Coates joins Jain Irrigation

FRESNO, Calif. – Jain Irrigation, Inc., announced Bob Coates’ appointment to the position of director of technology product management. As director of technology product management, Coates will focus on working with the technical, sales and marketing teams to establish product strategies and future direction for both hardware and software.

Coates has over 15 years of experience in Ag Technology, focusing on product development and engineering. He spent the last three-plus years at WaterBit as a product director and a principal design engineer. He was instrumental in driving the technical direction for WaterBit’s microblock irrigation and ranch automation products in these roles.

Before WaterBit, Coates co-founded SenseTerra, a startup developing low-cost technology for outdoor wireless monitoring and control. He also spent 14 years with UC Davis as an engineer developing solutions for precision irrigation, fertigation and soil fumigation in agriculture.

“Bob Coates has expert-level knowledge of precision agriculture and specifically in the remote irrigation control and monitoring space,” said Aric Olson, president of Jain Irrigation. “He is a great addition to our team of technology experts, and we look forward to his contributions to growing our agriculture and irrigation technology leadership.”

Coates earned a B.S. and M.S. in Biological and Agricultural Engineering from the University of California, Davis.