Poultry Tech Summit 2023 speakers and panelists
Alan Beynon, CEO, SenseHub Poultry
Alan Beynon qualified from the Royal Dick Veterinary College in Edinburgh in 1988. In 1998, he founded a startup business called Prognostix Ltd., which was initiated to harness the availability of real time data transmitted through LoRa Wan communication and to relate this data to a decision-making platform enabling vets and farmers to make decisions in real time to improve animal health, welfare and sustainability. The poultry business branded Sense Hub Poultry was acquired by MSD/ Merck in February 2021.
Presenting: Using IoT data to drive economic value and performance on broiler sites
Andrew Bishop, DVM, Amick Farms
Panel: Improving health and welfare for broilers and turkeys
Tristan Bond, co-founder and chief engineer, Agrinerds
Tristan Bond co-founded AgriNerds, a company that develops technology solutions for the agriculture sector. As chief engineer, he has worked on a variety of projects including a biosecurity tool that tracks waterfowl movement for commercial poultry and, most recently, a tool to improve economic analysis and decision making for feed formulations in commercial poultry. Bond hopes to continue utilizing his talents in engineering and data analysis to develop solutions that meet the ever-changing needs of the agriculture industry.
Presenting: Developing the next generation of poultry economics software
Meghan Bowman, product manager, Data Platform, Ancera
Meghan Bowman has over 15 years’ experience delivering cutting-edge biotech and SaaS solutions to academic, agriculture, pharmaceutical and research organizations. She has been with Ancera since January 2020 and is currently the product manager for the Data Platform. Prior to her time at Ancera, Bowman led product delivery projects at Core Informatics, a cloud Laboratory Information System (LIMS) company, acquired by Thermo Fisher Scientific and was a leader in the Global Support & Training organization at 454 Life Sciences, a next-gen sequencing company acquired by Roche Applied Sciences.
Presenting: Next generation coccidia monitoring
Gordon Butland, director, G&S Agriconsultant Co. Ltd.
Gordon Butland is the director at G&S Agriconsultant Co. Ltd. He moved into banking in 1986, and in 1989 he started his association with Rabobank International. In 2004, he retired from the bank and now has advisory positions with companies all along the poultry chain on every continent. The advisory covers both strategic and data analysis areas.
Presenting: Keynote
Bowen Cai, research scientist and managing director, Shanghai Xiashu Intelligent Company
Bowen Cai is the research scientist and managing director at Shanghai Xiashu Intelligent Technology Company Co. Ltd. He is also the associate professor and research head of Yangtze Delta Region Agricultural Institute of Tsinghua University. He founded Shanghai Xiashu Intelligent Technology in 2017. In 2020, he was selected into the Shanghai Pujiang Talent Program and won the 7th place in the Global AI Innovation and competition in 2019.
Presenting: Artificial intelligence to automate broiler chick sexing
Fernanda Castro, DVM, Ph.D., technical service manager, Evonik
Fernanda Lima de Souza Castro obtained her DVM and master’s degree in animal science from the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil. She continued her education at the University of Georgia where she obtained a Ph.D. in poultry nutrition. After graduation, Castro worked as a research scientist at Azomite Mineral Products, where she served in both research and development and technical services. Currently, Castro is a technical service manager for poultry nutrition with Evonik.
Presenting: The poultry industry’s evolution towards a more sustainable future
Evan Sadlon, data science manager, MTech Systems
Evan Sadlon helped to start the data science team at MTech Systems and is now the company’s data science manager. Sadlon earned a master’s degree in computer science and a bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics from Georgia Tech.
Presenting: Leveraging generative AI to run causal analysis in a poultry operation
Tina Conklin, vice president, technical services, Michigan Turkey Producers Cooperative
Tina Conklin is the vice president of Technical Services at Michigan Turkey Producers Cooperative, a grower-owned turkey processor that harvests more than 5.3 million birds annually. She is responsible for the food safety, quality and regulatory management systems in both the harvest and ready-to-eat facilities. She has spent more than 30 years in the meat and poultry industry and has worked for Keystone Foods as a plant manager and corporate food safety manager, and at Michigan State University as a farm animal welfare educator, food processing specialist and director of the Food Processing and Innovation Center. Conklin received her bachelor’s degree in animal science from Auburn University and a master’s degree in management from Aquinas College.
