from the President The power of individuals has never been greater. Niels Bohr

he G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology at Pantnagar, India, was the site of the 46th annual meeting of the T Indian Society of Agricultural Engineers (ISAE) on February 27-29, 2012. This historic university played a pivotal role in leading the Green Revolution in India by developing 245 high-yielding varieties of various crops. Norman Borlaug did some of his research here. As a result, food grain production in India has increased from 50 million tons in the 1950s to 250 million tons this year. However, post-harvest losses are still significant. A loss of just 10 per- cent could feed 80 million people, and processing facilities are almost non-existent in rural areas. The national focus now is on helping small farmers and diversifying agriculture. In addition, much growth potential exists for the use of energy Our host, ISAE President Gajendra Singh (third from left), posed in agriculture. India is also focusing on the first 1,000 days of with an attending group at the ISAE meeting. My traveling compan- life to improve the health of its children. Currently, 40 percent ions were University of Illinois faculty and ASABE members (left to right) Steve Zahos, Vijay Singh, Marvin Paulsen, Kent Rausch, K.C. of children less than five years old are underweight at an age Ting, and Prasanta Kalita. At the lamp-lighting ceremony that when brain development is critical. opened the meeting, I was recognized as the first ASABE President All of which means that the challenge of the 21st centu- to attend an ISAE meeting. I also spoke at the Workshop on Women ry is upon us: we must feed seven billion people. What will Empowerment sponsored by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute. We are eager to strengthen the ties between ISAE and your role be? ASABE! Sonia Maassel Jacobsen [email protected] events calendar

ASABE CONFERENCES AND INTERNATIONAL MEETINGS ASABE ENDORSED EVENTS To receive more information about ASABE conferences and meetings, 2012 call ASABE at (800) 371-2723 or e-mail [email protected]. May 14-19 DSSAT 2012 – International Training Program: 2012 Assessing Crop Production, Nutrient May 27- 21st Century Watershed Technology Management, Climatic Risk and Environmental June 1 Conference: Improving Water Quality Sustainability with Simulation Models. The and the Environment. Bari, Italy. University of Georgia, Griffin, Georgia, USA. July 8-12 ASABE’s 9th International Livestock July 8-12 International Conference of Agricultural Environment Symposium (ILES IX). Engineering: CIGR-AgEng 2012. Valencia, Spain. Valencia, Spain. Contact: Murat Kacira, [email protected]. July 29- ASABE Annual International Meeting. Aug. 11-13 2nd Sino-U.S. Environment-Enhancing Energy Aug 1 Dallas, Texas, USA. and Bio-Chemicals Conference. Shanghai, China. Nov. 25-28 7th CIGR Section VI International Symposium 2013 on “Innovating the Food Value Chain.” Stellenbosch University, South Africa. July 21-24 ASABE Annual International Meeting. Kansas City, Missouri, USA.

2 May/June 2012 RESOURCE May/June 2012 Vol. 19 No. 3 engineering and technology for a sustainable world May/June 2012

Magazine Staff: Donna Hull, Publisher, [email protected]; Sue Mitrovich, Managing FEATURES Editor, [email protected]; Glenn Laing, Contributing Editor, [email protected]; Melissa Miller, Professional Opportunities 4 Global Design—Global Impact and Production Editor, [email protected]; John Lumkes Sandy Rutter, Professional Listings, Students designed and built sustainable technology projects in Africa. “Frustrating? [email protected]. Challenging? Yes, but also a great opportunity to learn and grow as problem-solvers.”

Editorial Board: Chair Rafael Garcia, USDA-ARS; Secretary/Vice Chair Brian 7 Giving Back: Who Gets More? Steward, Iowa State University; Past Chair Gary Feyereisen Suranjan Panigrahi, Purdue University; 7 “ ... ag and bio engineers are linked by a common desire to use our skills and talents Thomas Brumm, Iowa State University; to engineer systems that use the natural elements in the most responsible way to Victor Duraj, University of California, Davis; provide the necessities of life for people.” Tony Grift, University of Illinois; Christopher Henry, University of Nebraska; William Reck, 10 A Decade of Travel in a World Without Walls USDA-NRCS; John Yagow, John Deere Joel L. Cuello Harvester Works; Jeong Yeol Yoon, University of Arizona. “My goal was to gain a broad understanding, on a personal level, of the trends and developments that will most significantly impact our world in this century...” Resource: Engineering & Technology for a Sustainable World 14 Water Balance from Space (ISSN 1076-3333) (USPS 009-560) is published six times per year— Martha Anderson, Benjamin F. Zaitchik, and Belay Simane January/February, March/April, May/June, 10 Building hydrologic information systems is the focus of the Blue Nile Highlands project. July/August, September/October, November/December—by the American 16 Engineering Without Borders Society of Agricultural and Biological DeeAnn Turpin with Elizabeth Hughes Engineers (ASABE), 2950 Niles Road, “When I came to KSU, I researched volunteer organizations, and I became enthralled St. Joseph, MI 49085-9659, USA. with the goals of EWB ...” POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Resource, 2950 Niles Road, St. Joseph, MI 18 Community Development from Oklahoma to West Africa 49085-9659, USA. Periodical postage is Kate Arroyo paid at St. Joseph, MI, USA, and additional Students traveled to Sierra Leone to educate local communities about water quality post offices. and purification systems financing the way and raising awareness through an SUBSCRIPTIONS: Contact ASABE order international market. department, 269-932-7004. 14 COPYRIGHT 2012 by American Society of 19 Who We Are & What We Can Do Agricultural and Biological Engineers. Jeong-Yeol Yoon Permission to reprint articles available on Ag and bio engineering has an identity crisis says Yoon. But “the opportunities are request. Reprints can be ordered in large right in front of us, waiting to be seized. So, what are we waiting for?” quantities for a fee. Contact Donna Hull, 269-932-7026. Statements in this publica- 22 The Changing PhD Landscape tion represent individual opinions. Infographic in databytes on notable trends in engineering degrees awarded of late. Resource: Engineering & Technology for a Sustainable World and ASABE assume no UPDATE responsibility for statements and opinions expressed by contributors. Views advanced 23 Infrared-based approach explored for keeping almonds safe to eat in the editorials are those of the contributors 16 and do not necessarily represent the official 24 ORNL explores proteins in Yellowstone bacteria for biofuel inspiration position of ASABE.

ON THE COVER 25 New ink-based solar cells might be low cost and efficient Photographer Patrick Ransdell 26 Unique irrigation system continues to win big snapped his fellow workers/travel- ers taking a refreshing break from 27 Manipulating the way bacteria “talk” leads to unprecedented control the sustainable technology projects which took the Purdue students to over bacterial communities Africa. They explored a waterfall 18 near a hydro station. DEPARTMENTS 2 From the President/Events Calendar American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers 28 Visual Challenge 2950 Niles Road St. Joseph, MI 49085-9659, USA 29 Professional Opportunities 269.429.0300, fax 269.429.3852 [email protected], www.asabe.org 30 Professional Listings 31 Last Word Ecosystem Services Rebecca Logsdon and Indrajeet Chaubey Global Design – Global Impact Students design and build sustainable technology projects in Africa John Lumkes

© NiNe/Fotolia.com

he story starts a few years ago, when I called my with altitudes between 1600 and 2500 m (6000 to 8200 ft). mom and said, “I might be traveling with Purdue Temperatures are relatively moderate, and—thankfully— students to Cameroon to work on several design there are few mosquitoes. About 70 percent of the population T projects.” Her answer was a simple question: is involved in agriculture, and there are many infrastructure “Why?” Two trips and three student design teams later, I’m challenges (road conditions, electricity, etc.). Overall, not sure I can give a simple, concise answer, but let me try. Cameroon is a beautiful country with many natural resources, Although this article comes from my perspective, it really is including the waterfalls that are used to generate electricity about the students who have participated, the results we are (as shown on Resource’s cover). starting to see from the projects, and the friendships we now have in a small village in Africa. Projects thus far include How did our involvement begin? basic utility vehicles (BUVs), wind power, hydroelectric The Purdue projects started with the basic utility vehicle power, and fuel briquettes from waste biomass. (BUV) and a student design competition hosted by the Institute for Affordable Transportation (IAT, www.drivebuv. What is Cameroon like? org). The competition’s goal was to develop simple, low-cost Cameroon is a geographically and culturally diverse utility vehicles that can benefit low-income people in rural nation (sometimes described as “Africa in miniature”) locat- areas of developing countries. In 2007, ACREST purchased a ed on the west coast of Africa. Although the official language BUV from IAT, and in 2008, ACREST contacted IAT with is French, there are English-speaking regions (former British several design ideas. IAT asked me if I would like to help territories) along with numerous local languages. We have ACREST by forming a student design team to work on design worked with an NGO, the African Centre for Renewable improvements for the ACREST vehicle. One thing led to Energy and Sustainable Technologies (ACREST, another, and during the course of our communications with www.acrest.org), located in Bangang, the French-speaking staff in Cameroon, we were invited to visit ACREST to help region. The coastal cities are very hot and humid, but the with the modifications on-site. Bangang region is located in the Cameroon mountain range,

4 May/June 2012 RESOURCE engineering and ingenuity

I traveled with the first group of students in May of 2009. accomplished without While there, I observed many ways for Purdue and ACREST importing parts. The to work together, including the opportunity to improve their total cost for this hydroelectric turbine design. In 2009, the team focused on the BUV is approximately existing BUV, and only four students traveled with me. In $1,800 USD when built 2010, the team’s focus expanded to three projects (BUV, in Cameroon. Design work hydroelectric, and wind) with 15 students traveling, again dur- on a second revision is underway by ing the month of May. The BUV team designed a new vehicle this year’s team with the goal of simplify- using a wood frame and simple driveline. They ran into some ing the driveline and reducing the parts challenges, but they were able to get the vehicle up on wheels count, the manufacturing steps, and the and moving under its own power. The hydroelectric team col- cost even further. lected watershed data to estimate the seasonal water flow rates Since we had the prototype up and supplying the turbine, while another set of students analyzed running at the end of our three-week trip © Aimohy/Fotolia.com the current turbine blade design using CFD and measured the last May, we have been able to receive field turbine’s performance. The wind team designed and tested reports throughout the year and incorporate that feedback windmill blades, which resulted in lower cost and better per- into the new design. It has been very encouraging to hear that formance. The small windmills are used to charge batteries the BUV is being used daily to haul food, water, building sup- and power LED lighting for the NGO buildings. plies, and people. Short-term add-on projects include adding the ability to connect water pumps, generators, and biomass A sustainable accomplishment presses to a PTO shaft. The long-term vision is a micro-fac- In May 2011, I traveled with a team of 12 students (and tory model that can be used by ACREST and replicated in talked my wife into coming along as well) representing the other areas. BUV, hydroelectric, and biomass projects. We spent three Meanwhile, the hydroelectric team continued water flow weeks at ACREST and had the best results to date. The multi- and turbine power measurements. One challenge in sub- year approach is beginning to result in real impact. The BUV Saharan Africa is the seasonal variation in rainfall, leading to team started a new design immediately following the 2010 trip very different optimal turbine sizes. A turbine designed for and spent a full year developing a completely new vehicle that maximum power generation during the rainy season would can be manufactured locally using only saws, drills, and a not spin during the dry or transitional seasons, and designing welder. We used a simple angle-iron truss frame, a single- for the dry season would significantly limit the power gener- cylinder 6.8 kW (9 hp) diesel engine, and a belt/pulley drive ation throughout the rest of the year. To address this problem, system. Three ratios provide speeds up to 30 kph (18 mph) and the hydroelectric team has designed a new turbine that directs a load capacity rating of 680 kg (1500 lb)—and we expect that flow over varying areas of the turbine blades depending on this load rating will often be exceeded. Because the parts, the water flow rate. This year, the team is planning on imple- skills, and tools are all locally available, the BUV is a locally menting and testing the new design on-site as part of an EPA- sustainable solution that both employs and serves the people P3 phase II award with ASABE member Klein Ileleji, who is of the local community. All maintenance and repairs can be the PI on the EPA grant; I serve as the co-PI.

