The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture (UTIA) AgResearch, in partnership with the Enterprise Sensor Systems LLC (EnSenSys) of Alamo, Tennessee, has been awarded a grant through the AI TechX Seed Fund to collaborate on “Rapid Identification of Cattle with Infectious Diseases Using AI and Hyperspectral Imaging.” The award, announced on June 11, 2025, will run from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026.
AI TechX is an initiative of AI Tennessee, which aims to accelerate the development and real-world application of artificial intelligence through academic-industry collaboration. The AI TechX Seed Fund specifically supports efforts to build high-impact, interdisciplinary research teams that tackle industrial challenges through innovative AI-driven solutions.
The funded project will expand EnSenSys’s ESS Protect patented technology—originally developed to detect viral signatures in human breath—to detect viral signatures in animals. ESS Protect – Animal, will offer rapid, non-invasive, and contactless screening for bovine respiratory disease (BRD) using hyperspectral imaging and advanced machine learning.