Dr. Yiannis Ampatzidis began as an Assistant Professor in 2017 and leads a research and extension precision agriculture engineering program in the Southwest Florida Research and Education Center (SWFREC) in Immokalee.
Dr. Ampatzidis works in the area of mechanization and automation of specialty crop production. He focuses on the design, development and testing of sensors and control systems for optimal management of inputs, resources and products. Dr. Ampatzidis’ current research focuses on mechanical harvest of specialty crops, mechatronics, artificial intelligence, machine vision, precision agriculture, precision irrigation, smart machines, UAVs and machine systems. Dr. Ampatzidis has a special interest in development, implementation and evaluation of agricultural machines and control systems for high value crops (precision agriculture applications, remote sensing, embedded systems developing and programming, UAVs-drones, GIS applications).
Research
- Automation, Mechatronics, Robotics
- Sensors/Sensing, Smart Machinery
- Machine vision, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things
- Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) - Drones
- Precision Agriculture technology and management
- Development and implementation of automated technologies for specialty crops production
- Farm mechanization
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Yiannis Ampatzidis - Research Publications
- PheMuT: A phenology-informed, multi-modal time-series model for strawberry yield forecasting
- Advancement and field evaluation of a honeysuckle harvesting robot with integrated clamping and air-suction mechanisms
- Early detection of spider mite stress in hibiscus using hyperspectral imaging and machine learning framework: toward application-oriented multispectral solutions
- GLS-YOLOv8n: a lightweight ‘Guiqi’mango detection model via RGB-depth-thermal image fusion
- Advancements in Orchard Thinning Technologies: A Comprehensive Review
- RGB-to-synthetic-thermal image translation using generative AI to support crop water stress assessment
- Design and evaluation of a PI-controlled robotic smart sprayer for precision herbicide applications with multi-nozzle integration
- Explainable Deep Learning and Edge Inference for Chilli Thrips Severity Classification in Strawberry Canopies
- A Hybrid Model of Deep Feature Extraction and Weighted Ensemble Classifiers for Accurate Barley Disease Detection
- Carbohydrate Budget of Pecan Trees and Its Impact on Nut Growth Regulation
Extension
Dr. Ampatzidis’s extension program in precision and smart agriculture focuses on developing and delivering educational initiatives that promote the adoption and evaluation of cutting-edge technologies to enhance the profitability and environmental sustainability of Florida’s high-value crop industry. The program integrates expertise from diverse academic fields, particularly automation, robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and advanced sensor technologies, to support innovation in high-value crop production.
Dr. Yiannis Ampatzidis
Professor
Precision Agriculture Engineering
Southwest Florida Research and Education Center (SWFREC)
2685 SR 29 North Immokalee, FL 34142
(239) 658 - 3451
i.ampatzidis@ufl.edu
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Education
- Ph.D. Agricultural Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece (AUTH), 2010
- M.S. Agricultural Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece (AUTH), 2005
- B.S. Agricultural Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece (AUTH), 2008
- B.S. Agricultural Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece (AUTH), 2002
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Professional Experience
- August 2025 - Present
Professor, Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, University of Florida - August 2021 - August 2025
Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, University of Florida - July 2017 - August 2021
Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, University of Florida - June 2017 - July 2017
Associate Professor, Department of Physics and Engineering, California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB) - September 2013 - June 2017
Assistant Professor, Department of Physics and Engineering, California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB) - January 2011 - August 2013
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Center for Precision and Automated Agricultural Systems (CPAAS), Washington State University - July 2006 - December 2010
Researcher, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH) - December 2009 - March 2010
Researcher, National Agricultural Research Foundation, Institute of Soil Science, Thessaloniki, Greece - May 2007 - May 2008
Agronomist-manager, “Agios Georgios E.P.E.”, Greece
- August 2025 - Present
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Awards and Honors
- 2024-2027 UF Research Foundation (UFRF) Professorship award
- 2024 Leadership Enhancement and Administrative Development (LEAD) UF/IFAS Cohort 16.
- 2023 UF Standing Innovation for the “Smart Tree Sprayer Utilizing Sensor Fusion and Artificial Intelligence”.
- 2020 Superior Paper Award (Top 5 in 2020) from the Computers and Electronics in Agriculture for the paper entitled “Agroview: Cloud-based application to process, analyze and visualize UAV-collected data for precision agriculture applications utilizing artificial intelligence”.
- 2020 UF/IFAS High Impact Research Publication for the paper entitled “Agroview: Cloud-based application to process, analyze and visualize UAV-collected data for precision agriculture applications utilizing artificial intelligence”.
- ASABE AE50 winner for the Agroview technology (2020 top innovative new product); Recognized in the January/February issue of Resource magazine.
- UF Invention of the Year for the “Agroview: Cloud-based and Artificial Intelligence-based Software to Analyze and Visualize UAV Collected Data”, 2020
- Florida Venture Forum Aerospace & Technology Competition, 1st Runner Up for the Agroview technology, 2020
- Cade Prize finalist for the Agroview technology, 2020
- Silver Award for Excellence in CSUB Research, 2015-2016
- Bronze Award for Excellence in CSUB Research, 2014-2015
- USDA E. Kika De La Garza Science Fellow, 2014
- Bronze Award for Excellence in CSUB Research, 2013-2014
- Certificate of Reviewing Excellence, Computers and Electronics in Agriculture Journal, 2013
- ASHS Extension Publication Award winner for the paper: "Training System Affects Sweet Cherry Harvest Efficiency" [HortScience 48(5):547-555]., 2013
- Full scholarship from “State Scholarships Foundation”, Greece. Competition 2005 in the specialty “Automations in Precision Agriculture” (Duration: 42 months), 2005-2009
- Erasmus Program, The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University (KVL), Copenhagen, Denmark (Duration: 6 months), 2004-2005
- Publications
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Other Professional Activities
- Associate and Special Content Editor: Computers and Electronics in Agriculture (2021-Today)
- Associate Editor: Transactions of ASABE (ITSC community) (2025-present)
- Associate Editor: Frontiers in Plant Science, Technical Advances in Plant Science (2022-Today)
- Co Editor in Chief: Artificial Intelligence, (2020-Today).
- Guest Editor: Transactions of ASABE (2021-2025)
- Guest Editor: Frontiers in “Plant Science” and in “Artificial Intelligence” (2019-Today).
- Guest Editor: Artificial Intelligence journal (2019-Today).
- Guest Editor: Remote Sensing journal (2020-Today).
- Editorial Advisory Board Member of Computer and Electronics in Agriculture Journal.
- Editorial Board of Agricultural Science Journal.
- American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE).
- Florida ASABE
- American Society of Horticultural Science
- Florida State Horticultural Society
- Hellenic and European Society of Agricultural Engineers (ΕΓΜΕ, EurAgEng).
- European Federation for Information Technology in Agriculture, Food and the Environment (EFITA).
- Vice Chair, ASABE California-Nevada Section
- Chair, ASABEITSC-318 Mechatronics and Biorobotics Committee