Azlan Zahid, PhD Student in Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Hola!
"if you put your heart and soul into something, you keep at it, you can achieve it"

University Park, PA Fall-2018

Originally from the South of Asia, born and raised in the beautiful city of Lahore, which is in the mid-eastern part of Pakistan. Like every other developing country in the region, Pakistan's economy is also driven by agriculture with more than 70% of the population linked directly or indirectly to farming and related industries. Being raised in the farming community, no surprises, my interest in agriculture began to develop at a young age.

I was always fascinated by machines and never missed a chance to learn how mechanical systems work. I did my undergrad in 2013 from University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF). I developed a keen interest in mechanical systems and utilization of renewable energy at farms. I have worked on renewable energy for master's thesis and in my project, I introduced a novel technique of heat recovery to the solar thermal system which results in increased efficiency of the system. 

I have joined the Penn State in Fall 2018 for Ph.D. in Agricultural and Biological Engineering. My research is focused on developing a robotic pruning system for apple trees to minimize the production cost considering variation in tree architecture, illumination condition, and topographic feature. The overall goal of my research is to make the apple production system sustainable.

During my graduate program at UAF, I felt convinced that my true liking and aptitude lies in research and teaching. I am currently working as Lecturer (sabbatical) in the Department of Farm Machinery and Power, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering Technology, UAF since 2015. I worked there on machinery projects including precision/robotic agriculture systems. I have been teaching undergraduate students, and I am really looking forward to this class to learn; how to make teaching and learning more effective and interesting.