2014 Glenn Downing Award

QAMAR UZ ZAMAN, PhD is the recipient of the 2014 Glenn DowningAward in recognition of his outstanding work in industry, teaching, research, and extension in the area of machinery systems.Dr. Zaman established the Precision Agriculture Research Program (PARP) in Atlantic Canada to increase farm profitability and reduce environmental risks. He has developed a strong and effective partnership with industry, government, and other institutions to support PA research needs.He has been playing a very active role in receiving funding consistently and continuously, by federal and provincial governments, international funding agencies, industry partners, and grower’s associations, which allowed his research team to establish state-of-the art facilities for carrying PA systems research.

Dr. Zaman is now one of the pioneers in the field of PA and has already invented cost-effective VR technology for spot application of agrochemicals. In fact, he has received the US Patent # 2012/0195496 A1 and Canadian Patent #7231-1 for the invention of his VR Sprayer System. He saved significant amount of agrochemicals and decreased Nitrate-Nitrogen concentration in ground water with VRT in blueberry fields. He is very confident these viable, affordable, reliable and farmer friendly technologies can be implemented in North America to reduce production cost and environmental impacts.

Teaching has been a major part of Dr. Zaman’s academic duties in the past several years. His teaching evaluations, at both undergraduate and graduate levels, are very exemplary. One of his primary goals has been the training of highly qualified individuals.  Dr. Zaman, during the past six years, has supervised many undergraduate students as well as 5 post-doctoral fellows, 6 international researchers, 9 M.Sc. and 5 Ph.D. students.  He has conducted several workshops at local, national and international levels. Dr. Zaman published more than 40 peer-reviewed articles in prestigious journals. One of his publications was featured on the cover page of a North American Journal, HortTechnology. He is highly sought out for national/international seminars and workshops, and has made over 100 conference, industry and extension presentations over the past few years. He also published articles in grower’s magazines, newspapers and developed fact sheets and operational manuals for growers and industry use. His research was promoted in different national and international television channels and is available on Google Video and YouTube.

Dr. Zaman is recognized internationally for his accomplishments in fundamental and applied PA research. He has worked in four internationally renowned PA programs including the University of Florida, University of Agriculture, Pakistan, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, and Dalhousie University Canada. He has been serving as visiting professor in Pakistani universities. He delivered lectures in several international seminars as invited/keynote speaker and resource person in several countries