Jon Turkus, research manager in plant sciences and Innovation Fellow, leans forward to look at a smart thresher developed by Bill Berzonsky (right), also an Innovation Fellow. Jason Thomas (left), a 2014 Nebraska graduate who now operates a company at Nebraska Innovation Campus' Biotech Connector, also observes the machine.
The smart thresher operates in two parts — one removes chaff and collects seed, and the second uses a camera and artificial intelligence to provide analysis of grain samples.
Three of the 2026 cohort of Innovation Fellows — Turkus, Berzonsky and Chris Wong — celebrated the completion of their fellowship with a Nebraska Innovation Studio Lunch and Learn May 19 at the studio. The fellows presented their projects in agriculture and cybersecurity and provided demonstrations. A fourth fellow, Dr. James Willcockson, a physician at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, was unable to attend because he was in surgery.
The Nebraska Innovation Studio's Innovation Fellows were announced in January. They received five months of free membership at Innovation Studio, a $2,500 material stipend and a $1,500 in professional services credit with the Frontier Tech Lab, a university design and prototyping service center based in the studio. Learn more about the program here.
Jon Turkus, an Innovation Fellow and plant sciences research manager at Nebraska, speaks about his project to guests at the Lunch and Learn. On the slide behind him is an image of a 96-well plate used in plant tissue analysis. With his project, he hopes to automate plant tissue collection in a way that is cost-effective to researchers and small to medium companies.Liz McCue | University Communication and Marketing
Chris Wong (left), CEO of Inscribe Technologies and retired U.S. Air Force communications expert, speaks with staff at Nebraska Innovation Studio. As an Innovation Fellow, Wong developed a modular drone system that could be used for defense, agriculture and other industries. Andrew Timmons (right), graduated from Nebraska with his degree in computer engineering in May and was hired to intern at Inscribe Technologies.
Bill Berzonsky points toward the machine, a smart thresher, he has finessed over the course of a semester at Nebraska Innovation Studio.
Jason Thomas (left) chats with Jon Turkus (center) and Bill Berzonsky during the Lunch and Learn at Nebraska Innovation Studio.
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