Adding BUV finishing touches. Photo by HannahJoy Pheasant. Ready to roll. Photo by David Wilson.

RESOURCE May/June 2012 5 Hauling the generator for the hydroelectric turbine. Hydroelectric team moving the generator down to the turbine. Photos by HannahJoy Pheasant and Patrick Ransdell. Now for the fun part! What else did the students learn? • It is actually possible to fit eleven people inside a vin- iron, based on conference calls with the NGO. However, after tage Toyota Corolla. It’s cramped, but it beats walking. scouring the metal shops in the port city (in sweltering heat), • Twenty-four suitcases, each loaded to exactly 23 kg we could not locate any steel of those dimensions—although (50 lb), is a lot of luggage and a lot of BUV parts. we did find one location that used to have it. In desperation, • Be resourceful when plans, tools, and materials are dif- we decided to purchase what we could find: some larger ferent from what you expected. sizes, and some smaller sizes. Later, when we started con- • It is possible to exist without TV, the internet, and social struction, one group of students had to modify the design for media. the new material while trying to stay ahead of the group that • Freshly picked tropical fruit (mangos, papayas, pineap- was building the frame. Frustrating? Challenging? Yes and ple, bananas, plantains, etc.) is very, very good, as is yes, but also a great opportunity to learn and grow as prob- freshly baked bread. lem-solvers. • The people of Cameroon are fun, friendly, and sharing. • The kids in the village love coloring books, playing What have I learned? soccer, and playing cards. While it is easy to get caught up in buzzwords like global • Walking 6 km (4 mi) to get somewhere (and back) is education, international understanding, service learning, actually not that difficult. transformational educational experiences, sustainable tech- An example from last year’s trip demonstrates the nologies, and student engagement (note: these projects excel requirement to be flexible and resourceful. Before the trip, at meeting each of these, and assessment is critical), it all the students designed the frame for a certain size of angle boils down to a win-win-win situation. As a faculty member, I get to work closely with motivated and talented students who want to make a difference in the world and develop inter- national friendships. The students have a life-changing expe- rience that often refocuses and reinforces their career paths. And the people in the target community share their knowl- edge and provide an outstanding experience for the students, while (hopefully) benefitting from the collaborative develop- ment of innovative sustainable technologies. It is fun to see how the students change and grow during the experience. It is also difficult to summarize experiences like these in a short article, so perhaps the best thing is for you to get involved yourself. It might be one of the hardest things you try, but it will likely be one of the most rewarding, too. More information on the projects, with pictures and videos, can be found at: https://engineering.purdue.edu/ ~lumkes/Global/.

ASABE member John Lumkes, associate professor, Department of HannahJoy Pheasant tackling a labor-intensive chore. “Nothing like Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Purdue University, clean laundry to make your day.” Photo by Kim Lumkes. West Lafayette, Ind., USA; [email protected].

6 May/June 2012 RESOURCE a class act Giving Back: Who Gets More?

Gary Feyereisen

n her first presidential address, Sonia Jacobsen challenged ture ponds and a reservoir to fill them. The locals told us later us to use our engineering skills to give back to our profes- that we had stumbled through a spot where the local crocodile sion. She organized a session at the 2011 Annual likes to sun itself. IInternational Meeting on this theme and invited four Aside from our work, we took in quite a bit of the local speakers to share their experiences. As I prepared a presenta- culture and enjoyed the local food. At one of the schools for tion about my work on several agricultural projects, I was which ACM provided daily lunches, I demonstrated a useful reminded of the unexpected dividends I received—personal- skill to hordes of pink-shirted pupils: juggling. The delight of ly as well as professionally. these children, who had no exposure to television or sophisti- Appropriately, the road to my international work began at cated entertainment, brought me great joy. We also built rela- the 2000 ASAE Annual Meeting in Milwaukee when, at a tionships with the young adults who helped us in the field. prayer breakfast, I shared my desire to use my agricultural The life of one of these men, Latigo Washington, reflected his engineering skills to improve the lives of impoverished peo- country’s struggles in recent decades. When Latigo was a ple. At the suggestion of another ASAE member, I contacted baby, his father was killed in fighting, so he was raised by rel- Engineering Ministries International (eMi, www.emiusa.org), atives in Kampala. Through his connection to ACM, he fin- a group whose vision involves helping children and families ished high school and received a university degree. His dream around the world to step out of poverty and into a world of is to improve conditions in his own country and help the hope. By October, 2001, I was on my way to Africa. orphans, including those in his own family. Once back in the United States, our team members car- First: Uganda ried out their individual assignments, communicating by e- Our eMi team consisted of engineers from three disci- mail and telephone. A squad of eMi interns did the bulk of the plines, as well as surveyors, an architect, and a healthcare drafting work. I performed a watershed analysis and water professional. We served African Children’s Mission (ACM), a balance for the aquaculture operation, which taught me a lot non-profit, faith-based NGO located in Uganda. Our task was about the Penman equation, estimating evaporation in differ- to design and provide professionally prepared plans for build- ent climate conditions, and the challenge of estimating peak ings on their training campus and for an aquaculture opera- flow when field measurements are missing. As my graduate tion. The campus adjoined a 700 ha dairy farm, where we advisor said long ago, “When you need to estimate a peak lived for a week in round huts with thatched roofs. After a flow in the field without all the input data … well, you need cultural initiation by our host—how to greet people, shake to estimate peak flow!” Finalized project plans were shipped hands, and watch out for venomous mambas—we familiar- to our host, who was responsible for obtaining funding and ized ourselves with the designated location for six aquacul- hiring builders.

“We planned a day at a game park after the field work was done. In a sea of pink school uniforms and ready smiles, Feyereisen juggled Here we load a tour boat on Uganda’s Victoria Nile River. Our sight- his way into the hearts of Ugandan children. They had already found ings included hippos, crocodiles (up close), water buffaloes, monkeys, their way into his. and Murchison Falls,” said Feyerisen.

RESOURCE May/June 2012 7 engineering for people

On to Ghana A second opportunity to serve on an eMi team arose in 2005, this time in Ghana. A group of eight engineers was assigned to design a reservoir to provide municipal and irri- gation water for three villages in the Volta region. Prior to ini- tiating our survey of the project area, we drove to each village to meet the leaders and receive a community welcome. An unforgettable visit occurred in Tefle, when we accepted an invitation to perform the traditional Agbadza dance to the rhythm of the West African drummers in front of a large gath- ering of Ghanaians. Laughter abounded—imagine engineers dancing—and we left with a golden memory. During our stay, we resided in a guest house with Aseye and her lovely children, telling them stories, watching them play games, and teaching them to juggle. By week’s end, their juggling was far superior to our dancing. This second assignment proved daunting due to the dif- ferent opinions regarding the project. After a couple days spent driving around to receive specific input from our vari- ous hosts, we set to the business of surveying and reconnais- sance of the local farm fields and farming practices. We had a distinct advantage over the earlier Uganda project: a map. During our hikes, I noted similarities to the issues that we faced back home: in natural resource management, the pres- ence of invasive species; in technology, the ubiquitous pres- ence of cell phones. As we passed a man hoeing his field, he eagerly showed us his cell phone and asked for our numbers! We spent long days in the field. However, at the urging of our hosts, we took early afternoon breaks from the relentless sun and high humidity, and we were treated to fresh coconuts split open with machetes. “Back to the drawing board” took on new meaning for Feyereisen Our main goal was to harness Ghana’s good water as dry dust and a stick proved to be important tools in the planning resources to provide water for crop security and possibly to stages of the irrigation project. extend a growing cycle into the dry season. In Accra, we learned that irrigation equipment was readily available in- country, which we factored into our proposals. After collect- ing field data, we developed design concepts that we present- ed to our sponsor.

After a warm and somewhat exhausting march through fields (left), it was a relief to rest in a tree’s shade (above) and enjoy fresh coconuts.

8 May/June 2012 RESOURCE sisted of a homemade trans- former, a welding rod hold- er wrapped with burlap insulation, a grounding rod that was tacked directly to the frame, and several non- insulated spots along the system, ripe for dangerous shocks. The homemade transformer. As in past experiences, we enjoyed wonderful inter- actions with the people—from being spectators at the Saturday morning soccer games held in a rough pasture, to teaching the cascade pattern to novice jugglers. A year after our visit, we received pictures and a positive report on Walls of mud blocks and eucalyptus poles comprise the basics of many of construction projects. progress at the site. As I reflect on these experiences and my skill set as an agricultural/biological engineer, as well as the type of people Last stop: Rwanda that I have met during the eleven years that I’ve been involved Several years later, in 2008, a friend and I were invited in ASABE, I have identified what I believe to be a common to Rwanda to assess the agricultural opportunities on a par- thread in our Society. I propose that ag and bio engineers are cel of land owned by Umuryango Boys’ Home. linked by a common desire to use our skills and talents to “Umuryango” means “family” in Kinjarwanda, and the two engineer systems that use the natural elements—sun, soil, young-adult brothers who established the home have a knack water, plants—in the most responsible way to provide the for taking homeless boys from the street and melding them necessities of life—food, fiber, energy, water—for people. into a family that includes mature, level-headed young men. That is why we sponsor international development sessions, By providing a stable, supportive environment interwoven and that is why we do this work. with discipline and mandatory school attendance, the course Recently, I reconnected with a friend whom I hadn’t seen of these boys’ lives is changed. Our work there included in twenty years. He had worked in agricultural development developing a map of the parcel (without modern surveying in a struggling post-USSR country on a project of no small equipment) and sampling the soil at prime production loca- import. As we talked, he said, “At the end of the day, who got tions, either for vegetables or forage. Our samples were then the most out of my efforts? I did.” I understood, and I agree. analyzed using the modern soil analysis technology available In the end, I received much more than I gave. at the National University. During our stay, a housing unit was under construction. ASABE member Gary Feyereisen, hydrologist, USDA-ARS Soil and The quality of the construction and adherence to LEED Water Management Research Unit, St. Paul, Minn., USA; (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) principles [email protected]. caught my attention. Many of the building materials came from the surveyed parcel. Walls were made of large mud blocks cast nearby. Eucalyptus poles cut from the property made up rafters and beams. Door and window frames were cut from steel lineal and fabri- cated on site. When everything came together, the building was impressive—plumb, level, and square. However, repre- sentatives from ASABE’s ESH division would have shut down the welding operation. It con- “... plumb, level, and square.”

