Each fortnight, the WA Agricultural Scientist Spotlight profiles one of Western Australia’s leading researchers, exploring the people behind the science and the work shaping the future of the state’s agriculture and food systems.
The series highlights diverse career pathways into agriculture, reflecting the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of the sector.
This edition features Dr Andrew Guzzomi, Associate Professor at The University of Western Australia (UWA) and the University’s inaugural agricultural engineer.
His career bridges mechanical engineering, agricultural machinery design and applied research, with a focus on developing practical technologies for Australian farming systems and ecological restoration.
Early influences and an engineering mindset
Dr Guzzomi’s connection to agriculture was shaped well before his formal education, emerging through family life and hands-on exposure rather than structured training.
Time spent in gardens and on farms instilled an early familiarity with food production, while also exposing him to the practical realities of working with land, plants and machinery.
Alongside this exposure to growing food was an early appreciation for problem-solving and mechanical ingenuity.
Observing how equipment was adapted and improved left a lasting impression and helped shape how Dr Guzzomi later approached engineering challenges.
“With Italian heritage, growing plants and food was part of my childhood,” Dr Guzzomi said.
“Growing up I spent lots of time with my grandparents at their farm in Metricup and I always remember them and my other grandparents (in Perth) in the garden.
“My nonno in Metricup was always in the shed, building his own equipment and machines or improving existing commercial ones – he was a highly skilled engineer, albeit without an official qualification.”
Those experiences translated into a long-term interest in agriculture as a production system rather than an abstract concept.
That connection remained strong into adulthood, including through direct involvement in farming alongside his academic career.
“With my parents, I also founded and co-own an olive grove in the South West (which I started during my PhD),” he said.
Education and finding a different path for engineering
Growing up in regional Western Australia further reinforced Dr Guzzomi’s connection to natural systems and landscapes.
His schooling provided daily exposure to bushland environments and outdoor learning, shaping how he understood the relationship between people, technology and the environment.
“I grew up in the country, went to primary school in Busselton and high school at Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School,” he said.
“Those schools were located in the bush and there was lots of interaction with nature.”
When he entered university, Dr Guzzomi chose mechanical engineering, drawn by an interest in how machines are designed, analysed and built.
At the same time, he was already questioning the dominant career pathways typically associated with the discipline.
“My undergraduate degree was in Mechanical Engineering, and I was very interested in machinery design and analysis,” he said.
“However, I didn’t want to work in oil and gas or resource extraction (mining) and liked research so decided on pursuing a PhD at UWA.”
That decision reflected a broader search for areas where engineering could be applied to tangible, real-world challenges outside the traditional extractive industries that dominate Western Australia.
During this period, Dr Guzzomi began to see agriculture as a sector where engineering could play a more central and transformative role.
“When I studied mechanical engineering, I could see there was a massive opportunity to apply engineering skills to the agricultural sector and invent the machines necessary for our sustainable future,” he said.
Rather than pursuing those opportunities immediately in Australia, Dr Guzzomi sought international experience in a setting where agricultural engineering was already a mature and recognised discipline.
That search led him to the University of Bologna (UniBo) in Italy, a global centre for engineering and machinery development.
While based in Italy, his work spanned multiple departments and maintained strong links with industry, reinforcing the value of applied research and close collaboration with end users.
“For engineers it’s a dream destination, rich with opportunities in agricultural machinery, the automotive sector and engineering services,” he said.
“There I worked in machine design and agricultural engineering across two departments and engaged extensively with industry.”
Returning to Australia and building a discipline
By the time Dr Guzzomi’s work in Europe was well established, it had become clear that many of the approaches he had encountered overseas were largely absent from the Australian university system.
That realisation prompted him to begin advocating for agricultural engineering as a formal discipline within Western Australia.
“While still at UniBo, I approached UWA and pitched my vision for agricultural engineering,” he said.
“After nearly four years in Italy, I returned to UWA in 2011 and began building collaborative ties with the UWA Institute of Agriculture, Kings Park Science and various industry stakeholders and farmers.”
Dr Guzzomi has built his career working in multidisciplinary teams to address practical engineering challenges in agriculture and ecological restoration.
His work has been recognised through two WA Innovator of the Year awards in the emerging category, for the Seed Flamer in 2016 and the Weed Chipper in 2019.
In 2019, he was appointed UWA’s inaugural agricultural engineer, and with support from UWA, he went on to establish the Centre for Engineering Innovation: Agriculture & Ecological Restoration (CEI:AgER), which was officially launched in 2022.
