Purdue University Archives

Dr. Krishna Nemali has a PhD in horticulture with an emphasis on the physiology, sensors, and automation technology associated with greenhouse crops and their production. After his postdoctoral fellowship from the University of California Davis, he worked as a controlled environment crop scientist at Monsanto Company for nine years. Dr. Nemali joined the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture at Purdue University as an assistant professor in July 2016. He was tenured and promoted to the associate professor rank in July 2022. At Purdue, he is responsible for research, extension, and teaching. He specializes in controlled environment agriculture, which includes producing vegetables and ornamentals grown in greenhouses and vertical farms using hydroponic systems. He also conducts research in the area of digital sensors and IoT (Internet of Things) devices for horticultural crop production. A primary goal of his program at Purdue is to develop new technologies that improve the sustainability (increase productivity, reduce resource waste, minimize environmental impact, and increase profits) of controlled environment agriculture; the program also trains farmers in new technology. Dr. Nemali has published 34 scientific articles in high-impact journals, 19 extension materials, and eight industry articles. He has been invited to speak at multiple national and international conferences and has received several awards. Dr. Nemali is passionate about actively engaging with students and farmers and contributing to science and technology through research. He likes to travel and enjoys spicy food.

Dr. Nemali’s Fulbright-Nehru project is using digital sensors with IoT capability to address agricultural water wastage and nitrate contamination, as well as nitrous oxide emissions from excessive use of nitrogenous fertilizers. The project is being conducted at Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology. As part of the project, smart sensor technology with decision support and IoT capability developed at Purdue University is being tested on greenhouse-grown floricultural crops to reduce water wastage and increase nitrogen-use efficiency. He is also conducting classes for senior-level undergraduate and postgraduate students on smart sensor technology.

Aditi Anand is an undergraduate student majoring in computer engineering at Purdue University. She is also pursuing a minor in biology and a concentration in artificial intelligence (AI). Aditi intends to pursue a career in healthcare and is specifically interested in applications of AI in the field of medicine. Her research has explored creating more brain-like artificial neural networks; improving the robustness of AI models used in medical imaging; and early and low-cost diagnosis of congestive heart failure. Aditi has received the Presidential Scholarship, Paul and Peggy Reising Scholarship, Stimson Family Scholarship, and Charles W. Brown Scholarship, all from Purdue University. She has also received the National Honorable Mention Award for Aspirations in Computing from the National Center for Women & Information Technology and the Sigma Xi Top STEM Talk Award at the Purdue Spring Undergraduate Research Conference. Aditi has served as a crisis intervention specialist for Mental Health America; as an emergency room volunteer at the IU Arnett Hospital, Lafayette; as vice chair of the Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, Purdue Student Chapter; as vice president of WorldHealth Purdue; and as event coordinator for the Indian Classical Music Association at Purdue. She has also volunteered for Udavum Karangal, Chennai, organizing personal hygiene and health awareness workshops, and for the Ankit Foundation Corp to develop a mobile app for mental health.

In her Fulbright-Nehru program, Aditi is working with the Robert Bosch Center for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence at the Indian Institute of Technology (RBC-DSAI) in Chennai to develop a high-performing AI model that can be deployed in Indian clinical conditions to diagnose breast cancer through low-cost mammograms. The model that she is developing with Dr. Balaraman Ravindran’s team at RBC-DSAI seeks to overcome the challenges that India and other countries face due to lack of resources and access to radiologists.