RESOURCE May/June 2012 9 making connections

A Decade of Travels in a World Without Walls

Joel L. Cuello

etween 2000 and 2010, my academic and research first ten years of the 21st century. From a decade’s worth of activities frequently drew me out of the confines of memorable travels crisscrossing our world of porous bound- the university campus and outside of the United aries, here are my notes on three trends that will reshape our BStates, sending me over a good part of our planet— globally interconnected world this century. six continents, 22 countries and 59 cities, with at least one return trip made to two-thirds of those countries within the 1. The Ascent of Cities same time period. The ancient city of Hebron in the Judean hills (popula- I always traveled alone, which made meeting colleagues tion 170,000), home to the biblical patriarchs Abraham, and new friends on the other side of my long journeys all the Isaac, and Jacob and home to Palestine Polytechnic more welcoming and gracious. Traveling solo certainly University, my host university in the West Bank, never fails to heightened the sense of adventure at times, such as my very evoke in me that heightened feeling of visiting a place that is first trip to the West Bank in 2006, when I was met at the air- simpler, more serene, and of another time. The Israeli occu- port in Tel Aviv by an elderly Palestinian who could not speak a word of English, but who had been entrusted with fetching and whisking me away into the Palestinian territories in the middle of the night. Or that time in 2007 when I spent the night sleeping on the floor at London Heathrow waiting for my disrupted flight to India to be rescheduled as a result of the U.K. liquid terrorist plot, which had just been thwarted a day earlier. Most of the time though, traveling alone afforded me moments to make quiet, unhurried personal observations and to engage in intellectually honest reflections about our changing world while on the move—as an engineer, a profes- sor, and a fellow citizen of the planet. With the last decade dramatically book-ended by two worldwide economic recessions as well as by such watershed events as the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States and by China’s ascension in 2010 as the world’s second largest econ- “The biblical city of Hebron in the West Bank, Palestine, home to Palestine Polytechnic University, where I teach a graduate short omy, our planet has been re-ordered and realigned during the course at the Biotechnology Research Center generally once a year.”

10 May/June 2012 RESOURCE pation has virtually isolated Hebron in many respects from the rest of the world and has unwittingly helped preserve many of the ancient city’s traditions and rhythms of life. Visiting Hebron provides a glimpse of how people in ancient times, through living and working together in cities, not only gained efficiencies in their lives and economy, but also wove the tapestry of their collective ideas and narratives into a shared civilization. In 2010, for the first time in history, the proportion of the world’s population living in cities exceeded 50 percent, despite the world’s cities occupying only 3 to 4 percent of the planet’s land area. Indeed, the number of countries with mul- A guanaco roams in Patagonia at the extreme south of Chile, where tiple cities of more than 1 million residents continues to grow. the author visited in 2010 as a Fulbright Senior Specialist at the Pakistan has 8, Mexico 12, and China more than 100. By invitation of the University of Magellan’s Antarctic Research 2030, India will have 68 such cities, while China will have Program in Punta Arenas. 221. By the same year, the world’s urban population is pro- jected to reach 4.7 billion. descended into political turmoil and cultural backwardness Together with the increasingly skewed shift in the world’s until the Italian Renaissance in the early 1400s, the civiliza- population from the developed world to the developing world, tions of China’s Tang Dynasty, the Islamic Empire, and the and in general from west to east, a heavily urbanizing world Maya in Mesoamerica took their turn to rise and reach their has been reshaping the global economic, scientific, political, peak. Indeed, the successive waxing and waning of kingdoms and military landscapes and will continue to do so in the and civilizations across millennia have become the basic plot coming decades. line of human history. But traveling the world in the first decade of the 21st cen- 2. A Common Rise tury, one finds that human history is getting a significant On my recurring visits to the United Kingdom, I keep rewrite. With the globalization of trade, information, labor, returning to the British Museum, which, through its vast col- investment, and capital, our history no longer follows the mori- lection of historical objects and artifacts, provides a kaleido- bund script of the successive rise and fall of kingdoms and civ- scopic survey of human history through the seemingly ilizations but one that portrays the common and simultaneous inevitable ebb and flow of kingdoms and civilizations—the rise of states and civilizations across the globe—a development Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Egyptians, the Greeks, and that is unique and unprecedented in human history. the Romans. Even in the ensuing Dark Ages, when Europe The economic numbers attest to the trend. For instance, Foreign Affairs has reported that the proportion of global GDP produced by Europe, the United States, and Canada fell from 68 percent in 1950 to 47 percent in 2003 and, by 2050, will decline further to only 30 percent—smaller than it was in 1820. Conversely, an overwhelming proportion of the world’s GDP growth between 2003 and 2050, about 70 percent, will occur outside of Europe, the United States, and Canada. The World Bank has predicted that by 2030 the number of middle-class people in the developing world—those capa- ble of purchasing durable consumer products, such as cars, appliances, and electronics—will be 1.2 billion (greater than the combined population of Europe, the United States, and Canada), a rise of 200 percent since 2005. Thus, there is con- sensus that the main driver of global economic expansion from now on will be the economic growth of newly industri- alized countries, such as China, India, Brazil, Indonesia, etc. The rise of these countries does not mean that Europe, the United States, and Canada are declining in absolute econom- ic terms. It just means that a host of other countries are now rising together toward parity over the long term with today’s “I took an afternoon stroll through the open-air market Shuk already developed countries. Machaneh Yehuda in Jerusalem, Israel.” © daniel_cozma/Fotolia.com

RESOURCE May/June 2012 11 adventures with an engineering perspective

a new shared global civilization, with its language, principles, and practices embraced universally. In addition to lifting millions of people out of poverty and into the middle class across the world and enabling glob- al corporations to post record profits worldwide, globaliza- tion has had the added bonus of making the world a more sta- ble and peaceful place. Indeed, despite the highly visible wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in the last decade, the number of countries experiencing some form of major political vio- lence—which had increased continuously through the Cold War period from 1946 until 1992 when the Soviet Union col- lapsed—declined progressively, dropping from a peak of about 30 percent of all countries in 1992 to only 13 percent of all countries in 2010. An integrated global economy makes nation states more disinclined to wage war against one anoth- er, given that war would prove ruinous for all. In an era of greater peace, however, a new brand of con- flict is emerging in a world with an integrated economy, that is, the competition between nation states for all types of resources. Time was when only western firms gained control of foreign energy and other resource assets. Today, Brazil, Russia, India, and especially China have been scouring the planet to lock down resource supplies to sustain their bur- A mid-day walk through a traditional Chinese village near Zhejiang geoning economies. With China overtaking the United States University, where the author is a visiting professor. as the world’s largest energy user in 2010, and with China projected to be the world’s top oil consumer by 2027, China 3. Resource Wars has aggressively been securing foreign resource reserves in I still find it wondrous to leave one world in a winged Central Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America. tube and, in just about 10 to 15 hours, arrive at the end of the Collectively, we humans currently use about 50 billion journey in an altogether different world. This was how it felt tonnes of planetary resources per year which, without restric- for me when I left Los Angeles and arrived for the first time tions, could jump to 140 billion tonnes per year by 2050. This in Beijing in 2000. Beijing felt like another world in many would be equivalent to collectively consuming resources of a ways, but it was the people—or how they were dressed—that looked most foreign to me. The majority still dressed in drab- colored Mao jackets, and the faces I saw in the streets appeared mostly grave, unsmiling, and even pensive. But fast forward ten years, and the contrast cannot be more strikingly clear. The city itself, of course, underwent physical transfor- mations many times in the last decade, but the people of Beijing themselves look transformed—many fashionably dressed and the majority radiating a mix of optimism, confi- dence, and ambition. Arriving in Beijing today feels just like arriving in Tokyo, Seoul, Singapore, Manila, Sydney, Mumbai, Tel Aviv, Riyadh, Paris, London, or Sao Paolo—that is, arriving in a global city that is vitally a part of the global- ized economy. And while some in academic and policy circles are still debating whether the world of the 21st century is one where all nation states will democratize or one where people will align themselves along civilizational lines and subsequently engage in a clash of civilizations, what is clear is that the world has already decided to live by another system that is neither ideological nor cultural. In the world of the 21st cen- In Cairo, Egypt, I tried the local means of gas-saving, desert tury, capitalism serves not only as an economic system but as transportation.

12 May/June 2012 RESOURCE total weight roughly equal to that of Mount Everest! How we produce or manage and use our resources— food, water, energy, fuels, miner- als—constitutes the biggest chal- lenge of the globalized world of the 21st century. This also happens to be the biggest engineering challenge of the 21st century. On my visit to Oslo in 2010, my host took me to the Norwegian Nobel Institute, where we were shown the stately conference room where the five-member Norwegian Nobel Conferring with colleagues at the Biofuels Research Center in tropical Coimbatore in southern India Committee gathers every year to on the sustainable production of biofuels from Jatropha and algae. select the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. On the walls of the conference room hang the pictures of toward emulating the western ways of living and consump- all individual Peace Prize laureates, including Martin Luther tion, one estimate shows that if everyone on the planet today King, Jr. (1964), Henry Kissinger (1973), Mother Teresa lived like the typical American, we would need the equivalent (1979), Nelson Mandela (1993), and Jimmy Carter (2002). But of 5.4 Earths to sustain our needs. Rephrasing the biggest the picture that really caught my eye was that of Norman engineering challenge of the 21st century, how do we seek Borlaug, the American who was awarded the Peace Prize in worldwide economic growth and development without rely- 1970 for “his leadership of the Green Revolution in developing ing on the increased exploitation of the Earth’s resources? countries and helping to reduce world hunger.” To achieve the During the first wave of globalization in the 16th centu- innovative design of sustainable food production systems for a ry when people were literally circling the globe for the first more secure and peaceful world, we certainly need more time, conquering other peoples and plundering their Norman Borlaugs today. resources, a small group of native tribes in North America were at the same time quietly sowing the seeds of resource The Places We Go sustainability. The Iroquois, architects of the Seven To travel the world during the first decade of the 21st Generation Sustainability enshrined in The Great Law of the century was to see the common rise of nations transpiring Iroquois, practiced an ecological concept that requires think- across the globe. A disquieting obstacle that is posing a clear ing seven generations ahead to ensure that the decisions made and present danger to all nations today, however, is the fast- today would benefit their descendants seven generations into increasing and unsustainable global use and consumption of the future. the planet’s resources. With everyone on the planet heading During this second and present wave of globalization in the 21st century, there is a worldwide imperative to redesign the very foundation of globalization if our shared economic civilization in this integrated world is to last—demanding a complete disavowal of the principle of resource plunder and accelerating the universal embrace of the practice of resource sustainability. Mark Twain, with insights he had gained through his travels, offered that “travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” Through my travels in the past decade, it has been my ardent hope that, by the middle of the century and certainly by the end of this millennium, not only will engineering be fatal to resource depletion, wastage, and reck- less misuse, but more than that—engineering will be fatal to hunger, poverty, and unsustainable development.

