Research

Since 1905, the Department of Agricultural Engineering, now the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (ABE), has been a leader in training agricultural engineers to meet the growing needs of industry and academic institutions in the United States and the world. The department has been a national leader in providing engineering solutions to problems related to the management of natural resources and to the agriculture and food industry. The department’s original mission was to mechanize agriculture. Over the years, that mission has evolved to encompass a global view of the entire food production system—the wise management of natural resources in production; management of environmental systems of crop and animal production; and processing, storage, handling, and use of food, fiber, and other biological materials and products.

July 1, 2004, marked the beginning of a new era in the history of the department when the Department of Industrial Education and Technology merged with ABE. Although the department’s undergraduate and graduate programs were continually growing over the past several years, with the merger the number of undergraduate and graduate students increased to more than 500 and 80, respectively. First year, first time student retention rates in ABE have risen from nearly 67% in 1998 to 92% currently, and almost 100% of the students are able to find high-paying jobs upon graduation, 70% of whom are currently employed in Iowa. The department’s current research and extension efforts are moving more toward solving some of the state’s major problems related to agriculture and developing engineering solutions to manage crop and animal production systems that include water quality and odor/air quality management, animal control environments, manure storage and handling systems, composting of manure and animal carcasses, bioconversion of agricultural and industrial waste materials, grain quality and food processing, advanced agricultural machine systems and automated controls, smarter machines for precision, agricultural and food safety, modeling of hydrologic systems, and protecting workers from injury or loss. New research efforts are being directed increasingly toward biosystems engineering through the use of biosensors, image processing techniques for precision chemical application, biological systems modeling, and the design and control of biological systems and processes.

With the incorporation of the industrial technology program, the department will develop much stronger undergraduate and graduate programs in agricultural and industrial technology with options in manufacturing, industrial and occupational safety, and bio-environmental systems. In the fall of 2004, U.S. News and World Report ranked the agricultural engineering undergraduate program number three in the nation, reflecting the success and accomplishments of students, alumni, faculty, and staff.