Uni students develop wine industry software that could "help feed the world"

A team of students from the University of Adelaide has developed a software system aimed at saving the wine industry millions of dollars each year — and their work could also be applied to global food production.

The GrapeBrain software 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,” said 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 said.

The system won the inaugural Tech eChallenge award run by the University of Adelaide’s Entrepreneurship, Commercialisation and Innovation Centre (ECIC) and School of Computer Science in conjunction with Microsoft.

As the winner of the Tech eChallenge, Seer Insights will travel to Microsoft’s headquarters in Seattle, USA, to pitch its technology to Microsoft executives.