ASABE member Joel L. Cuello, professor, Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, The University of Arizona, “I admired the Nobel Peace Prize conference room at the Norwegian Tucson, USA; [email protected]. Nobel Institute in Oslo, Norway.”

RESOURCE May/June 2012 13 data and ingenuity for climate change solutions

Water Balance from Space Promoting climate resilience in the Blue Nile/Abay Highlands

olor act, the c Martha C. Anderson, Benjamin F. Zaitchik, and Belay Simane ile is, in f e "Blue" N sediment Th clay-rich ick due to banks. of br heer river ed from s loads erod

hile climate models differ significantly in their cycles of famine and poverty. Sediment loads reduce dam predictions of the magnitude and trajectory of capacity in downstream nations, necessitating major expendi- future climate change, there is little argument tures for annual dredging, while decreased soil water-holding Wthat the global climate is changing. Many parts capacity results in more flashy and unreliable streamflow in of the world may not see large impacts, but those who will the Nile. Problems with land and water management in the suffer the most are typically those who are least equipped to BNH therefore also translate across borders. adapt to the increasing amplitude in climatic swings—toward both the dry and wet ends of the hydrologic spectrum. Rural Living in flux societies practicing subsistence agriculture often do not have Conditions on the ground are changing rapidly in adequate adaptive capacity to see themselves through times Ethiopia. New irrigation projects are being established of drought or sufficient advanced warning of impending around Lake Tana—the headwaters of the Blue Nile—to flooding to take proper precautions. When times get rough, improve local food production capacity and income. Land- environmentally risky decisions are often made (e.g., farming use pressures are increasing due to the growing population in marginal lands, deforestation). and investments in commercial-scale agriculture. A new mas- sive Renaissance Dam project is under construction near the More advanced information needed Sudan border to supply hydroelectric power to both Ethiopia Better decision-making requires better information about and Sudan, in support of the Ethiopian mandate to build a climate and land-surface conditions—spatially distributed Climate Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) with the goal of and at scales of human influence (the field scale). Our work achieving middle-class status and carbon neutrality by 2025. is aimed at combining meteorological data, satellite remote However, the impacts of these new projects and land-manage- sensing, hydrologic modeling, and downscaled climate model ment strategies on the overall hydrology and health of the output to provide data relevant to building more climate- Abay Basin and downstream nations are not well understood. resilient and environmentally and economically sustainable This lack of understanding is because the country, in the farming and land-use strategies in the Ethiopian Highlands. midst of these changes, is facing an information deficit. The Blue Nile/Abay Highlands (BNH), together with the Sparse rain-gauge and meteorological station networks are headwaters of the neighboring Atbara and Sobat rivers, is the insufficient to provide information at the spatial scales neces- source of 86 percent of the average Nile River flow at Aswan, sary to support decision-making. Where information exists, Egypt, and is often referred to as one of the primary “water issues with data sharing, both within Ethiopia and between towers of Africa.” Despite the apparent abundance of water, riparian nations along the River Nile, are further hindering agroecosystems in the BNH remain vulnerable to extremes in informed decision-making. In contrast, satellites and land-sur- precipitation. The landscape is characterized by steep, dis- face modeling systems provide objective and spatially contin- sected terrain and highly erodible soils. Erosion results in low uous data across contentious borders and can penetrate to the soil water-holding capacity and reduced soil fertility, which scales at which land management decisions need to be made. in turn lead to drought-susceptible crop production, low rein- The BNH project seeks to integrate and freely distribute the vestment capacity, poor farming practices, and ongoing information generated with these data sources. Coupled with

14 May/June 2012 RESOURCE climate change and land-use scenarios, the hope is that this information can be used to investigate pending development choices and build more resilient agricultural ecosystems. Due to the strong physical relationship between land-sur- face temperature (LST) and evaporative cooling, thermal infrared (TIR) satellite imagery provides useful information about evapotranspiration (ET)—the rate of consumptive water use by agricultural crops and natural vegetation. With the Landsat 30-year archive of TIR data at 60 to 120 m spa- tial resolution, we can map current and historical water use and availability on a field-by-field basis. Coarser resolution (3 km) but broader coverage TIR data from European Meteosat geostationary satellites can be used to map ET at regional scales, covering the Nile Basin and even the full Figure 2. Evaporative stress index (ESI) map describing ET anomalies African continent. These multi-scale remotely sensed maps over a six-month period ending in July 2011 (right panel). Areas of provide a means for benchmarking the performance of more much lower than average ET correspond with the hotspot in the recent famine in the Horn of Africa (left panel from FEWSNET). complex land-surface models that generate a full complement of scaled to the county and village scale, hydrologic information, including these tools are being used to investi- runoff, streamflow, and groundwater gate impacts of changing climate con- recharge. Satellite-derived LST pro- ditions and to test the system’s capac- vides particular added value in areas ity to withstand expected shocks. where ET is not tightly coupled to Land-use scenarios may allow identi- local precipitation rates, such as in fication of optimal farming locations the heavily irrigated Nile Delta in given hillslope, water availability, northern Egypt and the Sudd local microclimate, and soil fertility Swamps in southern Sudan—a conditions, as well as proximity to major sink of water along the White market infrastructure. An economics Nile course (fig. 1). Water budgets component builds in market consider- Figure 1. Map comparing the ratio of actual to for these regions are difficult to ations, the most viable entry point for model prognostically without signif- potential ET over the Nile Basin, as determined by the ALEXI remote sensing model. Green areas are obtaining buy-in at all social levels. icant a priori knowledge of irriga- evaporating at near the potential rate that would tion practices and groundwater table be expected if soil moisture were non-limiting. We’re on the way fluctuations. However, the signature Enhanced ET is noted over the Nile Delta and the The BNH project involves collab- Sudd Wetland (white boxes in right panel). of enhanced ET is clearly revealed in oration between researchers at the cooler LST patterns, and it can Ethiopian and U.S. universities and government agencies, be effectively exploited by diagnostic energy balance algo- working together to develop products and information delivery rithms driven by TIR remote sensing. Temporal anomalies in mechanisms that are tailored to the specific needs of the coun- TIR-derived ET highlight areas of lower than average con- try. The project is at an early stage, but low-hanging fruit have sumptive water use by crops and natural vegetation that have already been identified that can potentially impact rapidly been affected by evolving drought (fig. 2). evolving decision-making processes as Ethiopia moves toward a more climate resilient and green economy. Tools bring much needed, helpful data Combined with land-use/land-cover, soils, and digital Martha Anderson, research scientist, Hydrology and Remote elevation data, these hydrologic modeling and remote sensing Sensing Laboratory, USDA Research Service, Beltsville, Md., USA; [email protected]. tools can provide valuable data for decision makers at local, regional, and national scales: spatially distributed estimates Ben Zaitchik, assistant professor, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md., USA; of high soil erosion potential and sediment load cycles, sea- [email protected]. sonal water use by various crops and agricultural practices, Belay Simane, associate professor of environment and agricultural identification of areas of high and low drought susceptibility, development, College of Development Studies, Addis Ababa estimates of water diverted for irrigated agriculture, and near- University, Akaki Campus, Ethiopia; [email protected], real-time monitors for use in drought and flood early warning [email protected]. systems. Combined with climate model scenarios, down-

RESOURCE May/June 2012 15 seizing service opportunities Engineering Without Borders Kansas State senior and ASABE member DeeAnn Turpin, involved in projects in Guatemala and India, says the secret to success is simplicity

DeeAnn Turpin with Elizabeth Hughes

Editor’s note: DeeAnn Turpin, an ASABE student member Up and running ... and a senior in biological systems engineering at Kansas In the second semester of my freshman year, I was proj- State University, is actively involved with KSU’s chapter of ect manager on an EWB trip to India. Our KSU group teamed Engineers Without Borders. She recently led a group to Ecuador to install a rural water system. Here’s her story. up with Iowa State University and the Dehradun Institute in India near the village where we were working. Students from ’ve always been fascinated with how things operate. From each university worked on different projects. My team the very beginning, I wanted to be an inventor. As I grew worked on rainwater harvesting. up, I realized that engineering would be a realistic way to As part of the rainwater project, we were able to devise a Ido that. Out of all the branches of engineering, I chose bio- sustainable, electricity-free rainwater harvesting system. logical systems because it incorporates two different aspects After that trip, I that both appeal to me: engineering is the foundation for knew that I was in building and design, and biology is the basis and blueprint for EWB for life. living things. Our next two When I came to KSU, I researched volunteer organiza- trips were also for tions, and I became enthralled with the goals of Engineers water-based proj- Without Borders (EWB). EWB is a non-profit organization ects. Our 2010 proj- committed to humanitarian efforts around the world. With ect in Panajachel, 12,000 members worldwide, EWB volunteers are currently Guatemala, was involved in 350 projects in more than 45 developing coun- supposed to involve tries, working to create more sustainable communities. distributing and I love to travel; more importantly, I love helping people installing filters for

with something I’m passionate about, so I knew I had to get The previous water distribution system potable water. involved with this organization at K-State. was 15 years old. The exposed PVC pipe However, we quick- made it susceptible to solar degradation. ly discovered that

16 May/June 2012 RESOURCE (Left) Digging in the trench to ready for pipe installation ... “I’m in shoulder-deep, connecting the storage tank to the water system. The group is connecting fittings and valves, laying the mainline pipe, and teaching the community members how to install the components of the water system. We did a lot of planning each night to figure out what we needed from the hardware store.” (Right) Trench dug! the local water supply was so contaminated that much of of piping. In the end, we installed 260 meters of piping, the community had contracted parasitic worms. including 13 water meters; we repaired six pressure breaker We traveled to five villages. In each village we went to boxes; and we brought clean water to a community that never the school and visited each classroom, where we distributed had reliable water before. And we did it all in ten days! parasitic worm prevention medicine to kids. Then we went to Next year, we’ll be back to construct a larger water storage homes in the village and monitored ceramic water filters. On tank and implement a water treatment system. Our long-term our last day, we worked with a group from Doctors Without plans include latrines, better sanitation, and a daycare center. Borders in a clinic, built by Heart to Heart and Rotary International. In the clinic, we performed checkups—height, What we all learned: weight, eyesight, blood pressure, etc. • Leadership. • Communication. ... and still traveling • Problem solving. Our most recent trip was to the village of Yakunay, in • Engineering on the fly. Ecuador, to install a new water system. The local people • Building trust. knew we were coming, and they threw a huge welcoming • Working hard. party for us, and then a huge celebration at the end of our trip. • Doing more with less. They all said, “We appreciate you so much for coming, thank • Surviving in a thin, high-altitude atmosphere. you.” As a gesture of gratitude, they gave each of the 25 vol- • Why English to metric conversions are awful! unteers a block of cheese worth $5, which is more than each of the locals would earn in a week. What I learned: Their sense of community was a big factor in our suc- • To be a more effective project manager. cess. While we were there, we became part of the extended • To engineer solutions in extreme conditions with less- family. In fact, when we returned to the United States, I start- than-ideal materials. ed to wonder about the way American society functions. We • To work with the local community. often forget that simpler is better, and that many problems • To measure everything, especially in countries that have simple solutions. When we went to Guatemala and made don’t enforce building codes! those filters, there were no pumps and no electricity. It was • To appreciate the people and culture of Ecuador! just two buckets and a filter. Of course, that’s not how we pre- fer to live here, but it was an effective solution. ASABE member DeeAnn Turpin, biological engineering senior, In Ecuador, our goal was to install a water distribution Kansas State University, Manhattan, USA; [email protected]. system between the main storage tank and the community Elizabeth Hughes, staff writer, Kansas State Collegian; building, which we estimated would involve about 200 meters [email protected].

