Degree Information

Grad School

Faculty

Resources

Environmental Engineering

Natural structures and vegetation can improve stream bank erosion and water quality.

Environmental engineering focuses on the development of technology and systems to protect soil, water and air resources from agricultural and other non-point sources of pollution. Research projects include:

• Design of constructed wetlands and other water quality practices in urban and rural areas to remove nutrients from surface water.
• Development of systems to recover nutrients from animal wastewater.
• Design and evaluation of management practices to reduce environmental impacts and improve crop production on poorly drained soils.
• Develop methods to evaluate the impact of land development and management on the hydrology of wetlands.
• Development and evaluation of full scale animal waste treatment systems that will meet new higher performance criteria.
• Techniques to restore damaged streams and prevent further deterioration.
• Documentation of the microbial pathways used in nitrogen transformations at work in new and existing treatment systems and the development of systems to encourage and enhance those transformations.
• Development of a regenerating scrubber for reducing animal house emissions.
• Development of mitigation and control technologies for particulate matter and pollutant gas emission from agricultural operations.
• Air quality dispersion modeling

For more information on environmental engineering, visit the Grad Faculty Page and check out the links to the individual areas of specialization.

Bioprocessing

Bioprocessing faculty work closely with graduate students researching biomass conversion processes that will enhance the production of useful products from plant and crop residues.

The bioprocessing program focuses on the conversion of biological materials for the production of value added products. These products include, but are not limited to, biofuels and energy, enzymes, organic acids and food and beverage products.

Potential research areas may involve:

• Development of microbial processes and fermentation
• Instrumentation and control of processing systems
• Downstream processing and product separation technology
• Pretreatment and hydrolysis of plant biomass
• Food processing and safety

For more information on bioprocessing, visit the Grad Faculty Page and check out the links to the individual areas of specialization.

A number of our bioprocessing faculty work closely with the engineering faculty in Food Science. BAE students have often co-majored in FS. If you are interested in the options available, please visit the pages of Brian Farkas, Chris Daubert, K. P. Sandeep or Kevin Keener, all associate members of the BAE faculty.

Machine Systems

Enhancements to machinery systems can improve production and reduce machinery operation times, a benefit to both the
operator and the environment.

Work in the machines systems area involves the development and application of mechatronic technology to the production, processing and distribution of economical, safe, and nutritious food and fiber to meet the needs of our growing world population. Machine systems applies engineering to the interface between humans and the environment, including animals, as well as applying technology to enhance productivity, safety, health, and environmental quality.

The program places emphasis on machine systems design, computer-based process control algorithms and sensors, and development of engineering based interventions to improve or eliminate ergonomic stressors in agricultural, forestry, and food processing tasks which currently are manually intensive resulting in acute injuries and cumulative trauma disorders (CTDs). Also broader human factors related work at the machine-human interface is being addressed through active vibration control in off-highway vehicle operator seat suspensions. Engineering and biological sciences are being integrated for the synthesis of innovative concepts; analysis, simulation and modeling of new designs; and the testing and implementation of economically significant advances.

For more information on machine systems research, visit the Grad Faculty Page and check out the links to the individual areas of specialization.

Controlled Environment Agriculture

Controlled environment agriculture is concerned with many different types of animal and plant production facilities.

Greenhouses: The focus of this area is on the development of a rational approach to cooling design to replace the rules-of-thumb now being used. In addition, there is a need for general computer models to describe the internal environment, sensors for monitoring plant responses to environmental change, models of heat pump usage in greenhouse operations, and investigation of natural- and forced-ventilation cooling systems.

For more information on controlled environment agriculture, visit the Grad Faculty Page and check out the links to the individual areas of specialization.