Crop Challenge Winners Announced

A team from Stanford University wins inaugural competition that rewards innovative solutions to combat global food insecurity.

Huaiyang Zhong, third from left, accepts a plaque on behalf of the
Stanford University team, which won the first Syngenta Crop Challenge in
Analytics. From left to right: Joe Byrum, Syngenta; Robin Lougee, IBM;
and Jim Williams, FICO, also attended the award ceremony. — Huaiyang Zhong, third from left, accepts a plaque on behalf of the Stanford University team, which won the first Syngenta Crop Challenge in Analytics. From left to right: Joe Byrum, Syngenta; Robin Lougee, IBM; and Jim Williams, FICO, also attended the award ceremony.

By Lauren Jones / Photography by Joel Richardson

Syngenta and the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS^®) recently named a team from Stanford University the $5,000 winners of the inaugural Syngenta Crop Challenge in Analytics. Student team members Xiaocheng Li and Huaiyang Zhong and associate professors David Lobell and Stefano Ermon received the honor this spring at the INFORMS Analytics Conference in Orlando, Florida.

The Crop Challenge, sponsored by INFORMS in coordination with Syngenta, aims to fuel innovation among participants to use advanced analytics in biochemistry and agriculture to combat global food insecurity. The winning team’s entry modeled a system for predicting soybean seed variety selection to maximize yield.

Syngenta Thrive Summer 2016

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