Meet Virendra and Christian
One of the most exciting things about being a startup is building our team. Over the next while, we will be introducing you to more of our team at Ground Truth Ag, continuing with our University of Regina interns who are helping to analyze our grain data.
Over the next while, we will be introducing you to more of our team at Ground Truth Ag, continuing with our University of Regina interns who are helping to analyze our grain data.
If you ever drive by the Ground Truth Ag office in the evening or on the weekend, and you see the lights on and cars in the parking lot, you will know you are likely to run into Virendra Patel and Christian Miranda.
Meet Virendra
“My wife tells me I’m really good at time management,” Virendra laughs when asked how he finds enough hours in the day. When Virendra isn’t working on his master's thesis on enhanced oil recovery, he’s at Ground Truth Ag surrounded by bags of wheat carefully analyzing grain data using their bank of analytical instruments.
“Ground Truth allows me to work part time, which is really nice as I can set my own schedule and manage both my master's thesis on enhanced oil recovery and this work,” Virendra notes. “It’s also related to analytical chemistry.”
When not working, Virendra enjoys playing guitar and painting, as well as playing cricket in the summertime. “My wife always says to me that I know the guitar, but I never play for her.”
One thing Virendra and his wife, who has almost finished her degree in Computer Science, have been doing together is planning their big wedding celebration.
“We were married in 2020 during COVID. It was a really simple thing with me, my wife, our uncle and aunt and the judge. We are planning to go to India for our marriage rituals - it’s a big thing, and our dream!”
Meet Christian
“Working at Ground Truth has been really interesting,” Christian explains. “When I started, I didn’t know much about agriculture, and I have really enjoyed learning everything about grains and how farming works.”
While agriculture might have been a new topic for the fourth-year biochemistry student, working in agtech runs in his family. Christian first heard about working for Ground Truth Ag from his mother who worked with Kyle Folk for years at his first company.
“I have learned a lot quickly, which has been a huge benefit, but I also like the environment and how everyone gets along,” Christian said. “My friends talk about watching the clock at their jobs, waiting for their shift to end. It’s a completely different experience for me because I find it enjoyable working at Ground Truth - and the people really contribute to that.”
Outside of work and school, Christian and his friends get together to play escape rooms, watch movies as well as play volleyball and badminton at the university. “We play for fun and not competitively,” he states.
Christian’s competitive side comes out in other ways. He and his family are big into playing board games. When asked about Settlers of Catan, Christian admits his family are big fans of the game.
“We have everything – all of the expansion packs” Christian laughs. “It takes us at least three hours to finish a game. All I care about for strategy is getting the longest road.”