AGRICULTURAL & BIOLOGICAL ENGINEERING SPRING 2014AGRICULTURAL & BIOLOGICAL ENGINEERING

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

AND MORE!

Editors:

Anne Marie Boone

Leanne Lucas

Published by the Department of

Agricultural and Biological Engineering of

the College of Agricultural, Consumer and

Environmental Sciences and the College

of Engineering at the University of Illinois

at Urbana Champaign.

338 Agricultural Engineering Sciences

Building

1304 W. Pennsylvania Ave.

Urbana, IL 61801

Phone: (217) 333 3570

E-mail: abe@illinois.edu

ABE@Illinois

Spring 2014

By his own admission, Mike Hirschi has

“failed miserably at retirement.” Although

Hirschi stepped down from his position as

Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Programs

in the College of Engineering (COE) in

June of 2012, he continues to work with the

college in various positions.

When Hirschi announced his pending

retirement to his colleagues at COE,

Charles Tucker, then Associate Dean for

Undergraduate Programs in COE, agreed -

on one condition. “I sit on the Engineering

Accreditation Commission,” said Hirschi,

“and Chuck wanted me involved with the

ABET visit scheduled for fall 2013. So sixty

days after I retired, I was back helping the

college with accreditation.”

A few weeks after his part-time return

to COE, he received a call from Jong-Shi

Pang, head of the Department of Industrial

continued on page 3

It is my great pleasure to present you a new issue of ABE@

Illinois. I hope you will enjoy reading the recent highlights of the

people who are associated with our department. We continue to have

interesting stories to tell about our alumni, emeriti, students, faculty,

staff, and friends.

Each of the past nine years, during the annual departmental

external Advisory Committee meeting, I reported on the state of

our department. The purpose was to set the stage for the ensuing

discussion by the advisors. This year’s Advisory Committee meeting

was held on April 7. It was the tenth meeting since I became head of

the ABE department. I took the opportunity to reflect upon the strategic development activities of our

department in the past and invite the advisors to help us look at our current strengths, weaknesses,

opportunities, and threats (SWOT). Their assessment will be very useful when we envision our future

strategies.

It is very interesting to revisit the SWOT analysis that was done more than nine years ago. One of

our strengths was ‘many promising early career faculty members.’ All of them have been promoted to

Associate Professor with tenure. Some of them have already been promoted to full Professor. We have

made significant progress in correcting the weaknesses identified at that time: gender diversity among

faculty, student recruitment, and biological engineering. We have captured the opportunities to create

faculty positions using the campus Targets of Opportunity and Faculty Excellence programs, as well as

put in place a Technical Systems Management master of science (including professional science master)

degree program.

After a year-long effort to develop our strategic plan in 2004-2005, we have conducted several

focused planning sessions on our educational programs (in January 2008), teaching resources (in

January 2010), and graduate programs (in April 2013). All these planning activities have positioned us

to effectively respond to the campus (and our own) emphases on quantitative and qualitative measures

and resource management of our educational programs. We have taken many impactful actions based

on the results of our planning. We have also learned how to successfully implement the process of

simultaneous planning and actions.

Chancellor Phyllis Wise has just lead us through a Visioning Future Excellence process to develop

a campus Strategic Plan for 2013-2016. I think it is time for our department to once again update our

strategy to align with the campus and college vision. We would very much like to hear your thoughts

on how we can continue to build a great department.

Best regards,

K.C. Ting

Professor and Department Head

Greetings from Agricultural and Biological Engineering

K.C. Ting,

Professor and Head

Hirschi only “shifting gears” in retirement

Mike Hirschi as St. Pat.

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Inside:

Profile Emeritus 2

Celebrate 4

Alumni Spotlight 67788

Club Update

9

Research 10

New Faculty 121213

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with Buriak and Agricultural and Consumer

Economics professor Randy Westgren.

In August 2007, Umberto Ravaioli, then

an interim associate dean in COE, asked

Hirschi to take a position with the college

as interim assistant dean for academic

programs. “He had already been talking

to K.C. [Ting, ABE department head],”

said Hirschi, “and the next week I was in

Engineering Hall. A year later I was hired

on a permanent basis as the assistant dean

for undergraduate programs, and I was

there for five years.”

Today, Hirschi’s work with Waterborne

gives him the opportunity to work with

a number of ABE graduates. “Chris

Harbourt, one of the Principals at

Waterborne, was my graduate student

for both his master’s and his Ph.D. Paul

Miller, Bill Northcott, Malia Andrus, Luke

Zwilling, Greg Goodwin, Kevin Wright,

Jenn Trask - they’re all alums, so we have

lots of ties to the department.”

