Dr. Yang Zhao currently serves as an assistant professor at the Institute of Agriculture, University of Tennessee. He holds a joint research and teaching appointment. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from China Agricultural University and PhD degree from Wageningen University in the Netherlands. Before joining the University of Tennessee, he was an assistant professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at Mississippi State University for three and half years. He serves as the chair and member of several academic and award committees of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) and is an associate editor of the Transactions of the ASABE. His research focuses on smart poultry farming, poultry environment, poultry robotics, poultry welfare and behavior, and airborne transmission of pathogens.