CV

An extended version of my curriculum vitae is available here

Rajesh Neupane

College Station, TX
📧 rajesh@tamu.edu | 📞 (979) 739-8174

About Me

I am a Ph.D. student in Animal Science at Texas A&M University specializing in precision dairy management and the application of machine learning, sensor technology, and computer vision to improve animal health, welfare, and production efficiency. My work bridges data science and livestock farming, aiming to develop intelligent decision-support systems that enhance the sustainability and productivity of dairy operations.

Education

• 🎓 Ph.D. in Animal Science — Texas A&M University
  Aug 2023 – Present
  Focus: Precision Dairy Management, Machine Learning Applications, Sensor-Based Monitoring

• 🎓 M.S. in Dairy Science — University of Kiel, Germany
  2021 – 2023
  Specialization: Agri-Engineering
  Thesis: Machine Learning-Based Lameness Detection in Dairy Cattle Using Accelerometer Data

Professional Experience

Graduate Research & Teaching Assistant — Texas A&M University

Aug 2023 – Present

• Conducting research on machine learning and sensor-based monitoring to improve dairy cattle health and welfare.
• Supporting teaching activities and providing laboratory assistance in animal science courses.
• Developing predictive models and decision-support tools for precision livestock farming.

Research & Development Intern — STgenetics

Jun 2025 – Aug 2025

• Worked with large-scale genomic datasets to develop and deploy ML models for trait prediction.
• Supported data pipeline design and performance evaluation for genomic analysis workflows.

Master’s Thesis Researcher — University of Kiel, Institute of Agricultural Engineering

Dec 2022 – May 2023

• Designed and validated a machine learning-based lameness detection system using time-series data from accelerometers.
• Preprocessed, labeled, and analyzed large-scale sensor datasets to improve detection accuracy and robustness.

Data Analyst — University of Kiel, Institute of Animal Nutrition

Jun 2022 – Dec 2022

• Analyzed RumiWatch sensor data on grazing behavior, feeding patterns, and animal health using R and Python.
• Supported research projects in precision livestock farming and animal nutrition analytics.

Awards & Honors

• 🏆 Texas A&M Institute of Data Science Ambassador (2025–2026)
  Selected to promote interdisciplinary research and collaboration in data science.

• 🏆 Travel Award — 2025
  Awarded by the Dairy Cattle Welfare Council, ADSA, and Texas A&M University for presenting research at professional conferences.

• 🏅 Graduate Teaching Award of Merit — Jan 9, 2025
  Presented by the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA) and Texas A&M University.

• 🎓 Interim Financial Aid – DAAD — 2023
  Awarded by the German Academic Exchange Service for academic performance and financial need.

Publications & Conference Presentations

Journal Articles

• Evaluating Machine Learning Algorithms to Predict Lameness in Dairy Cattle
  Neupane R., Aryal A., Haeussermann A., Hartung E., Pinedo P., Paudyal S.
  PLoS ONE, Jul 2024 — 10.1371/journal.pone.0301167

Extended Abstracts & Conference Proceedings

• Computer Vision for Detection of Digital Dermatitis in Dairy Cattle — USPLF 2025, ADSA 2025
• AI-Based Heat Stress Scoring in Dairy Cattle via Computer Vision — USPLF 2025, ADSA 2025

Presentations & Posters

• Characterizing Failed Milking Events in a Robotic Milking System — Oral Presentation, ADSA 2024
• Evaluating the Effects of Heat Stress on Robotic Milking Systems — Poster Presentation, ADSA 2024
• Machine Learning Approaches to Predict Lameness in Dairy Cattle — Poster, Data-Driven Intelligent Agricultural Systems Symposium 2024
• Use of Machine Learning Tools for Disease Surveillance in Dairy Cattle — Oral Presentation, SWEETER Winter Computing Festival 2023

In preparation: Cohort Study on Failed Milkings in Robotic Systems — Neupane, et al.

Current Research Projects

• 🤖 DairyBot: RAG Chatbot for Dairy Decision Support — 2025 (Ongoing)
  Developing a Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) system that delivers tailored dairy management insights from domain-specific knowledge bases.

• 🌡️ Machine Vision Analysis of Heat Stress Effects on Robotic Milking — 2025 (Ongoing)
  Investigating how heat stress impacts robotic milking performance using advanced computer vision and ML techniques.

