A team of University of Adelaide students have created a new software system that they say could save the wine industry millions of dollars each year – and could also be applied to global food production.
The team, called Seer Insights, won the inaugural Tech eChallenge award for their GrapeBrain software system, which has been designed to improve the efficiency of production in viticulture.
The system captures a greater and more reliable volume of information about grapegrowing and winemaking processes, enabling those in industry to more accurately assess annual yield levels and the resources needed.
“Not being able to accurately predict the grape yield from one year to the next is a major and extremely costly issue for the wine industry,” says Seer Insights team member Harry Lucas, 20, who is studying Mechatronic Engineering at the University of Adelaide.
“At the moment we’re working with the wine industry and applying this technology to both growers’ and winemakers’ operations. It could potentially save the industry hundreds of millions of dollars each year.
“There is also the potential for our system to be expanded into other industries. It’s the kind of technology that could improve global food production, helping to feed the world,” he says.
The other members are Petros Bakopoulos, 21, a Mechanical Engineering and Finance student, and Liam Ellul, 23, who is studying for a double degree in Commerce (Marketing) and Law.
The Tech eChallenge competition is run by the University of Adelaide’s Entrepreneurship, Commercialisation and Innovation Centre (ECIC) and School of Computer Science in conjunction with Microsoft.
