxury to being an essential part of doing business. This past July, IT professionals from across the poultry industry gathered for the 2011 Information Systems seminar in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, to learn more about this growing trend. Sponsored by the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, the seminar focused on emerging information technologies such as remote monitoring and data gathering, virtual desktops and web applications, and remote data access.
Job title: Senior Research Scientist
Education: Ph.D., Analytical Chemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology
Areas of research expertise: Bioanalytical chemistry