Although Hirschi’s current role

at Waterborne is primarily personnel

management and administration, he

anticipates contributing in other areas

as well. “We are helping clients with

stewardship of their products, not unlike

work I did while in Extension all those

years, so I expect to have a role in that work

and related areas. I’m also one of three

professional engineers in the firm, and

we’ve got some good young engineers here

interested in pursuing a PE, so I’ll work

with them to sign off on that.”

Hirschi was selected to portray St. Pat

for the College of Engineering, an honor

he has held since 2009. He bowls on the

faculty/staff league and he hopes to one

day return to theater. He has performed

in productions of A Christmas Carol and

Beauty and the Beast, and he and his son

Eric have both performed in productions of

Fiddler on the Roof, Peter Pan and Oliver.Hirschi and his wife Debbie have

two sons, Mark and Eric. Debbie is a tax

continued on page 15

and Enterprise Systems Engineering (ISE) at

the time. “I thought he had some questions

about accreditation,” said Hirschi, “but no.

The director of undergraduate programs in

ISE, Manssour Moeinzadeh, had retired a

year or so earlier, and Jong-Shi was trying

to do that job as well. He realized he wasn’t

doing it justice, so he asked if I’d come in

part-time to help them.”

Hirschi stepped in as interim director

of undergraduate programs and now works

for both COE and ISE. “This was all with

the understanding that once COE got

through the accreditation visit and the

subsequent submissions to ABET, and ISE

had an associate head in place, I’d phase

out. That is already happening and by this

August 16, the plan is to be done with my

university appointments. For now, though,

I’m working more hours than I did before I

‘retired.’”

This is because Hirschi has already

started his second career at Waterborne

Environmental, Inc., a company which

provides consulting services related to

non-point source pollution and the

environment. Initially, Hirschi worked a

few hours a week, primarily in personnel

management and administration, on

an as-needed basis. After his university

retirement, the hours increased to a major

part-time schedule. Most recently, he

has added more hours to help out the

Champaign office.

Hirschi began his career at Illinois in

1985 as an assistant professor and extension

specialist in the Department of Agricultural

Engineering. He was 100% extension when

he began, but when Ken Konyha left the

department, Hirschi began teaching AgM

252 (now TSM 352). “It was the soil and

water conservation systems class for the

AgMech program, perfect for an extension

specialist to teach, and I did that for 10

years.” Toward the end of his time with the

department, Hirschi team-taught TSM 311,

first with Phil Buriak and Dini Reid, then

Hirschi only “shifting gears” in retirementcontinued from page 2

Cover: (Left to right) New faculty Rabin

Bhattarai, Morgan Hayes and Paul Davidson

examine a soil and water display used at

ExplorACES.

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Robert J. Gustafson Endowed Scholarship

Anthony Ernst

Caterpillar Foundation Scholarship

Xiaodan Wang, Christopher Guida

John Deere Foundation Minority Student Scholarship

Xuehui Gyo

The I Hotel and Conference Center was

the location for the 2014 ABE Spring Awards

Banquet. Faculty, staff, students, and alumni

gathered on April 13th to celebrate another

year of hard work and achievements.

This year saw the addition of a new

award, The Robert J. Gustafson Endowed

Scholarship. This award will be given to an

undergraduate student with demonstrated

excellence or potential in engineering.

Robert Gustafson, BS ’71 AgE, MS ’72 AgE,

is a professor of Food, Agricultural, and

Biological Engineering, the Honda Professor

for Engineering Education and the Director

of the Engineering Education Innovation

Center at the Ohio State University College of

Engineering.

Gustafson was named this year’s

Distinguished Alumnus and Professor for a

Day, the first time one individual has been

honored with both awards. He spoke briefly

to the assembly, encouraging students to think

about three things.

“Obtain a passport,” he said. “You

are involved in the very global practice of

engineering. You need to have a passport

and use it. Get that experience. Second,”

said Gustafson, “become involved in and

contribute to your professional organizations.

That network of people is a resource of

information that will be crucial to your

professional accomplishments. Finally,” he

said, “your profession can be very demanding,

so make sure to have a life outside your career.

Take the time to enjoy other activities; become

a well-rounded person. It will make you a

better professional.”

It is an honor and a pleasure to recognize

all the talented individuals and teams in our

department. Congratulations to all of our

award winners. Following is a complete list of

the 2014 ABE awards.