Presenting: Rapid Salmonella detection in poultry using nanoparticles
Juan DeVillena, Ph.D., senior vice president, quality assurance and food safety, Wayne-Sanderson Farm
Juan “Juanfra” DeVillena, Ph.D., is a renowned food safety professional with well-rounded experience in the poultry industry. He has been working for Wayne-Sanderson Farms since 2004 in various roles with increasing responsibility before moving into his current role of senior vice president of quality assurance and food safety. DeVillena received his bachelor’s degree in food science and his professional degree in food engineering from the Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina in Lima, Peru, and a master’s degree in food science from the University of Maryland. In 2022, he received his doctorate degree animal science at Texas Tech University.
Panel discussion: Increasing automation and food safety in poultry processing
John El-Attrache, Ph.D., global director of science and innovation, CEVA
Over the past 12 years at Ceva Animal Health, John El-Attrache, Ph.D., has provided global direction at a corporate level through scientific support and innovation, working strategically to coordinate and prioritize corporate initiatives and projects while facilitating the introduction and development of innovative diagnostics, R&D and business projects. El-Attrache also provides active oversight of four global diagnostic laboratories and a global laboratory network as well as extensive scientific investigation studies.
Tech Talk: Integrated technologies advancing RNA vaccines for poultry
Shawn Engstrom, product engineer, Diversified Agriculture LLC
Shawn Engstrom is the lead product engineer with Diversified Agriculture since 2019. He has been in the poultry industry for nearly 20 years, focusing on product development and integration, ventilation and controls across all segments of poultry and swine production. He has spent significant time maximizing efficiencies of heaters in poultry houses while improving floor temperature uniformity and decreasing overall fuel consumption.
Presenting: How heat on demand boosts sustainability, poultry welfare
Vernon Felts, senior director of live production, Butterball LLC
Vernon Felts received his Ph.D. in animal/poultry science from Virginia Tech. He joined Butterball LLC in 1993 and served as corporate nutritionist until 2016. Today, he serves as senior director of live operations, responsible for Midwest live operations facilities, oversight of company-wide nutrition programs, live operations research and development, analytical laboratories and various live operations business strategies. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the National Turkey Federation.
Panel discussion: Improving health and welfare for broilers and turkeys
Caroline Forest, vice president, business development and marketing, Intelia Technologies Inc.
Caroline Forest is passionate about agricultural technologies and grateful for the hard work farmers do to feed the world. Since 2001, she has been helping farmers become more efficient, profitable, and sustainable using a variety of technologies. Forest joined Intelia in 2015 to help the company revolutionize poultry production by integrating real-time data analytics and artificial intelligence tools on the farm.
Co-presenting: Machine learning models for poultry weight forecasts
Oliver Hahn, CEO, BAADER Poultry USA
Oliver Hahn, CEO of BAADER Poultry USA, is originally from Germany, where he completed his degree in mechanical engineering from the Technical University of Applied Sciences in Lübeck. With over three decades of dedicated service in the poultry industry, Hahn possesses exceptional expertise and experience.
Panel: Increasing automation and food safety in poultry processing
William Herring, Ph.D., vice president, research and development, Cobb-Vantress
William Herring, Ph.D., joined Cobb as vice president of research and development in August 2023. In this role, he leads the global R&D team and program for Cobb’s broiler genetics portfolio. Herring has over 30-plus years of experience and leadership in livestock and poultry genetic improvement, and grew up on a cattle, hay and crop farm in Georgia.
Presenting: Furthering genetic progress through innovative technology
Erik Hoeven, general manager, NestBorn
Erik Hoeven is the general manager of NestBorn, where he is responsible for all research and development activities related to the on-farm hatching concept, NestBorn, and also in charge of the international contacts and sales of the system. Hoeven obtained a title of agricultural engineer in livestock production in 1999 at the University of Leuven, Belgium.
Presenting: Should we move to on-farm hatching of broiler chicks?
Ramin Karimpour, founder and CEO, TARGAN
Ramin Karimpour, the founder and CEO of TARGAN, is first and foremost a machine builder. Since designing and constructing his first small-scale airplane as a child, Karimpour’s passion has been conceiving innovative solutions and making them a reality. Karimpour received his bachelor’s and master’s degree in electrical engineering from Boston University, and post-graduate certifications from Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Massachusetts in plasma processing and executive management.
Presenting: Merging biology and tech to create new capabilities
Kaitlin Karschner, technical product manager, Ancera
Kaitlin Karschner is a technical product manager for Ancera with a strong background in both microbiology and software. With a passion for developing solutions that address the challenges faced by food producers, Karschner has led the development of an innovative product that allows for continuous monitoring and detection of human health concern Salmonella serotypes across the production supply chain.