RESOURCE May/June 2012 17 simple engineering changes everything Community Development from Oklahoma to West Africa

Kate Arroyo

group of 23 Oklahoma State University (OSU) In Sierra Leone, the students students and faculty traveled to West Africa over constructed bio-sand water filters last winter break to upgrade drinking water quali- that had been designed and pro- Aty in Sierra Leone and help foster a culture of duced by the OSU College of community investment. The students collaborated with the Engineering with assistance from OSU Center for International Trade and Development Engineers Without Borders. All the (CITD) to raise funds for OSU’s West Africa community students who took part in the proj- development projects. They stayed two weeks to do work ect had been trained to construct related to food and water security. the water filters with the use of a The funds raised were used to purchase supplies for demonstration project. The project water testing and water well installation equipment, in addi- helped the students understand the tion to offsetting student costs for future OSU West Africa difficulties and realities of building community development projects. Students from OSU trav- even a simple water filter in a eled to Sierra Leone to work with Njala University students remote location. Top: Bio-sand filter frame. Students construct the in several local communities to educate the people about Michael Dicks, a professor in wood frame for casting a water quality and purification systems. the OSU Department of concrete filter casing. I traveled on a previous trip to Sierra Leone and knew Agricultural Economics and direc- Below: Concrete casing that the conditions are eye opening: soap is a rarity, and resi- tor of the OSU CITD, indicated holds organic materials that filter water from dents’ health tends to suffer, particularly the children. World that ongoing projects will improve local sources. Bank development indicators for 2010 point to Sierra Leone the availability of food and water. as having one of the highest childhood mortality rates among In addition to constructing the on-site water filters, the stu- the nations in its region: 174 deaths per 1,000 children under dents began work on a cooperative extension unit that will the age of five. Liberia and Guinea follow with 102.6 and teach the local people about fruit and vegetable production, 129.9 deaths per 1,000, respectively. drilling wells, water purification, and nutritional needs. Water-related diseases cause 80 percent of all deaths and Funding for the trip was provided by the OSU College of illnesses in the developing world. In Sierra Leone, diarrhea is Engineering, the Wes and Lou Watkins Matthew 25:40 schol- the leading killer of children under five, according to the arship, the NGO One-Seventeen, and the ongoing student United Nations. entrepreneurial activity of selling items such as purses, jew- elry, clothing, and wood carvings from West Africa, South Africa, Central America, and South America. This interna- tional market, called Gondwana, is available at multiple OSU events throughout the year. Items from the international mar- ket can be seen at www.facebook.com/Gondwana.Imports The OSU CITD focuses on assisting communities in developing countries to meet basic needs for food, water, edu- cation, and health. The CITD currently has projects in Latin America, Africa, Eastern Europe, and Southeast Asia. Development projects are chosen to provide assistance to non-governmental organizations and as an opportunity for service projects and experiential learning for OSU students. To learn more about the OSU Center for International Trade and Development, visit http://citd.okstate.edu.

Kate Arroyo, trade and development assistant, Office of International Water well excitement! A Sierra Leonean youth pumps the first Trade and Development, Wes Watkins Center, Oklahoma State drops of water from the cooperative extension unit well. University, Stillwater, USA; [email protected].

18 May/June 2012 RESOURCE Who We Are What We Can Do Jeong-Yeol Yoon & gricultural and biological engineering has an iden- students think they can study prosthetics, tissue engineering, tity crisis. Whenever I attend conferences (other medical imaging, etc., in a biological engineering program. than ASABE meetings) or meet with academic or Maybe so, but those are areas of biomedical engineering, and Aindustry people who are not agricultural and bio- they are distinctly different from biological engineering. logical engineers, they ask, “Where are you from?” I answer, Some argue that we should include biomedical engineer- “The University of Arizona.” ing as a subset of biological engineering. According to this They respond, “Which department are you in?” To which argument, biological engineering is broad enough to include I reply, “The Department of Agricultural and Biosystems biomedical engineering. However, this argument is only valid Engineering.” when we compare biological engineering to biomedical engi- When they inevitably ask what that means, I say some- neering in the abstract, apart from how the subjects are actu- thing like: “The more common name is either agricultural ally being taught. The reality is that a substantial number of and biological engineering, or biological and agricultural ABE departments still retain the word “agricultural” in their engineering. Traditionally, the field has been about tractors department name, even though their undergraduate programs and irrigation, but we have expanded to apply engineering do not. In fact, there are much greater numbers of “agricul- practices to all aspects of human life.” tural engineering” faculty than of “biological engineering” There are two types of reaction to my explanation. The faculty in these departments. first is neutral, something like: “Hmm…Okay. Sounds very To illustrate what I mean, consider the following two ambitious. Good luck to you, talk to you later.” Clearly, these questions: (1) Is biomedical engineering a subset of biologi- people are not interested in my discipline, nor do they have cal engineering? (2) Is biomedical engineering a subset of any idea what the field is all about. agricultural and biological engineering? The second type of reaction is more pointed: “So, are Many people would say yes to question 1, but I doubt you guys trying to become bioengineers or biomedical engi- they would say yes to question 2. In fact, many interdepart- neers?” “Well,” I say, “we are broad-based engineers who mental or interdisciplinary graduate programs in biomedical work where biology is needed. After all, agriculture is essen- engineering are converting to stand-alone departments that tially applied biology or applied life science. We do more offer undergraduate programs, and they are attracting large than we have done in the past.” numbers of students. BMES, the governing society for bio- Some particularly aggressive folks reply: “Looks like you medical engineering (Biomedical Engineering Society; guys want to claim bioengineering or biomedical engineering www.bmes.org) is thriving, with a rapid increase in member- as your own.” “Some folks want that,” I say, “but not all of us.” ship. The membership of BMES is already triple that of The above conversation implies that many agricultural ASABE. Regardless of what some in ASABE may claim, the and biological engineers want to expand their territory, claim engineering profession thinks of prosthetics, tissue engineer- exciting new research areas, and pursue new industrial oppor- ing, and medical imaging as the exclusive properties of tunities. Others may disagree: “We agricultural and biological BMES, or at least not as components of ASABE. engineers have done an excellent job and have solved many Okay, we all agree that there are many opportunities in biol- problems, especially in providing safe and abundant food at ogy-related engineering, but the biomedical areas have already affordable prices through mechanization and irrigation. And been claimed by BMES. They have never been major topics of we’ll continue to thrive with strong support from industry and ASABE. Given that, what can agricultural and biological engi- with the growing demand from around the world.” That is a neers contribute to biology-related engineering in the future? correct statement. We should be proud of ourselves, and let To answer this question, we need to define who we are, or other folks know what we have accomplished in the past. more specifically what we are good at. Traditionally, ASABE However, despite a proud heritage, we have to admit that members have shown their excellence in the following areas. ASABE is a small engineering society whose membership has (This is my own list, so I admit that it has a personal bias): not substantially increased in recent years. In fact, some of the Tractors and agricultural machinery; irrigation, which undergraduate programs in ABE-type departments in U.S. includes water resources and water quality; greenhouses and universities no longer use the word “agricultural” in their livestock housing; remote sensing; and food processing. degree name. Ironically, this name change has led to a large The following emerging disciplines can be tied into the increase in undergraduate enrollment because many incoming above list very nicely: Robotics and intelligent machine sys-

RESOURCE May/June 2012 19 tems; water recycling systems that include not just agricultur- al water use but also drinking water and industrial uses (although agricultural use should still be the biggest part); public health (e.g., H1N1 flu); sensor networks and remote sensing; food safety (e.g., carcinogens and foodborne pathogens); and bioenergy (e.g., corn, sugarcane, algae, etc.). Perhaps the IEEE (Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers; www.ieee.org), AIChE (American Institute of Chemical Engineers; www.aiche.org), ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers; www.asme.org), or ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers; www.asce.org) can also claim these emerging areas, but I think ASABE can do the best job because we have what the others do not have. We know more about plants and animals than any other The numbers of papers and patents published in 2000-2011 for food safety + food processing, irrigation + drinking water, and engineering discipline, and this knowledge can serve as a test pathogens + livestock or greenhouse. SciFinder was used as the bed for all of the above applications. Imagine civil engineers search engine, and only results with the two terms closely associat- studying regional water recycling with limited knowledge of ed with each other were included. The total number of research agricultural water use. Imagine chemical engineers produc- articles in 2000 and 2011 was 1.13 and 1.48 million, respectively (30% increase), while the increase in the above topical areas were ing bioethanol without knowing how to grow corn or sugar- 480% for food safety + food processing, 300% for irrigation + cane. Imagine biomedical engineers studying foodborne drinking water, and 600% for pathogen + livestock or greenhouse. pathogens without knowledge of food production and pro- cessing. Only ASABE members can take on these compre- hensive tasks. Here is how agricultural and biological engi- acute respiratory syndrome), and TB (tuberculosis), all of neers are uniquely qualified for these emerging disciplines: which propagate through the air. Many studies have been per- formed on pathogenesis and genetic mutation, as well as vac- Robotics + Tractors cine development for these diseases. Unfortunately, studies of Robotics has been a popular topic for electrical and airborne transmission are still relatively few in number, mechanical engineers for a variety of applications, including, although this information is essential in formulating effective but not limited to: manufacturing, personal assistance, analyti- quarantine protocols. This lack of information is at least part- cal instruments, machine vision, microsurgery, prosthetics, and ly due to the high cost and difficulty associated with experi- military hardware. Note that these are mostly small-scale appli- ments in the human environment. Agricultural and biological cations. Robotics has not been extensively applied to much engineers have experience with this kind of challenge. We larger systems, such as crop fields. The use of robotic control call it controlled-environment agriculture, or simply livestock in tractors and implements, where agricultural and biological housing and greenhouse design. Livestock and greenhouses engineers have considerable experience, is an opportunity that can be used as test platforms to establish quarantine protocols is uniquely ours. Robotic implement control will also serve as for human diseases. In fact, the diseases that affect both a test platform for other large-scale systems, such as monitor- human and animals, such as H5N1 bird flu, can best be stud- ing of pollutants, pathogens, and climate parameters. Such a ied in these kinds of environments. system could serve as a basis for emergency response, military reconnaissance, and other applications. Biosensor Networks Creating a network of sensors to monitor the behavior of Irrigation + Drinking Water a system has been a popular topic in virtually all engineering Agricultural and biological engineers already know that fields. The input parameters from the network sensors can be most global water use is connected to agriculture. Recycling used for various decision-making processes. In biology-relat- agricultural water for industrial use or even as drinking water ed engineering, networks of biosensors are required, although will greatly help in conserving water resources. The impact of such networks have been studied relatively rarely. This lack of agricultural water conservation on drinking water has recent- research can be attributed to the fact that many biosensors are ly received great attention, at least in the scientific world. We still expensive compared to physical sensors and still require know that civil and environmental engineers have studied a certain amount of labor (sample purification, incubation, drinking water issues. However, without extensive knowledge and loading). Because of this, construction of a relatively of agricultural water usage, it will be difficult to understand large-scale biosensor network is still a rarity. Such a biosen- the entire water cycle and prepare for global water shortages. sor network could become a fundamental technology for monitoring public health threats (both waterborne and air- Pathogens + Livestock and Greenhouses borne) and ensuring food safety in a supply chain (from fields There have been many public health outbreaks, notably to consumers), which is exactly what agricultural and biolog- H1N1 flu (novel influenza A subtype H1N1), SARS (severe ical engineers are good at.

