Profile

Aitazaz A Farooque
Name:
Aitazaz A Farooque
Email:
afarooque@upei.ca
Position:
Interim Associate Dean
Department:
School of Climate Change and Adaptation
Phone:
902-566-6084
Building:
Duffy Science Centre 408
Island Scholar:
Island Scholar Biography

Interim Associate Dean of the UPEI School of Climate Change and Adaptation

BEng (Pakistan); MSc, PhD (Dalhousie)

Dr. Farooque’s research focuses on fundamental understanding and development of state of the art precision agriculture (PA) technologies for Eastern Canada’s agriculture industry. Development of innovative and novel PA systems utilizes knowledge of engineering design, development and management, instrumentation, design and evaluation of sensors and controllers, development of hardware and software for automation of machines to sense targets in real-time for spot application of agrochemicals on an as-needed basis to improve farm profitability while maintaining environmental sustainability.

Dr. Farooque is actively working on machine vision, application of multispectral and thermal imagery using drone technology, delineation of management zones for site-specific fertilization, electromagnetic induction methods, remote sensing, and digital photography technique for mapping, bio-systems modeling, artificial neural network, deep learning, analog and digital sensor integration into agricultural equipment for real-time soil, plant, and yield mapping. Dr. Farooque has been evaluating the variable rate technologies for potential environmental risks.

Dr. Farooque has been very successful in securing research funding from Natural Science and Engineering Council of Canada, Provincial and Federal Governments and agriculture industry. He has been supervising undergraduate and graduate students, research assistants, and post-doctoral fellow at UPEI and other collaborating institutions. Dr. Farooque highlighted the significance of his research in peer-reviewed journals, conference proceedings, workshops, industry meetings and farmer’s field days.

Based on his student centered approach to teaching by going above and beyond for students and encouraging students to push the boundaries of their learning, he has been awarded with Dalhousie University Teaching Impact Award 2015. He also was awarded with the Engineers PEI Award for Engineering Excellence 2018 for excellence in the practice of engineering, the teaching of engineering and engineering research. He is also a recipient of the 2019 Presidential Award for Combined Achievement (Teaching, research and service) from the University of Prince Edward Island. He is a Professional Engineer and registered in both PEI and Nova Scotia.

Research Interests
  • Development of Sensing and Control System for Agriculture Industry
  • Machine Vision and Deep Learning
  • Map and Sensor Based Variable Rate Technology
  • Irrigation and Water Management – Sustainability Prospective
  • Site-specific Nutrient Management
  • Management of Spatial and Temporal Variability in Agricultural Fields
  • Precision Harvesting Technologies
  • Application of Machine Vision using Drone Technology
  • Environmental Benefits of Precision Agriculture Technologies
  • Biochar Application for Soil Remediation and Carbon Sequestration

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