Virginia Tech doctoral student Matin Ataei Kachouei has received the 2026 Janusz Bryzek Abundance through Micro-Electromechanical Systems (MEMS) Award. This award recognizes research that applies MEMS technologies toward the vision of “Abundance”, by supporting scalable solutions in areas including food, water, health, sustainability.

Ataei Kachouei is a Ph.D. student in Virginia Tech’s School of Animal Sciences and a graduate research assistant in the Biosensor Engineering Lab, where he conducts research under the guidance of his advisor, Dr. Azahar Ali.

His research focuses on developing low-cost, scalable, and field-deployable MEMS-enabled sensing systems for agriculture, animal health, and environmental monitoring. The systems are designed to provide data that supports informed decision-making for food production, environmental stewardship, and community resilience.

According to the award citation, his research seeks to develop robust sensors for monitoring crops and livestock that can help increase yields, reduce crop loss and environmental degradation, and improve global food resilience, with the potential to positively impact more than 2 billion farmers worldwide.