Presenting: Deep serotyping to improve Salmonella preharvest monitoring
Twan Koenen, undine process expert, Innovative Water Concepts
Twan Koenen is a meat processing specialist at IWC-International with a demonstrated history of working in poultry and red meat processing industries. He is an authority on controlled atmosphere stunning and has extensive experience in live bird handling and primary processing related to meat quality.
Presenting: Microdroplets to improve food safety in poultry processing preharvest monitoring
Stephane Lemiere, DVM, global head of veterinary services, avian, Boehringer Ingelheim
Stephane Lemiere, DVM, is the global head of veterinary services, avian, at Boehringer Ingelheim. He conducts research in veterinary medicine, with his skills and expertise ranging from viruses, vaccines and vaccination.
Panel: Technology and the future of HPAI control
Casey Middlebrooks, data analyst and live production coordinator, Fieldale Farms Corporation
Casey Middlebrooks is the data analyst and live production coordinator at Fieldale Farms Corporation. Middlebrooks joined Fieldale in September of 2015 and is dedicated to turning data into insights to help the organization make data driven decisions. Middlebrooks is a master business analytics expert, along with experience in data mining, statistical analysis, machine learning and high-performance time series forecasting.
Co-presenting: Machine learning models for poultry weight forecasts
Kane Miller, Ph.D., CEO and founder, Axitan
Kane Miller, Ph.D., obtained his master’s degree and engineering doctorate in biochemical engineering from University College London (UCL). It was during his postdoctoral research studies into the commercial applications of algal biotechnology as a postdoctoral research associate at UCL that the genesis for the concept of applying endolysin biotechnology to manage pathogens in animal agriculture was formed. Miller subsequently authored and co-authored two successful Innovate UK government grant proposals that initially funded the business and has spearheaded Axitan’s drive into the U.S. poultry market, Axitan’s pilot manufacturing center being based in Comer, Georgia.
Presenting: Endolysins as an antibiotic alternative for necrotic enteritis
Enrique Montiel, DVM, Ph.D., DACPV, director of nutrition and live production, Anitox
Enrique Montiel, DVM, Ph.D., DACPV, is the director of nutrition and live production for Anitox. He has been an industry veterinarian and has worked within the worldwide poultry and animal health sector for the past 25 years. He has served as director of global avian veterinary services for Merial, then as senior veterinarian for Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health. Montiel holds an M.Sc. in avian pathology and immunology, and a Ph.D. in poultry science from the University of Georgia where he studied the influence of feeding program on immune responses in broiler breeders.
Panel discussion: Improving health and welfare for broilers and turkeys
Paul Moyer, co-owner, Clean Works Corp.
Paul Moyer is a seventh-generation fruit farmer and co-owner of Clean Works Corp. Since its establishment in 2017, Clean Works has expanded with its novel decontamination treatment branded Clean Batch and Clean Flow. The company has operating units in North and South America, Europe and Japan.
Co-presenting: Alternatives to formaldehyde for decontaminating hatchery eggs
Brandon Mulrix, director, commercial accounts, Prism Controls
Brandon Mulnix is the director of Commercial Accounts at Prism Controls. With a diverse background encompassing firefighting, emergency management and technical poultry equipment and controls sales, Mulnix brings a unique and multifaceted perspective to his role. He holds a bachelor’s degree in public safety administration from Sienna Heights University, which has further augmented his expertise in the field.
Presenting: Stop the burn: Fire detection in the poultry industry
Rob Payne, Ph.D., director, poultry nutrition and technical services, Cargill Animal Nutrition
Rob Payne, Ph.D., is the director of poultry nutrition and technical services for Cargill Animal Nutrition – North America. Payne received his bachelor’s degree in animal science from Middle Tennessee State University and his master’s degree and doctorate in non-ruminant nutrition from Louisiana State University. Prior to joining Cargill, Rob spent more than 15 years in various global and regional nutrition, marketing, and technical roles for Elanco Animal Health and Evonik Animal Nutrition.
Presenting: Digital tools to improve layer management and performance
Max Pfund, associate vice president, Production, Herbrucks
Max Pfund has been with Herbrucks for over 10 years and served as a production manager for eight of those years. During this time, he helped transition the main farm complex in adding one million more birds to the site and transitioning from caged production to cage free. Prior to his work at Herbrucks, he served as a complex manager for Moark in southern California for three years. Pfund has been around birds all his life and directly involved in commercial layers and broilers for 15 years. He has experience overseeing logistics, shipping and receiving, processing and production. Pfund graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in animal science/ag-business management and attended the Midwest Poultry Consortium at the University of Wisconsin.
