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Autonomous Farming

The future of farming is autonomous, sustainable, and highly efficient

The future of farming is autonomous, sustainable, and highly efficient
To continue growing crops for generations to come, it’s imperative that we protect our soil. Farmers have traditionally used large, heavy equipment in their fields, which degrades soil quality and productivity, but entrepreneurs and engineers at Salin 247 have come together to develop lightweight, autonomous equipment that will reduce soil compaction.

Ben Krog works as a mechanical engineer for Salin 247, an Iowa-based company that designs and manufactures lightweight farming equipment to alleviate soil compaction on crop fields.

“You never really know what you’re working on each day; you probably could be designing the machine or running simulations,” says Krog. “Once we have that finished, we can start assembling the whole machine, and then we can move on to testing in the field.”

Mechanical engineers like Krog are responsible for developing, designing, building, and testing mechanical devices and sensors. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the median annual wage for mechanical engineers was $95,300 in May 2021. Employment of software developers is projected to grow 2% from 2021 to 2031.

Despite slow employment growth, about 17,900 openings for mechanical engineers are projected each year, on average, over the next decade. Most of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.

Mechanical engineers typically need a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering or mechanical engineering technology.

Saeed Arabi works as a software engineer for Salin 247. “Agriculture is one of those industries that has a lot of these automation and machines, and we always wanted to make it more optimized, more efficient,” says Arabi. “It’s a great place to start this career.”

Software engineers like Arabi design computer applications or programs, and many work in manufacturing, computer systems design, or for software publishers. They often work on teams with other software developers, as well as with quality assurance analysts and testers.

The median annual wage for software engineers is $110,140. According to the BLS, employment of software engineers is projected to grow 25% from 2021 to 2031, which is much faster than the average for all occupations.

About 162,900 openings for software developers, quality assurance analysts, and testers are projected each year on average over the decade. Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.

Software engineers typically need a bachelor’s degree in computer and information technology or a related field, and some employers prefer to hire developers who have a master’s degree.

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Dana Beth Ardi

Executive Committee

Dana Beth Ardi, PhD, Executive Committee, is a thought leader and expert in the fields of executive search, talent management, organizational design, assessment, leadership and coaching. As an innovator in the human capital movement, Ardi creates enhanced value in companies by matching the most sought after talent with the best opportunities. Ardi coaches boards and investors on the art and science of building high caliber management teams. She provides them with the necessary skills to seek out and attract top-level management, to design the ideal organizational architectures and to deploy people against strategy. Ardi unearths the way a business works and the most effective way for people to work in them.

Ardi is an experienced business executive and senior consultant who leverages business organizational transformation through talent strategies. She uses her knowledge and experience to develop talent strategies to enhance revenue and profit contributions. She has a deep expertise in change management and organizational effectiveness and has designed and built high performance cultures. Ardi has significant experience in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, IPO’s and turnarounds.

Ardi is an expert on the multi-generational workforce. She understands the four intersecting generations of workers coming together in contemporary companies, each with their own mindsets, leadership and communications styles, values and motivations. Ardi is sought after to assist companies manage and thrive by bringing the generations together. Her book, Fall of the Alphas: How Beta Leaders Win Through Connection, Collaboration and Influence, will be published by St. Martin’s Press. The book reflects Ardi’s deep expertise in understanding organizations and our changing society. It focuses on building a winning culture, how companies must grow and evolve, and how talent influences and shapes communities of work. This is what she has coined “Corporate Anthropology.” It is a playbook on how modern companies must meet challenges – culturally, globally, digitally, across genders and generations.

Ardi is currently the Managing Director and Founder of Corporate Anthropology Advisors, LLC, a consulting company that provides human capital advisory and innovative solutions to companies building value through people. Corporate Anthropology works with organizations, their cultures, the way they grow and develop, and the people who are responsible for forming their communities of work.

Prior to her position at Corporate Anthropology Advisors, Ardi served as a Partner/Managing Director at the private equity firms CCMP Capital and JPMorgan Partners. She was a partner at Flatiron Partners, a venture capital firm working with early state companies where she pioneered the human capital role within an investment portfolio.

Ardi holds a BS from the State University of New York at Buffalo as well as a Masters degree and PhD from Boston College. She started her career as professor at the Graduate Center at Fordham University in New York.