Technical Skills

• Programming Languages: Python, R, C++, SQL, Bash, LaTeX, Julia
• Frameworks & Libraries: TensorFlow, PyTorch, OpenCV, YOLO, Scikit-learn, Pandas, NumPy
• Tools & Platforms: Jupyter, VS Code, Arduino IDE, Docker, LangChain, Ollama
• Expertise: Computer Vision, Time-Series Analysis, Sensor Data Integration, Precision Livestock Farming, Genomic Data Analysis

References

Dr. Sushil Paudyal
Assistant Professor, Department of Animal Science — Texas A&M University
📧 sushil.paudyal@ag.tamu.edu

Dr. Angelika Haeussermann
Assistant Professor, Institute of Agricultural Engineering — University of Kiel, Germany
📧 ahaeussermann@ilv.uni-kiel.de

Publications

Evaluating the impact of milk sample-based pregnancy test procedures on milk production and daily time budgets of dairy cows.

Paudyal, Sushil, Piñeiro, Juan M, Pilati, Artur Grando, Dauscheck, Douglas, Shrestha, Bhuwan, Neupane, Rajesh,. (2025) "Evaluating the impact of milk sample-based pregnancy test procedures on milk production and daily time budgets of dairy cows.". JDS Communications.

1. AI-driven quantification of heat stress in dairy cattle

Neupane, R, Shrestha, B, Rodriguez, N, Paudyal, S,. (2025) "93. AI-driven quantification of heat stress in dairy cattle". Animal-Science proceedings. 16(4): 666-667.

1. Evaluating effects of heat stress on the efficacy of robotic milking systems

Neupane, R, Shrestha, B, Paudyal, S,. (2025) "44. Evaluating effects of heat stress on the efficacy of robotic milking systems". Animal-Science proceedings. 16(4): 572-573.

1. Use computer vision to detect different digital dermatitis conditions

Neupane, R, Pinedo, P, Paudyal, S,. (2025) "134. Use computer vision to detect different digital dermatitis conditions". Animal-Science proceedings. 16(4): 741-743.

Evaluating machine learning algorithms to predict lameness in dairy cattle

Neupane, Rajesh, Aryal, Ashrant, Haeussermann, Angelika, Hartung, Eberhard, Pinedo, Pablo, Paudyal, Sushil,. (2024) "Evaluating machine learning algorithms to predict lameness in dairy cattle". Plos one. 19(7): e0301167.

Cystic Urolithiasis in Dogs: A Case Report and Review of The Literature

Rana, Chandrakala, Subedi, Deepak, Kunwar, Shanti, Neupane, Rajesh, Shrestha, Birendra, Khan, Sharun, Singh, Dinesh, Kaphle, Krishna,. (2024) "Cystic Urolithiasis in Dogs: A Case Report and Review of The Literature".

Cystic urolithiasis in dogs: A case report and review of the literature

Rana, C, Subedi, D, Kunwar, S, Neupane, R, Shrestha, B, Khan, S, Singh, DK, Kaphle, K,. (2022) "Cystic urolithiasis in dogs: A case report and review of the literature". Veterinary Sciences: Research and Reviews. 8(1): 1-7.

Recent dynamics of poultry production in Nepal: Food security to sustainable production

Neupane, R, Kaphle, K,. (2020) "Recent dynamics of poultry production in Nepal: Food security to sustainable production". Nepalese Veterinary Journal. Pages: 179-190.

Antibiotic residue in marketed broiler meat of Kathmandu Metropolitan City

Maharjan, Bishal, Neupane, Rajesh, Bhatta, Dikar Dev,. (2020) "Antibiotic residue in marketed broiler meat of Kathmandu Metropolitan City". Archives of Veterinary Science and Medicine. 3(1): 1-10.

Bacteriological quality of poultry meat in Nepal

Neupane, R, Kaphle, K,. (2019) "Bacteriological quality of poultry meat in Nepal". Int J Vet Sci.

Talks

Conference Proceeding talk 3 on Relevant Topic in Your Field

March 01, 2014

Conference proceedings talk at Testing Institute of America 2014 Annual Conference, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Talk 2 on Relevant Topic in Your Field

February 01, 2014

Talk at London School of Testing, London, UK

Tutorial 1 on Relevant Topic in Your Field

March 01, 2013

Tutorial at UC-Berkeley Institute for Testing Science, Berkeley, CA, USA

Talk 1 on Relevant Topic in Your Field

March 01, 2012

Talk at UC San Francisco, Department of Testing, San Francisco, CA, USA

Teaching

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Service and leadership