Panel discussion: Overcoming the cage-free challenge
Bill Potter, Ph.D., food safety technical advisor, Elanco
Bill Potter, Ph.D., has a bachelor’s degree in animal science with an MBA from Texas A&M University, and a master’s degree and Ph.D. in poultry science from the University of Arkansas. Potter has spent three decades developing and leading food safety and quality systems in the poultry industry. Prior to Elanco, Potter held strategic roles in food safety, quality, R&D and technical services at George’s Inc., ConAgra Poultry and Advance Food Company. He also has chaired the NCC Technical and Regulatory Committee and been active in IAFP Food Safety groups.
Presenting: Yeast as a feed additive to prevent Salmonella in poultry
Craig Rowles, DVM, general manager, cage-free operations, Versova Management Company
Craig Rowles graduated from the Iowa State University College of Veterinary medicine in 1982. He moved to Carroll, Iowa, where he entered mixed animal practice with an emphasis in swine until 1996. Rowles then left practice and entered into swine production and served as general manager and partner of Elite Pork Partnership, an 8,000-sow farrow to finish operation until 2014. Since then, he has served as general manager of cage-free operations for Versova Management Company. Versova owns and manages 32 million layers in Iowa, Ohio, Washington and Oregon.
Panel discussion: Overcoming the cage-free challenge
Marcel Sarzen, president and CEO, AGL Technology
Marcel comes from a Big-4 consulting background and has been president and CEO of AGL Technology since its founding in 2014. Previously, Marcel served as U.S. general manager for ITLogica, where he founded and organically built a software development and analytics company that delivered advanced analytic services to the animal health, nutrition, and production industry, servicing global companies like Elanco Animal Health, Cargill, Lallemand, Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Zoetis and more.
Presenting: Precision farming to streamline poultry operations
Bill Snow, national sales and marketing manager, Lubing Systems
Bill Snow started in the agriculture industry in 1994 with Chore-Time in Milford, Indiana. He worked several roles at the company, including selling broiler and turkey equipment in the Midwest territory. In 2007, Snow took a position with Big Dutchman working in the egg division, with a focus on cage-free bird husbandry, helping customers with management that would benefit the flocks and also the customer to become increasingly profitable in regards to best management practices. In 2018, he took a sales position with Hy-Line North America selling baby chicks. Starting in 2021, Snow started a new position working for Lubing Systems as the national sales and marketing manager.
Panel discussion: Overcoming the cage-free challenge
David Suarez, DVM, Ph.D., acting laboratory director, Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory
David Lee Suarez, DVM, Ph.D., obtained a degree in veterinary medicine from Auburn University, and his Ph.D. in veterinary microbiology from Iowa State University. Suarez is board certified in the American College of Veterinary Microbiology in both Virology and Immunology. From 1988 to 1991, he worked as an associate veterinarian at Quintard Veterinary Hospital in Anniston, Alabama. He remains a licensed veterinarian in the state of Iowa. He joined the Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory, Agriculture Research Service, USDA as a veterinary medical officer in 1995. In 2005, he became research leader of the Exotic and Emerging Avian Viral Disease Research Unit with the same institution. He is currently the acting laboratory director for the Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory. His primary research interests are avian influenza virus (AIV) and Newcastle disease virus (NDV). Since 1996, he has held the position of adjunct instructor in the Department of Infectious Diseases, University of Georgia.
Panel: Technology and the future of HPAI control
Colin Usher, senior research scientist, Georgia Tech Research Institute
Colin Usher is a senior research scientist and interim branch chief for the robotics branch in the Intelligent Sustainable Technologies Division at the Georgia Tech Research Institute where he has served as a technical lead and project manager for the past 20 years. His technical expertise is in machine vision, robotics, system integration and embedded system development.
Presnting: Virtual reality to support poultry processing automation
Keith Warriner, professor, food science, University of Guelph
Keith Warriner obtained his bachelor’s degree in food science at the University of Nottingham and Ph.D. in microbial physiology at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth. He went onto positions within the Institute of Food Research, University of Manchester and University of Nottingham before becoming part of the faculty of the Department of Food Science, University of Guelph, in 2002. His research team is focused on enhancing food safety through undertaking risk assessment, along with developing diagnostics and intervention controls.
Co-presenting: Alternatives to formaldehyde for decontaminating hatchery eggs