In 2024, he co-founded the spinout company Emergence Ecotech alongside Centre colleagues Dr Monte Masarei and Dr Todd Erickson, translating research outcomes into commercial applications focused initially on the Pilbara mining sector.
Alongside his research and leadership roles, education forms a core part of Dr Guzzomi’s work at UWA, with a focus on building practical engineering capability for the agriculture sector.
“As a tenured academic at UWA I also teach capstone mechanical engineering design where I bring my industry links and innovation experience into the classroom,” he said.
“With Centre colleagues Dr Wesley Moss (AgTech Lead), Dr Stuart Watt and Ms Alysia Kepert we are also developing and delivering AgTech microcredential content to meet the national skills gap with support of the Federal Government and the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC).”
Applied engineering from concept to adoption
At CEI:AgER, Dr Guzzomi leads a team of highly skilled and dedicated individuals working to translate engineering research into technologies for industry adoption across agriculture and ecological restoration.
The Centre combines research expertise with fabrication capability, allowing technologies to be developed and evaluated in-house.
“The team comprises researchers and professional staff, we have our R&D offices, but also a fully functioning mechanical engineering workshop so we can design and build our technologies,” he said.
“Much of what we do focuses on applied research and its translation through technology development to commercialisation for adoption by industry.
“We therefore design, build and test devices from proof of concept all the way to commercial scale machines – onsite at our UWA Shenton Park Field Station headquarters.”
A major focus of CEI:AgER’s work is the development of alternative weed control technologies for broadacre cropping systems, including electrically powered mechanical targeted tillage tools designed for row-cropping environments.
This research reflects a broader shift in agricultural machinery toward electrification.
“Electrically powered devices offer lots of flexibility in terms of actuator control and finesse,” Dr Guzzomi said.
“This work is highly innovative and will see both domestic and global application in years to come.”
The direction of this work has been shaped through collaboration with weed scientists and innovative growers, ensuring engineering development remains grounded in practical farming challenges.
Dr Guzzomi sees Australian farming systems as requiring locally tailored engineering solutions given the scale, environment and operating conditions unique to the sector.
While international technologies continue to enter the Australian market, he notes there remains significant scope for locally designed and manufactured machinery that not only works well locally, but can also be applied on a global scale.
“There is also lots of scope to design and manufacture our own innovative pieces of technology,” he said.
“Many great inventions have come out of Australian farming and will continue to do so, these also have the potential to have significant global impact.”
Engineering impact and inspiring the next generation
For Dr Guzzomi, the most rewarding aspects of his work lie in the ability to apply engineering in ways that deliver tangible outcomes for agriculture, while also helping to grow future capability within the sector.
“Being an agricultural engineer enables me to use my strong mechanical engineering design and analysis skills to build devices to solve real challenges facing the agriculture and ecological restoration sectors,” he said.
“I can combine my strong engineering design and creativity skills with my passion for nature.”
That connection between engineering and real-world impact is what continues to motivate his work, particularly in a sector where outcomes are measured in productivity, sustainability and resilience.
Alongside technology development, Dr Guzzomi sees education as critical to ensuring agriculture has the skills it needs into the future, particularly as systems become more complex and technology driven.
“At the end of the day, producing food, fibre and energy in agriculture involves real plants and animals requiring real interventions – good hardware, not just software or AI is essential,” he said.
Looking ahead, his advice extends beyond university pathways to where interest in agriculture and engineering is first formed, with his attention being directed to earlier year levels – high school and primary school students.
By broadening how young people see agriculture and engineering, Dr Guzzomi believes the sector can attract the next generation of innovators needed to tackle future challenges.
“What we need is more kids excited by agriculture and engineering who recognise that as an engineer in this space, you can design and build tech that will feed the world,” he said.
Together, Dr Guzzomi’s work in applied engineering, education and industry collaboration reflects a commitment to ensuring Australian agriculture is equipped with the practical tools, technologies and talent needed to meet future challenges.
Through the WA Agricultural Scientist Spotlight series, WAARC celebrates the contributions of researchers like Andrew Guzzomi, whose work exemplifies the dedication and innovation needed to advance agricultural science in Western Australia.
By sharing their stories, the series aims to inspire a new generation to pursue careers in this vital field, ensuring the State remains at the forefront of agricultural research and sustainability.