20 May/June 2012 RESOURCE (1) from agricultural crops, such as corn or sugarcane, and (2) from algae. The first category requires in-depth knowledge of crop production, genetic engineering, and post-harvest bio- mass conversion processes—knowledge that only agricultural and biological engineers possess. The second category requires in-depth knowledge of aquaculture, genetic and meta- bolic engineering, and biomass conversion processes—again, only agricultural and biological engineers have this compre- hensive understanding. In particular, biomass conversion has strong similarities to certain food processing operations, and it is critical for making bioenergy competitive with fossil fuels.

The numbers of papers and patents published in 2000-2011 for And that’s not all... biosensor network, bioenergy + food, and robotic + tractor or farm. There are two other areas that agricultural and biological SciFinder was used as the search engine, using the same method as engineers can potentially pursue: synthetic biology and pro- in the first figure. Percentile increases are 620% for biosensor net- work, 650% for bioenergy + food, and 950% for robotic + tractor or teomics. “BioBricks” is a good example of applying synthet- farm. ic biology principles to real-world engineering practice. These reusable, standardized, and interchangeable genetic elements can be used in many different applications. Proteomics, the large-scale study of protein structures and functions, is particularly suited to agricultural and biological engineering, where a systematic approach to a large variety of living organisms, including plants and animals, is needed. These new areas obviously cover territory that is often considered outside of agricultural engineering, and some of them sound more human-related. However, these areas are still distinctly different from biomedical engineering, and agricultural and biological engineers can translate discoveries in these area into useful innovations quickly and efficiently. The underlying theme in all of these exciting new areas is The numbers of papers and patents published in 2000-2011 for syn- applying biological principles to larger systems, i.e., biologi- thetic biology + engineering and proteomics + engineering. cal systems or biosystems. Perhaps the terms “biological sys- SciFinder was again used as the search engine, using the same tems engineering” or “biosystems engineering” best method as in the first figure. encompass these new research areas.

Food Safety + Food Processing The time is now Food safety has become a hot issue in the last decade, Whatever we call ourselves, we need to adapt. The evolu- probably as a result of the numerous food-related disease out- tion of SPIE serves as a useful model of how an organization breaks that have been reported in the news. Contaminations can adapt itself to new challenges while keeping its identity have been identified at the farm level, at food processing intact. SPIE started in 1955 as “The Society of Photographic facilities, and during storage and delivery. Whatever the Instrumentation Engineers” and was originally concerned cause, food processing facilities should be a primary quaran- with cameras. The organization became The International tine location. Unfortunately, though, the current screening Society for Optical Engineering in 1981 and The International methods for specific pathogens, such as cell culture or poly- Society for Optics and Photonics in 2007. While still known merase chain reaction (PCR), require a laboratory and sever- as SPIE, that name no longer stands for photographic instru- al hours (and sometimes more than a day) to complete. In mentation. SPIE now covers every aspect of optics, including addition, most biosensor engineers work with relatively sensors, biosensors, home appliances (TVs, smart phones, and “clean” samples in their research on molecular biology or computers), military applications, alternative energy, nanofab- bioanalytical chemistry. Engineers who have extensive rication, medical imaging, and laser surgery. knowledge of complex, “dirty” agricultural products will be As with SPIE, why not with ASABE? The opportunities better able to improve pathogen screening methods and pre- are right in front of us, waiting to be seized. What are we vent future disease outbreaks. waiting for?

Bioenergy + Food Processing ASABE member Jeong-Yeol Yoon, associate professor, Department Bioenergy is another hot research topic. The two most of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, The University of popular types of bioethanol or biodiesel production are: Arizona, Tucson, USA; [email protected].

RESOURCE May/June 2012 21 The Changing PhD Landscape Engineering doctorates plateaued over the past four years after growing by almost 50 percent earlier in the decade. Yet the com- position of degree recipients is changing. The percentage of degrees awarded to women is at an all-time high, while the share of degrees awarded to nonresident aliens has declined by 12 percent since 2006. The data also indicate divergent trends in sev- eral fields during this time, as reported in the American Society for Engineering Education’s Prism magazine, January 2012.

9,086 9,083 9,065 8,995 Doctoral Degrees 8,351

7,333

6,604 6,044 5,870 5,772

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

61.7% 61.6% Doctoral Degrees 59.4% 58.3% 57.8% 55.1% 54.2% 55.2% by Residency 53.8% 54%

41.7% 38.3% 38.4% 46.2% 46% 44.8% 45.8% 42.2% 44.9% 40.6% Foreign National Domestic 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Doctoral Degrees 20.2% 20.8% 18.3% by Gender 17.4% 17.8% 16.9% 17.4% 22.9% 21.1% 21.2%

78.9% 78.8% 77.1% 83.1% 82.6% 82.6% 82.2% 81.7% 79.8% 79.2%

Female Male 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Notable Trends: 2007-2010

Industrial/ Electrical/ Civil Manufacturing Computer Mechanical 2007 – 770 2007 – 398 2007 – 2,491 2007 – 1,161 2010 – 681 2010 – 352 2010 – 2,278 2010 – 1,078 -7% -12% -9% -12% 37% 34% 30%

Biomedical Biomedical Eng. & Nuclear 2007 – 536 Agricultural Eng. 2007 – 88 Increases

2010 – 733 2007 – 65 2010 – 114 Decreases 2010 – 87 ©Vjom/Fotolia.com and Ilenia Pagliarini

22 May/June 2012 RESOURCE May/Juneup 2012date

In Albany, California, research engineer and ASABE member Zhongli Pan (right) and food technologist Don Olson conduct almond pasteuriza- tion tests using infrared heating and a hot-air roaster. Photo by Stephen Ausmus, courtesy of ARS USDA.

Infrared-based approach explored With further work, SIRHA should be easy to scale up for use at packinghouses, Zhongli Pan reports. Most packing- for keeping almonds safe to eat houses are located in California, where all of America’s com- In Brief: Giving almonds a burst of infrared heat, followed by a mercial almonds—and 80 percent of the world’s supply—are stint of hot-air roasting, helps make sure the tasty, healthful nuts grown. remain safe to eat. That's according to studies by USDA engineer Some almond packinghouses already use infrared heat- and ASABE member Zhongli Pan, above right, and his col- ing, but not for pasteurizing, Pan notes. league, microbiologist Maria Brandl, who have dubbed this The idea of using infrared heating to kill germs isn’t new. almond pasteurizing technique SIRHA, short for “sequential But studies that Pan and Brandl reported in peer-reviewed infrared and hot air.” articles in the Journal of Food Engineering in 2010 and 2011 and in the Journal of Food Protection in 2008 are likely the indings from laboratory experiments show that a most comprehensive investigations of the use of infrared chemical-free process offers a simple, safe, energy- heating to pasteurize almonds and knock down Salmonella. efficient, and environmentally friendly way to Infrared technology seems to pose few if any drawbacks. F reduce Salmonella enterica to levels generally Of course, packinghouses would have to invest in infrared recognized as safe. equipment and deal with the learning curve. But no license to All almonds processed for sale in the United States today own or use the equipment is needed, and extensive training is are treated with some kind of pasteurization process in order not required. to zap Salmonella, even though it’s generally thought that Before this pasteurization process makes its way into the almonds are only rarely contaminated with this pathogen. packinghouse, pilot-scale and in-the-packinghouse testing Nearly a half-dozen almond pasteurization methods will be needed to gather the data necessary for federal review already have federal approval, but many almond processors and approval. That might take anywhere from one to two remain eager to learn about new options, including SIRHA years or more, Pan estimates. and its promise of fast, reliable, and relatively economical Once that happens, perhaps infrared heating will become pasteurization tomorrow’s top-choice technology for pasteurizing America’s According to results from dozens of volunteer taste- almonds. testers who participated in the studies, infrared heating For more information, contact Marcia Wood, USDA-ARS, Public doesn’t detectably alter the mild taste, smooth texture, Affairs Specialist, [email protected]. attractive appearance, or other characteristics that make almonds one of the most popular tree nuts.

