Rahul Ramakrishnan might not drive a tractor, but his work could one day play a key role in growing fresh, healthy food for people around the world.

A 2018 graduate of Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science, Ramakrishnan uses his degree in robotic systems development to advance the field of agriculture as a staff AI development engineer at Raven Industries. Raven manufactures precision agriculture products and was recently acquired by agriculture and construction equipment and services giant CNH Industrial.

"Farming is a permanent need, an ever-growing demand and an industry that is in utmost need of automation," Ramakrishnan said. "Precision agriculture is making data-driven decisions to improve the overall farming experience. That improvement could be in the form of increased productivity, better quality or yield of crops leading to better profitability, or improved sustainability of farms." 

"Every day coming into work, knowing that my work is going to end up on several farm machines, helping farmers feed the world, that keeps me motivated." 

Read more about Ramakrishnan's work and how CMU prepared him to apply AI to real-world challenges in this story from University Advancement.