History
Body Surface Translations, Inc. began in 2007 to address a common challenge in the livestock industry. Often the weight of animals was poorly estimated using visual and manual indicators rather than using the time consuming process of putting animals on a scale. The team at BST realized that by combining nascent 3D imagery and a detailed understanding of animal biology, a much more accurate assessment could be made.
Years later, the same proprietary technology was adapted for human application after CEO Gregg Bevier realized its value to address a similar problem in global health: the difficulty of accurate and quick measurement of children to screen for malnutrition. BST soon received a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to explore the accuracy of the technology in partnership with Emory University.
BST is exploring the best opportunities and partnerships in both the public and private sector to make AutoAnthro the gold standard of anthropometry in order to help target public health interventions to reduce childhood malnutrition.
Partner Organizations
Thank you to our many partners. Including:
BILL & MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION
EMORY UNIVERSITY
Georgia Research Alliance
UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
Team
Chairman of the Board
Gregg BeVier
Dr. Gregg BeVier is the Chairman and founder of BST, Inc. He has over 35 years of experience as a business executive and is currently based in College Station, Texas. Most recently, he managed the livestock portfolio at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as a Senior Program Officer. Gregg’s previous positions include President of PIC, the Sr. VP of Livestock Operations for Premium Standard Farms, and the Head of the Production Animal Global Enterprise for Merial.
Education
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
Master of Business Administration
MS, Animal Science
BS, Agriculture Science
Activities & Affiliations
• American Veterinary Medicine Association, Member
• American Association of Swine Veterinarians, Member
Awards
• Distinguished Alumni Award, University of Illinois, College of Veterinary Medicine, 2004
CEO
Gene Alexander
Dr. Gene Alexander is the Chief Executive Officer of BST, Inc. He has worked in the field of computer vision biomechanics since 1989. Gene previously taught in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University. While at Stanford, he co-founded Imaging Therapeutics. That company became Conformis, an industry leading joint replacement company that raised more than $300M in private equity before going public in 2015. His technical expertise is in complex optical/software/hardware system design for computer vision and 3D scanning of human biomechanical activities. Gene holds nine issued US patents and is a veteran of the United States Army.
Education
University of Illinois at Chicago
PhD, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
Activities & Affiliations
• Grant Review Committee Member, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 2017
• IEEE Computer Society Task Force on Game Technology, Founding Member, 2006
• Good Dog! Autism Companions, Chairman of the Board, 2011 – current
• California Dreamin’ Equity Fund, Managing Director, 2015 - 2016
CTO
Harris Bergman
Dr. Harris Bergman is an expert in computer vision, 3D reconstruction, and the use of AI in image analysis and phenotypic disease detection. As CTO of Body Surface Translations, Harris leads the R&D and product development functions for both AutoAnthro and livestock technologies. Harris previously helped lead technology development at United Sciences and Benevis. He has designed 3D scanners in the fields of agriculture, audiology, and airplane manufacturing. Harris holds 11 patents in the areas of 3D scanner hardware and software, artificial intelligence, and medical devices.
Education
Georgia Institute of Technology
PhD, Mechanical Engineering
MS, Mechanical Engineering
Washington University in St. Louis
BS, Mechanical Engineering
Activities & Affiliations
Judge, Business Plan Competition, Georgia Institute of Technology College of Management
Volunteer, Delta Flight Museum
CFO & Livestock Lead
David Reeves
Dr. David Reeves is an expert in agriculture and veterinary management. During his career, Dr. Reeves has worked as a private veterinary practitioner and consultant, university extension veterinarian, and member of the University of Georgia clinical faculty. In these roles he has worked with numerous swine production companies, farmers, biologics companies and pharmaceutical companies to improve management, productivity, and animal well-being.
Dr. Reeves is Emeritus Associate Professor of Population Health, University of Georgia and private veterinary consultant. His primary area of expertise is swine health and management, he also has considerable experience with beef and dairy cattle. He was the lead in the development of a widely adopted on-farm swine welfare audit. More recently he has consulted with the alligator farming industry and has been lead field investigator in the development of a USDA Provisionally Approved West Nile vaccine.
Education
Auburn University
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
University of Minnesota
MS, Veterinary Medicine
University of Kentucky
BS, Agriculture
Activities & Affiliations
• American Association of Swine Veterinarians, President Emeritus
Awards
•Howard Dunne Memorial Award, AASV, 2000
Director of Operations & AutoAnthro Lead
Peter Miller
Peter Miller is an experienced operations professional with a career in food, agriculture, and nutrition technology. He has a particular interest in helping early-stage companies to reach scale. Prior to joining BST, Peter worked in impact investing in East Africa and Eastern Europe. He also served in leadership at a number of successful US and Canadian ag and agtech startups. Peter leads partnerships and operations for AutoAnthro, BST’s digital anthropometry tool for identifying childhood malnutrition.
Education
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
MBA
Bethel College (KS)
BA, History