RESOURCE May/June 2012 23 update

ORNL explores proteins In substrates allowed researchers to compare how the organism processes increasingly complex materials. Yellowstone bacteria for biofuel “This progression helps us look at how proteins change inspiration given different carbon substrates,” Giannone said. “One of the goals is to identify new proteins that we haven't seen In Brief: ORNL researchers studied how the proteins of a bac- before. If an unknown protein doesn’t show up on the simple terium named C. obsidiansis responded to different carbon sugars or cellulose, but it shows up on the switchgrass, then sources.The microorganism (pictured below growing on crys- we can say something about that gene or protein—that it talline cellulose) could play a role in the development of a responds to something the switchgrass is providing.” cheaper biofuel production process. The researchers found that growth on switchgrass tudies of bacteria first found in Yellowstone's hot prompted the organism to express an expanded set of proteins springs are furthering efforts at the Department of that deal specifically with the hemicellulose content of the Energy's BioEnergy Science Center toward plant, including hemicellulose-targeted glycosidases and commercially viable ethanol production from crops extracellular solute-binding proteins. Acting together, these S two subsystems work to break down the plant material and such as switchgrass. The current production of ethanol relies on the use of import the resulting sugars into the cell. The scientists went expensive enzymes that break down complex plant materials on to show that once inside the cell, the organism “switches to yield sugars that are fermented into ethanol. One suggest- on” certain enzymes involved in pentose metabolism in order ed cheaper alternative is consolidated bioprocessing, a to further process these hemicellulose-derived sugars into streamlined process that uses usable energy. microorganisms to break down the “By comparing how C. obsidian- resistant biomass. sis reacted to switchgrass, relative to “Consolidated bioprocessing is pure cellulose, we were able to pin- like a one-pot mix,” said Oak Ridge point the specific proteins and National Laboratory’s Richard enzymes that are important to plant Giannone, coauthor on a BESC pro- cell wall deconstruction—a major teomics study that looked at one roadblock to the production of microorganism candidate. “You want advanced biofuels,” Giannone said. to throw plant material into a pot The team’s measurement of the with the microorganism and allow it full complement and abundance of C. to degrade the material and produce obsidiansis proteins, called pro- ethanol at the same time.” teomics, can now be combined with The BESC study focused on other technologies such as genomics, Caldicellulosiruptor obsidiansis, a transcriptomics, and metabolomics in naturally occurring bacterium dis- order to obtain a system-wide view of covered by BESC scientists in a the organism. Instead of studying dis- Yellowstone National Park hot crete proteins, these systems biology spring. The microorganism, which approaches provide more thorough thrives at extremely high tempera- insight into the day-to-day operations tures, breaks down organic material of bioenergy-relevant organisms and such as sticks and leaves in its natu- thus better equip researchers to make ral environment, and scientists hope recommendations about their use in to transfer this capability to biofuel ethanol production. production tanks. “One goal for us at the The BESC team conducted a Image credit: Jennifer Morrell-Falvey/ORNL. BioEnergy Science Center is to take comparative analysis of proteins from these ‘omic’ technologies and inte- C. obsidiansis grown on four different carbon sources, ranging grate the data so we can draw definitive conclusions about a from a simple sugar to more complex substrates such as pure system,” Giannone said. cellulose and finally to switchgrass. The succession of carbon For more information, contact Morgan McCorkle, [email protected].

24 May/June 2012 RESOURCE Purdue researcher Rakesh Agrawal is leading work to devel- op solar cells that might be manufactured using special ink print- ed onto sheets of a supporting material. The approach could lead to new low-cost solar cells that are eco- nomically competitive with other energy technologies. Photo by Mark Simons, courtesy of Purdue University.

New ink-based solar cells on a flexible supporting material. After the ink is applied, the cells are heated to about 500º C (932º F) , a procedure called might be low cost and efficient “sintering,” to fuse the nanoparticles together. In Brief: Researchers are developing solar cells that might be The research involves advanced modeling, nanoelectron- manufactured using special ink printed onto sheets of a sup- ics, and materials science. The researchers will create models porting material, an approach that could lead to new low-cost showing how to precisely heat nanoparticles so that they are solar cells that are economically competitive with other energy properly sintered, leading to optical and electrical properties. technologies. Manufacturing requires expertise in chemical engineer- ing, but optimizing solar cell efficiency also requires electri- project funded by the U.S. Department of Energy is cal engineering expertise. Putting these two viewpoints pursuing critical requirements not met by other together is what makes this project so interesting. solar technologies: to mass-produce solar cells at The work is funded with a $750,000 grant as part of Alow cost and not be limited by the availability of DOE's SunShot Initiative, which includes work to improve materials. solar technologies. “To date, none of the photovoltaic technologies simulta- Agrawal’s lab has produced the second-highest efficiency neously meets all these constraints,” said Rakesh Agrawal, (8.4 percent) for CZTS-based solar cells, and the goal of the Purdue University’s Winthrop E. Stone Distinguished research is to reach 15 percent efficiency or higher, he said. Professor in the School of Chemical Engineering. CZTS solar cells were invented in the 1990s but have The new solar cells hinge on developing an ink using tiny required the use of a procedure called chemical vapor depo- nanocrystals made of a material called copper zinc tin sulfide, sition. That process, performed inside a chamber, is expen- or CZTS. Because the raw materials are abundantly available, sive and impractical for mass production. Using inks would the CZTS technology poses no resource hurdles, he said. make it possible to deposit the material at a lower cost. One Agrawal’s lab was the first to make CZTS nanocrystals, challenge will be to produce CZTS nanocrystals that are free which enabled creation of a light-absorbing ink. of impurities. Another aim is to increase efficiency by con- “The concept is that, once you have an ink, you can print trolling the sintering and optoelectronic properties. photovoltaic cells very fast, so they become very inexpensive Three graduate students will be involved in the project. to manufacture,” Agrawal said. The Purdue Energy Center in Discovery Park also is support- To be competitive with other energy technologies, solar ing the research. cells must be capable of generating terawatts, or trillions of Agrawal recently received the National Medal of watts, at a cost of 50 cents per peak watt of electricity. Technology and Innovation from President Barack Obama. “These goals can only be met with a truly transforma- The award is the highest honor for technological achievement tional technology,” Agrawal said. bestowed by the United States. The cells might be produced in a process that includes For more information, contact Emil Venere, [email protected],or creating the nanocrystals, formulating the ink, and printing it Rakesh Agrawal, [email protected].

RESOURCE May/June 2012 25 update

Unique irrigation system copper piping to condense water vapor from the air weren’t successful until copper wool was inserted to maximize the continues to win big condensation area. In Brief: Swinburne University of Technology (Melbourne, A small wind-turbine collects the condensed water in an Australia) graduate Edward Linacre received the James Dyson underground trap, and solar energy is used to pump the water Award for his Airdrop irrigation-by-condensation system at a directly to plant roots. The prototype system can already 2011 year-end ceremony. But the hoopla continues. Linacre’s deliver up to a liter of water per day depending upon prevail- unique irrigation system has captured the attention of some of ing atmospheric humidity. the world’s top designers and commercial developers in the As the winner of the James Dyson Award, Linacre United States, Asia, and the Middle East. received £10,000 ($16,500). Details of Linacre’s project can be viewed on the James Dyson Award website (www.james- igh levels of farmer suicide along Australia’s dysonaward.org). Murray-Darling Basin drove Edward Linacre to “The next step is to prove it works on a larger scale. turn to ancient cooling techniques to create a new There has been a lot of interest in manufacturing the Airdrop. Hsubsurface irrigation system for drought-ravaged I want to keep it local and support the Australian manufactur- landscapes worldwide. ing industry. It needs further research and development. I A newspaper article highlighting weekly farmer suicides need to find the right industrial partner,” Linacre said. was the inspiration for the project. But a conversation with a The James Dyson Award is an international student design compe- struggling Mildura orange farmer zeroed Linacre in on the tition held in 18 countries and run by the James Dyson Foundation blight of precious water escaping into the atmosphere from as part of its mission to encourage the next generation of engineers drying agricultural soils. to be creative, to be challenged, and to design something that solves a problem. Visit www.jamesdysonaward.org. “One of the subjects in my honors year was a class on research methods and techniques—and ways to thoroughly For more information, contact Lea Kivivali, [email protected]. dive into your topic. It’s a 10,000 word thesis with proper referencing, which is a chal- lenge, but that gave me a real- ly solid basis for proper prod- uct development,” he said. From his research, he found that water vapor was so abundant in the atmosphere that it plays a vital role in trap- ping the heat necessary for life on Earth, but it was evaporat- ing from the soil where it was needed by farmers to grow crops. After experiments trying to capture water with big canopies over plants, he looked to the deep past, when local tribesmen cooled their huts with small underground tunnels. “They were using the soil underground to cool the air, but water was produced as well, and they had to create catchments. So I thought, ‘That’s it.’ ” Initial experiments with highly temperature conductive

26 May/June 2012 RESOURCE Manipulating the way bacteria “talk” each other. We took another bacterium’s signal and had E. coli make it, because it doesn’t normally make it. We also leads to unprecedented control over inserted the receiving mechanism in E. coli. And we were bacterial communities responsible for putting an ‘on-off switch’ within the bacteria, because we wanted this signal broadcast continuously.” In Brief: By manipulating the way bacteria “talk” to each other, By genetically inserting a foreign chemical signal from researchers at Texas A&M University have achieved an unprece- another bacterium—Pseudomonas aeruginosa—into E. coli, dented degree of control over the formation and dispersal of the research team was able to force one group of E. coli to biofilms—a finding with potentially significant health and continuously emit this chemical signal. The group then industrial applications, particularly for bioreactor technology. inserted this group of bacteria into an environment where a orking with E. coli bacteria, Thomas K. Wood biofilm was present. That existing biofilm was also genetical- and Arul Jayaraman of the Artie McFerrin ly modified to receive the chemical signal. Once the signal Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas was received, Wood explains, the bacteria within the biofilm A&M University have employed specific responded by breaking apart and leaving the environment, W effectively dispersing the biofilm. signals sent and received between bacteria to trigger the dispersal of biofilm. “We developed novel miniature models of biofilm reac- The finding is significant, Wood said, because biofilms tors where we can exquisitely control which bacterial species are notoriously difficult to break apart. In a community of is colonizing, for what duration, and which signals it is bacteria living together, a biofilm is a protective and adhesive exposed to during growth,” Jayaraman explained. “Apart slime that exhibits increased resistance to outside threats such from enabling us to control the reactors, this also allows us to as antibiotics. The film can grow on a variety of living and investigate several experimental conditions in a high- nonliving surfaces, including submerged rocks, food, teeth throughput manner, which is essential for optimizing bio- (as plaque), and biomedical implants such as knee and hip processes.” replacements. This unprecedented degree of control over biofilm is key While biofilm can pose serious health risks, its use in to advancing bioreactor technology because it enables scien- industrial applications such as in bioreactors is offering hope tists to work with bacteria, growing them at greater densities for an alternative-fuels future, Wood said. Genetically tweaked and in specific proportions. For example, by controlling the and grown in these reactors, biofilm can be used to produce a formation and dispersal of biofilms, scientists would be able variety of chemicals such as propanol and butanol. And to switch the production of a bioreactor from one chemical to because the bacteria within biofilm feeds on glucose, bioreac- another with limited downtime, in effect creating a seamless tors using biofilms have the potential to help transform the manufacturing refinery that continuously pumps out in- economy. These reactors also benefit from the robust nature of demand chemicals. And that’s exactly where the team’s biofilm, a trait that makes the film ideal for use. research is leading. “We want to eventually make with bacteria all the things “In the next application, we want to maintain a consor- we currently make in chemical refineries,” Wood said. tia—a mix of different bacteria—where one group makes the “Toward this goal, the reactor of the future is a biofilm reac- first part of some important chemical, and the other group tor. The main reason is that if someone who is operating the makes the second part that is needed,” Wood said. “Also, both reactor coughs, for example, it doesn’t go crazy. If the pH groups could make two things that are needed at the same level drops, the biofilm will remain robust and the cells won’t time and that you don’t want to separate. We want to create die, whereas if cells were growing independently (not in a complex groupings of bacteria to create complex chemicals. biofilm) and there was a change inside the reactor, you could To do this, the bacteria groups need to be in the right propor- lose all the cells and the products they are producing.” tions, and no one has yet approached this. This can be done Before this technology can be realistically implemented, now with what we’ve discovered.” scientists and engineers need to be able to control a number What’s more, these technologies are also applicable to of variables associated with the film, such as how much of the drug discovery, drug delivery, and pharmaceutical applica- film grows in the reactor, how long it must remain in the reac- tions, as they can be used to mimic the human body environ- tor, and in what proportions different biofilms coexist within ment, Jayaraman noted. For example, any ingested drug the reactor. needs to pass through the microbial consortia that exist inside That’s where Wood and Jayaraman’s research comes into of a person before acting on its target, he explained. Using play. this model, researchers can now better assess the effect of “Never before has a group discovered proteins that make these consortia on the fate and clearance of drug molecules. biofilms disperse and then used them in a synthetic circuit,” For more information, contact Arul Jayaraman, [email protected], or Wood said. “We took advantage of the fact that cells talk to Ryan A. Garcia. [email protected]. © Les Cunliffe/Dreamstime.com

