Research

Faculty in agricultural and biological engineering provide leadership in diverse and highly interdisciplinary research areas focused in five major areas: controlled environments for animal and plant production and commodity storages, mechanical and structural systems, natural resources conservation and management, processing to add value to biological materials, and safety and systems engineering. 

 

Research topics concerning controlled environments for animal and plant production and commodity storages include designing and controlling environments for confined animal facilities and greenhouses; assessing and retaining quality of fruits and vegetables; improving food production; developing novel low-temperature aseptic technologies for food quality, safety, and processing efficiency through systems analysis; and creating engineering processes and practices to assure safe foods.

 

Mechanical and structural systems research studies designing self-contained life support systems; creating decision support systems for selection, assessment and design of best management practices; analyzing environmental impacts and economic effects of farm-level agricultural practices (e.g., nutrient flows in dairy systems); and evaluating the mechanics and properties of particulate materials.

 

Natural resources conservation and management research focuses on establishing the best management practices to impact water and solute transport from agricultural lands, recovering value from waste agricultural plastics, finding non-traditional land-based solutions for municipal waste disposal, and utilizing GIS-based identification of pollution potential of surface and ground water. Other topics of interest include developing green roofs and bioretention structures for stormwater management.

 

Research in processing to add value to biological materials covers developing new food biosensors, designing and testing value-added wood and bio-composite materials for structural applications, creating engineering processes and practices to produce value-added bio-products, and monitoring food quality and adulteration through on-line spectroscopic measurement technologies

 

Safety and systems engineering research focuses on assuring safety and health for farm families and workers.

 

Faculty members interact with most units in the College of Agricultural Sciences and the College of Engineering. Moreover, faculty are active participants in many inter-college research groups, including Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Institutes of the Environment, Materials Research Institute, Center for Food Manufacturing, Pennsylvania Housing Research Center, Particulate Materials Center, Grazing Research and Education Center, and Transportation Research Institute.