FarmSmarter.AI Wins Top Prize in Nexus Technology Cup College Track Finals

Student-led innovations from LSU and ULM rise to the top as Nexus Louisiana awards $35,000 in prizes

Baton Rouge, La. (June 19, 2025) — Nexus Louisiana is proud to announce the winners of the 2025 Nexus Technology Cup College Track, where student-led innovation took center stage at the final round competition. Following a highly competitive selection process that drew applications from more than 70 teams across Louisiana, FarmSmarter.AI from Louisiana State University earned first place and a $15,000 prize for its breakthrough AI farming assistant.

The finals, held live at The Estuary, showcased the state’s top collegiate tech talent and also spotlighted a new generation of innovators from Louisiana high schools.

FarmSmarter.AI, led by Grant Muslow, Colin Raby, Julius Pallotta, and Cole Lacombe, under the guidance of Dr. Fahimeh Abbasi, program director for the Stephenson Department of Entrepreneurship and Information Systems at LSU, developed an advanced AI assistant that helps farmers identify plants, diagnose agricultural issues, and make data-driven, research-backed decisions.

Second place and $10,000 went to APNE, an AI-powered platform that detects bias and misinformation in news articles by combining artificial intelligence with human review. APNE was led by Mehrasa Amiri with support from Mahmood Jasim, PhD assistant professor.

Third place and $5,000 was awarded to Dristi from the University of Louisiana at Monroe. Created by Unika Bista and Divya Shah, and advised by Associate Professor Prasanthi Sreekumari, PhD, the app uses AI to provide real-time scene descriptions for visually impaired users, offering greater independence and accessibility.

The finals featured nine outstanding teams representing University of Louisiana at Lafayette, University of New Orleans, Grambling State University, ULM and LSU. Teams pitched groundbreaking solutions to real-world challenges using artificial intelligence and emerging technologies.

This year’s finalists were evaluated by a panel of esteemed judges: 

• Angie Jones, Global Vice President of Developer Relations at Block 
• Padma Vatsavai, President and CEO of Vinformatix
• Dianna Liu, President and Founder of Arix Technologies

In addition to the college competition, the event also recognized two exceptional high school teams that were invited to demo their projects live on stage — each receiving a $2,500 award for their efforts:

Hexlio by Benjamin Namikas, Baton Rouge High SchoolA productivity app that combines task management and distraction elimination to help users stay focused.Faculty Advisor: Dr. Lai Cao

POSEIDON by Ren Hopkins, Aiden Bass, and Brady Afeman, West Monroe High SchoolA fully custom-built robot designed and engineered entirely by the students to demonstrate real-world automation and robotics skills.Faculty Advisors: Alison Lovelady & Zachary Lovelady

The competition continues tonight with the Open Track finals, where entrepreneurs and professionals will pitch their innovations. The evening will conclude with the presentation of the Most Innovative Award, selected from the college and open tracks — recognizing the most groundbreaking solution of the 2025 Nexus Technology Cup.

For more information about the Nexus Technology Cup, visit nexusla.org/technologycup.