CEO and Co-Founder

Perry Edwards, PhD

Perry is a Co-founder of Croptix and is passionate about bringing optical sensor technology to the field, to overcome challenges associated with antiquated laboratory practices. He has worked closely with crop researchers and the farming industry through multiple funded research programs to develop and commercialize Croptix’s in-field plant health detection technology. Perry has 16 years of experience developing sensor technologies and is an inventor on 5 patents.​

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Operations Manager

Alex Rowland

Alex brings over a decade of experience managing small teams in the Ag-business sector having experience working for large institutions and smaller companies at various stages of growth. Alex started his career in social work before focusing on agricultural sales and operations management with a farmer-owned co-op in Western Pennsylvania. He previously was at Penn State’s College of Agriculture managing a team aiding the efforts against the invasive Spotted Lanternfly. 

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Plant Pathologist

Michelle Mansfield

Dr. Mansfield has 15 years of experience in developing plant disease diagnostic assays, experimental designs for greenhouse and in-field evaluations as well as plant-disease extension support within the land-grant university system at Penn State. Over the last two years, she has worked with Croptix supporting research programs and trials of the Croptix technology.

CTO and Co-Founder

Zhiwen Liu, PhD

Dr. Liu is a Co-founder of Croptix, a Professor of Electrical Engineering at Penn State University, and a renowned expert researcher in the field of optics. At Croptix, he helps keep the innovation engine going on new development of optical technology and oversees the implementation of cutting-edge data analysis methods. At Penn State, he runs the Ultrafast and Nonlinear Optics Lab, with a current focus on ultrafast spectroscopy and nano-photonics. He is an NSF CAREER award recipient and well-published with over 90 authored scientific publications and inventor on 12 issued/pending patents. 

Data Architect

Ian Boswell

Ian leads the development and operation of the Croptix platform web applications infrastructure as well as sensor embedded systems design. Formally trained in music, he shifted careers early on to become a self-trained software engineer. He has been with Croptix from the beginning, starting as an APP developer and designing the very first Croptix APP. 

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