Our mission
EnGeniousAg LLC designs, manufactures and deploys low-cost, instant readout, high-performance, field-based nutrient sensors for crops, soils and water, thereby improving agronomic management practices, increasing grower profitability and sustaining the environment.
Our team
Dr. Patrick S. Schnable (Co-founder & Managing Partner)
Pat Schnable is a distinguished professor and Iowa Corn Promotion Board Endowed Chair at Iowa State University where he also directs ISU's Plant Sciences Institute. He received his BS from Cornell University, his PhD from Iowa State University and conducted post-doctoral research at the Max Planck Institute in Köln, Germany. Previously, he co-founded Data2Bio LLC and Dryland Genetics LLC.
Dr. Liang Dong (Co-founder & Chief Technology Officer)
Liang Dong is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a faculty scholar of the Plant Sciences Institute at Iowa State University. He received his Ph.D. from Tsinghua University, Beijing, and conducted post-doctoral research at University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has 14 patents issued or pending across the areas of sensors, microsystems, semiconductors, and manufacturing.
Dr. Michael J. Castellano (Co-founder & Chief Agronomist)
Dr. Michael J. Castellano (Co-founder & Chief Agronomist)
- Mike Castellano is an associate professor and the William T. Frankenberger Professor of Soil Science at Iowa State University. He received his Ph.D. from The Pennsylvania State University. He has experience working across a broad range of agriculture systems from semiarid systems in Texas to humid systems in Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Dr. James Schnable (Co-founder & Director of Business Strategy)
James Schnable is an assistant professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He received his PhD from the University of California-Berkeley in Plant Biology. His current research focuses on quantitative genetics and phenotyping in corn and sorghum. Previously, he co-founded Data2Bio LLC and Dryland Genetics LLC.
James Schnable is an assistant professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He received his PhD from the University of California-Berkeley in Plant Biology. His current research focuses on quantitative genetics and phenotyping in corn and sorghum. Previously, he co-founded Data2Bio LLC and Dryland Genetics LLC.
Dr. Xinran Wang (Operations Manager)
Xinran Wang is an electrical engineer. She has extensive experience in design, manufacturing and testing of MEMS sensors, electronic circuits, and sensor systems. She received her Ph.D. from Iowa State University in Electrical Engineering. She has 2 patents issued relating to nitrate sensors.
Xinran Wang is an electrical engineer. She has extensive experience in design, manufacturing and testing of MEMS sensors, electronic circuits, and sensor systems. She received her Ph.D. from Iowa State University in Electrical Engineering. She has 2 patents issued relating to nitrate sensors.
Our intellectual property
EnGeniousAg has assembled an IP portfolio consisting of both exclusive licenses to technologies invented by our founders prior to the date we commenced operations and new intellectual property we have developed internally. A number of these patents have already been issued or the provisional patents published:
Patent No.: US 10,921,303 B1: Dong, L., et al. Miniature Sensors with Probe Insertable into and for Obtaining Measurements from Plants and a Variety of Other Mediums.
Patent No.: US 11,378,541 B1: Dong, L., et al. Self-Contained, Automated, Long-term Sensor System for Monitoring of Soil and Water Nutrients in Fields.
Provisional patent # 63/287,027: Dong, L., et al. Double Junction Reference Electrode.
Patent No.: US 10,921,303 B1: Dong, L., et al. Miniature Sensors with Probe Insertable into and for Obtaining Measurements from Plants and a Variety of Other Mediums.
Patent No.: US 11,378,541 B1: Dong, L., et al. Self-Contained, Automated, Long-term Sensor System for Monitoring of Soil and Water Nutrients in Fields.
Provisional patent # 63/287,027: Dong, L., et al. Double Junction Reference Electrode.