Matti Pastell appointed as Research Professor at Luke

Matti Pastell, PhD in Agriculture and Forestry has been appointed Research Professor in Future Farming Technologies. Pastell will start his five-year term on 1 June 2023.

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Pastell has previously worked in the same role as an associate professor in the Digital Technologies in Agriculture group at Luke. Pastell's areas of expertise have included measurement, imaging, modelling, and automation of agricultural systems.

More recently, Pastell has worked on cattle and fish welfare monitoring and crop production applications, including precision farming, robotics, and vertical farming.

Future Farming Technologies professorship will focus on the use of digitalisation and artificial intelligence in primary production in a wide range of applications including animal welfare monitoring, greenhouse production and the development of digital twins to guide arable farming. Pastell will work in the Production Systems unit.

-Digitalisation offers great potential for improving the sustainability and profitability of primary production. A key objective of the research is to support and automate decision making through simulation models and artificial intelligence. I am interested both in making better use of the data we are currently generating and existing automation, and in developing new methods. I look forward to a good and multidisciplinary collaboration with the existing new partners," Pastell commented.

-Matti’s associate professorship term went very well.  Matti received excellent evaluations of his tenure from external evaluators, and it was easy to agree with them.  Personally, I am particularly pleased that Matti has been able to build and strengthen the European cooperation relations that are important to us.  The digitalisation of agriculture is crucial for the profitability and sustainability of food production and will advance at a dizzying pace in the coming years.  Matti’s professorship is central to addressing research issues related to digitalisation at a national level", Anu Kaukovirta, Director of the Production Systems Unit, comments on Pastell's extension.

Research professors are key to Luke's scientific expertise and international visibility and impact. The aim is to ensure excellence in research for Luke in strategic areas, as well as its usefulness to business life and industry.