RESOURCE May/June 2012 27 AGRICULTURAL/BIOLOGICAL ENGINEERING Visual Challenge 2 ENTER THE 2nd ANNUAL COMPETITION ENTRY DEADLINE: JULY 20, 2012

You are invited to submit an entry to Resource magazine’s Visual Challenge 2. Categories include Photographs/Pictures, Illustrations/Drawings, and Informational/Explanatory Graphics. Winning entries will be published in the September/October 2012 issue of Resource. Illustrate via photography. Speak in color or black and white. Make a statement in 300 dpi or greater. Enter a traditional or computer-assisted illus- tration or drawing. Turn technical, microscopic information into an art. Convey the beauty of your work, your research developments, your Society division. Wind turbines in the sunset, solar panels at high noon ... backlit, striking power machinery ... flowing streams, a field of wheat ... old barns, new struc- tures ... forests and aquatic life ... a dynamic graphic or computer-developed drawing. Show the seen and unseen. We encourage you and your colleagues to enter and communicate your work and your profession. “What is that?” “What are they doing and why?” Entries should be fresh and original as well as aesthetically pleasing or dramatic. The spirit of the competition is communicating agricultural and bio- logical engineering. All entries, selected by Resource staff, should have visual appeal, a title, and a brief description of the content. Email your entries, via attachment, no later than July 20, 2012, with Visual Challenge 2 in the subject line to [email protected]. Provide your name, entry title, and a brief description of content. Include a name for credit, if needed, and assurance that permission has been granted to submit and possi- bly publish.

Credits — Resource file photos, from top left. “Backseat.” Photo by Howard G. Buffett Foundation for “Preserving Our Agricultural Capital,” Howard G. Buffet, January/February 2011. “Bionanotechnology Research Potential.” Concept by ASABE member Suresh Neethirajan and designed by Christopher Stokes for “Bibnanotechnology—New Frontiers,” Suresh Neethirajan, January/February 2012. “Wetland Vegetation Planted in Coir Fiber Logs.” Photo courtesy of Virginia Tech for March/April 2012 cover. “Robot Picker.” Photo by Keneth Chamberlain, Ohio Ag Research and Development Center for, Focus on Automation Technology, September 2005. “Cover Bins.” Photo courtesy of ASABE member Charles Sukup for Visual Challenge 2010. “Bacterial Nanowires.” Image by Suresh Neethirajan for “Bionanotechnology, New Frontiers,” March/April 2012. “VR1428 High-Capacity Wheel Rake.” Photo by Vermeer Corporation for AE50 awards, January/Feburary 2012. “Lettuce.” Photo by ASABE member AJ Booth for 2010 Visual Challenge.

28 May/June 2012 RESOURCE professional opportunities

POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATE AGRICULTURAL ENGINEER/ PHYSICAL SCIENTIST The USDA, Agricultural Research Service, Crop Production Systems Engineering is fundamental. It tackles the big global issues; it cre- Research Unit in Stoneville, Mississippi, is seeking a POSTDOC- ates our water, energy, and communications systems; it sustains TORAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATE (Agricultural Engineer/Physical our economies. Scientist) for a TWO YEAR APPOINTMENT. Ph.D. is required. It transports, transforms, informs, and protects. From the cre- Salary is commensurate with experience ($57,408 - $89,450 per ation of new materials to make the clothes of the future to the annum) plus benefits. Citizenship restrictions apply. The incumbent development of clean, green sources of power—engineering will develop an imaging system that can perform remote sensing underpins almost every detail of modern life. operations on the agricultural aircraft and the ground on-the-go platform, which will fuse the information from visible and near This is what the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering celebrates. infrared (VNIR) imagery, thermal imagery and measurements of field The new £1M prize will recognize world-changing advances in variables such as soil texture, crop water stress, the effects of plant engineering that have made a difference to humanity. damage from off-target herbicide drift, and plant vigor to determine The judges are searching to discover and celebrate the untold where to apply growth regulators and cotton defoliant. Knowledge stories of engineering successes and the people behind them. of remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) meth- And a new generation of engineers will be inspired to take up ods for spatial and spectral analysis of crop stress caused by mul- the challenges of the future.The first winner will be announced tiple factors are desirable. Refer to: http://www.afm.ars.usda.gov/ in spring 2013. divisions/hrd/hrdhomepage/vacancy/pd962.html for further infor- mation on Postdoctoral Research Associate Jobs, for complete The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering is a global prize application instructions, and the full text announcement (RA12- recognizing and celebrating outstanding advances in engineering 012H). Send application materials and references to Dr. Yanbo that have changed the world.Visit http://qeprize.org/. Huang, USDA/ARS 141 Experiment Station Road, Stoneville, MS, An agricultural or biological engineer could be a winner … 38776 or e-mail ([email protected]). and it could be you. USDA/ARS is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

RESOURCE May/June 2012 29 professional listings

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30 May/June 2012 RESOURCE last word

Ecosystem Services A need to move from concept to application

uman well-being is strongly linked to environmen- such as nutrient cycling). To eliminate confusion, we pro- tal health. Because of this, it should be obvious that pose calling the fourth category “ecosystem functions” to we must conserve the environment and the natural make the distinction that these ecosystem services are not Hresources that it provides, if only for our own wel- end products that we benefit from (directly or indirectly); fare. Although we have made significant changes and rather, they are merely functions that support the production improvements, thanks to policies enacted in the twentieth of other services that we benefit from. century, we are still exploiting our environment at a pace and Since 1995, at least 200 papers have been published magnitude that are not sustainable. The “ecosystem services” that mention ecosystem service(s) in their titles (see graph). concept offers a way to directly recognize the effect that Of these 200 papers, more than 150 also mention some form human activities have on the environment, and thus ultimate- of “value,” while only ten mention some form of “defining” ly on our own well-being. Ecosystem services are the prod- or “classifying,” and only ten mention some form of “quan- tification.” However, considered logically, we should first ucts and services that people get from the natural environ- classify and define ecosystem services, and then research ment. As we convert land for how to quantify them, and agricultural, urban, and other lastly determine how to add needs, we are fundamentally value to the quantities. The changing and often degrad- current lack of ecosystem ing the ecosystem services service quantification has that the environment is pro- led to little or no direct vides. The ecosystem service accounting for ecosystem concept offers a way to services in decisions affect- address these negative feed- ing environmental health. back loops by incorporating The agricultural and the quantity and value of biological engineering com- these services into economic, munity has the expertise and policy, and land management knowledge to address every decisions. The concept of aspect of long-term human ecosystem services has been and environmental sustain- gaining popularity in the ability: food production, social and environmental sci- Number of papers mentioning ecosystem services (searching on energy production, environ- “ecosystem service*”) in their topic versus in their title using ISI mental management, and ences in recent years. Web of Knowledge. However, ecosystem services agricultural systems man- have yet to gain a starring agement. So the call to our role in any policy or manage- profession is simple, but ment initiative. essential: work together to understand how ecosystem serv- Two of the key issues hindering adoption of ecosystem ices can be quantified, what their impacts are on food secu- services in watershed management include a lack of clear rity, energy security, and human well-being, and how to definition and a lack of methods available to quantify incorporate this knowledge into land management, econom- ecosystem services. To use the ecosystem services concept ic models, and policy decisions so that we maintain, or bet- efficiently, we must all work with the same definitions and ter yet improve, the quality and quantity of the ecosystem categories. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment services that we so desperately depend on. (www.maweb.org/en/About.aspx) defines ecosystem serv- ices as “benefits that people obtain from ecosystems” and ASABE members Rebecca Logsdon, graduate student, and Indrajeet Chaubey, professor, Department of Agricultural and classifies them into four categories: provisional (food, fiber, Biological Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind., fuel, etc.), regulatory (e.g., climate, flood, and natural haz- USA; [email protected]. ard regulations), cultural (recreation, aesthetics, spiritual, etc.), and supporting (services that support the other three, 6th Annual Gail A. Holloway Memorial Golf Outing Sunday, July 29, 9am Stevens park golf course $100 per person

Let’s set the scene: the Meeting is about to begin, and there is no better way to get you in the mood than by swinging those clubs on a beautiful Sunday morning in Dallas. The 6th Annual Gale A. Holloway Memorial Golf Outing, July 29, will be an unparalleled golfing experience! Stevens Park Golf Course provides fun and challenging play to golfers of all skill levels. With rolling fairways, strategic water hazards, and white sand bunkers, it has everything you need to test your game. Don’t miss this fun and friendly competition.

Foundation Dinner at the Delaney Vineyards and Winery Tuesday, July 31 Bus departs at 7:15pm $100. per person (includes dinner and Foundation Silent transportation) Auction Reminder

Plan to attend this benefit dinner at Items for the Annual ASABE the beautiful Delaney Vineyards Foundation Silent Auction are now and Winery in—yes, really— being collected. At past auctions, Grapevine, Texas. The facility con- beautiful handmade quilts, wine, tains ten lush acres of Cynthiana tools, jewelry, household appli- grapes, the best southern-bred ances, and vacation timeshares hybrid vine to grow in the area. have been up for bid. The possi- Guests will enjoy a light lecture by bilities are endless, so help a Dr. William McGlynn, horticultural great cause and donate your food scientist at Oklahoma State University, on “Flavors in Balance.” His talk will items today. Check the suggestion provide an introduction to how our senses work to shape our perceptions of page and donor pages online for what we eat and drink, a simple primer on wine tasting techniques and terminol- further details. Contact Linda ogy, and some guidelines for matching wine and food flavors. This dinner is sure Young, [email protected] or to be a highlight of your 2012 AIM experience. 269-932-7006 with any questions. © Uladzimir Bakunovich/Fotolia.com © castelberry/Fotolia.com For more information about these events, visit www.asabe.org