Three universities, one mission, the Arizona desert as the testbed.

Stephanie Slinski has degrees in Plant and Soil Science, Microbiology and a PhD in Plant Pathology. She started her plant pathology career in a plant disease diagnostic clinic at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, working with local farmers. She continued her studies at the University of California, Davis followed by postdoctoral training at the Forestry and Agriculture Biotechnology Institute at the University of Pretoria in South Africa. She then returned to working with the agriculture industry at the Citrus Research and Development Foundation in Florida working with the citrus industry on tools to combat citrus greening disease. She came to Yuma in 2018 as the Associate Director of Applied Research and Development at the Yuma Center of Excellence for Desert Agriculture (YCEDA), a public-private partnership between the desert agriculture industry and the University of Arizona. In this role, Dr. Slinski drives high-impact research collaborations and strategic partnerships to address the critical needs of the agricultural sector. Her work focuses on advancing solutions in water conservation, Agtech, soil and plant health, and long-term agricultural sustainability.

Tyler Smith serves as the Sr. Director of The Luminosity Lab at Arizona State University which is a lean, interdisciplinary group of highly exceptional students. Built on a “Skunk Works” model of innovation, Luminosity prides itself on strategic design, systems level thinking, and rapid product development. Tyler is a 4th generation Arizonan and grew up working on his family’s farm in Maricopa. As Technical Director of the Arizona Hub for Agriculture Innovation (AHAI), Tyler oversees the Ag Innovation Lab program to develop technology for the agriculture industry in the state of Arizona. In addition to that, Tyler oversees research teams working on projects ranging from AI software systems, medical systems, education solutions, autonomous vehicles and UAVs, robotic systems, aerospace systems, wearable and IoT devices, and electrical and energy systems. Their goal is to push the limits of emerging technology and advance projects from research to commercialization. Over the past five years he has received numerous patents in various fields including energy, robotics, automation, and medical and led teams at Luminosity to win national and global awards including Xprize, RedBull Global Innovation Challenge, and the NASA BIG Idea Challenge.