Dr. Alex Thomasson is a Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at Mississippi State University since 2019, and he currently holds the endowed Chair in Cotton Engineering, Ginning, and Mechanization. He also serves as Adjunct Professor at University of Southern Queensland in Australia. Dr. Thomasson was a faculty member at Mississippi State University from 1997 through 2004 and a research engineer with USDA-ARS from 1989 to 1997. Dr. Thomasson earned his Ph.D. at the University of Kentucky (emphasis in optoelectronic sensor design, 1997), his M.S. at Louisiana State University (emphasis in remote sensing, 1989), and his B.S. at Texas Tech University (1987), all in agricultural engineering. He is also a registered professional engineer. He currently teaches courses in machine design and electronics. His areas of expertise are remote and proximal sensing, sensor development,
spectroscopy, image analysis, precision agriculture, high-throughput phenotyping, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in agriculture, and agricultural robotics. He has authored or co-authored over 70 refereed journal articles and two book chapters and holds a patent in sensors for cotton harvesting. Dr. Thomasson’s current research is focused on improving cotton ginning and production, sensors, UAV remote sensing for precision agriculture and high-throughput phenotyping, and development of autonomous agricultural vehicles. His research has been funded by numerous federal and state agencies as well as corporations, private foundations, and agricultural commodity groups. He is a member of ASABE (American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers), SPIE (Society for Optics and Photonics), and ISPE (International Society for Precision Agriculture), and a past member of ASEE (American Society of Engineering Education). Dr. Thomasson was recognized as the 2017 Agricultural Engineer of the Year by the Texas Section of ASABE, and in 2019 he was named a Fellow in ASABE. Dr. Thomasson has strong interest in agricultural engineering in Mexico and has a 15-year relationship with University of Guanajuato as sponsor of a joint student-exchange program.

https://www.abe.msstate.edu/people/faculty/j-alex-thomasson/