Matt Darr
Email: darr@iastate.edu
Phone: 515-294-8545
Title(s):
Professor & John Deere Endowed Chair in Ag Innovation
Director, Digital Ag Innovation Lab
Director, BioCentury Research Farm
Fellow, National Academy of Inventors
Office
2356 Elings605 Bissell Rd.
Ames, IA 500111098
Information
Appointment
20% Research, 80% Administration
Expertise
Learn more about Dr. Darr’s programs:
Education
- Ph.D. Food, Agricultural, and Biological Engineering, The Ohio State University, 2007
- M.S. Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, University of Kentucky, 2004
- B.S. Food, Agricultural, and Biological Engineering, The Ohio State University, 2002
Interest Areas
Dr. Matt Darr is a professor in the Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering department at Iowa State University. He serves as the founding Director of the Digital Ag Innovation Lab at ISU and currently manages a team of university professionals and graduate students who provide leadership to a range of ag technology areas including precision agriculture, data analytics, digital agriculture, machine learning, and aerial imagery systems. He is author or co-author 100+ patents, licensed technologies, and journal articles, and has received over $85M in grant funding for his program. The outcomes of this work have resulted in 60+ fully commercialized products in the ag tech industry. In addition to his research assignment, Dr. Darr is the lead instructor for ISU courses in precision agriculture and agricultural machinery electronics.
Additionally, Dr. Darr serves as the administrative leader for the BioCentury Research Farm. The Iowa State University BioCentury Research Farm is the first-in-the-nation integrated research and demonstration facility dedicated to biomass production and processing. Biomass includes lignocellulosic crops, crop residues and grain. It is internationally recognized as the home of cutting-edge bioeconomy science and engineering. Since 2009, the BioCentury Research Farm has served as the home for innovative and sustainable research and development utilizing some of the most plentiful raw materials available in Iowa: corn, soybeans, crop residues, grasses and algae. BCRF supports more than 50 sponsored research and industry service projects each year. More than 300 undergraduate students who have been employed at the facility have gone on to careers at leading companies in the agriculture and engineering industries, including John Deere, Caterpillar, Inc., Corteva, Gross Wen Technologies, SpaceX and many more.