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NEW - PoultryTech - Fall 2011
NEW - ATRP 2011 Annual Report
ATRP Program Brochure
SPECIAL INTEREST
Dr. Doug Britton, ATRP Program Manager
Special to Poultry Times
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? Now, with some of these thoughts fresh in our minds, consider what advancements will be required to achieve this vision? While this is just a simple exercise, it provides a glimpse into the process that will be required for us to first generate a vision, and then build a roadmap of the priorities and the steps required to tackle the hurdles that exist between our current reality and our future vision.
Georgia Tech's Food Processing
Technology Building
View the Food
Processing Technology Building brochure >>
Directions to the Food
Processing Technology Building >>
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RESEARCH NEWS
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
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.
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.
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.
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
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Manager's Corner
Researcher Profile: Jie Xu