ABE Spring Awards Banquet 2014

Wendell Bowers Agricultural and Biological Engineering Student Scholarship

Paul West

Waterborne Environmental Scholarship for Excellence in Soil and Water

Resources

Sarah Garrow

CNH Scholarship

Darren Riskedal

Bauling/Pershing Memorial Award

Richard Li

E.W. Lehman Award

Lars Oberg, Carson DeJoode

H. Paul Bateman Congeniality Award

Douglas Yunker, Nolan Locke

John Deere Foundation Award

Mason Silver

Bernard C. Mathews/Mathews Company Scholarship

Matthew Gill

Douglas L. Bosworth Agricultural and Biological Engineering Endowed

Scholarship

Fanny Martinez

Larry and Lola Huggins Scholarship

Diane Khor

Chad Yagow presents the John Deere Foundation Minority Student Award to Xuehui Gyo.

continued on page 5

Ting presents Distinguished Alumnus Award to Robert GustafsonLeft to right: K.C. Ting, Robert and Yvonne Gustafson

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Frank B. Lanham Award

Morgan Fuehne, Samuel Jesse

Richard C. and Helen Coddington Design Team Award

Ryan Jepsen

Ben and Georgeann Jones Undergraduate Student Scholarship

Ferisca Putri, Nancy Rogel

Ben and Georgeann Jones Graduate Student Scholarship

Brett Ramirez, ABE, MS; Timothy Rendall, TSM, MS;

Abshek Dhoble ABE, PhD

J.A. Weber Outstanding Freshman Award

Gabe Stoll

K.J.T. Ekblaw Outstanding Sophomore Award

Thomas Ramsay, Peter Vandermyde

E.W. Lehmann Outstanding Junior Award

April Hope-Wareham

E.W. Lehmann Outstanding Senior Award

Andrew Leonard

Steve Eckhoff and Pioneer Hi-Bred International Agricultural Engineering

Scholarship

Sonia Shah

C.E. Goering Award for Excellence

Erik Dahlke

Ryan Tucker McGinn Memorial Award

Tucker Johnson

Dr. Philip and Carol Buriak Travel Award

Christopher Steppig

ABE 100 Best Overall Award

1st Place - Traction & Co. - Jungwoo Choi, Nathaniel Jacob,

Gabe Stoll, Shengwe You

2nd Place - Deep Doo Doo - Andrew Drackley, Sameed Jamil,

Allison Nowak, Kyle Wiebenga

3rd Place - Dirt Dealers - Richard Kindhart, Connor Sible,

Brian Didonato, Roham Pradhan

Club Awards

Alpha Epsilon Service and Leadership Award - Nolan Locke

Illini Pullers Outstanding Member - Thomas Ramsay

Illini Pullers New Outstanding Member - Matt Kemme

Teaching Awards

J. Kent Mitchell Teaching Excellence Award - Anne Marie

Boone, Student Academic Program Coordinator

Ben and Georgeann Jones Excellence in Teaching Awards -

Richard Gates, professor, Christina Lyvers, graduate teaching

assistant

Alumni Awards

Professor for a Day - Robert J. Gustafson, professor, The Ohio

State University

Distinguished Alumni Award - Robert J. Gustafson, professor,

The Ohio State University

2013-2014 Bronze Tablet Recipients

Ferisca Putri, Anthony Ernst, Hoi Chun Ho

ABE Spring Awards Banquet 2014continued from page 4

Xinlei Wang and Robert Gustafson present the Robert J. Gustafson EndowedScholarship to Anthony Ernst (center)

Xi l i W d R b t G t f t th R b t Jt G t f E d d

Georgeann Jones (second from left) and Alan Hansen (right) present the Ben and Georgeann Jones Excellence in Teaching Awards to Professor Richard Gates (left), and Christina Lyvers, graduate teaching assistant (second from right).

http://abe.illinois.edu 5

We asked six recent graduates of the

Department of ABE to tell us where their

careers have taken them in the last decade,

what they enjoyed most about their time

in ABE, and any advice they might have

for prospective or current students. Here

are brief profiles of six of ABE’s best and

brightest!

Greg ByardGreg Byard graduated from the

ABE program with a bachelor’s and a

master’s degree in soil and water resource

engineering in 2007 and 2009, respectively.

After earning his master’s, Greg took a

position as a hydraulic and hydrologic

engineer with the Coordinated Hazard

Assessment and Mapping Program at the

Illinois State Water Survey, part of the

Prairie Research Institute at Illinois.

Greg is responsible for performing

hydraulic and hydrologic analyses of

riverine flooding in Illinois as part of

a research program that has produced

updated digital regulatory floodplain

mapping for over 80 percent of the state of

Illinois.

“Aside from meeting my wife, Jennifer,

I most enjoyed the sense of family that’s

so unique to ABE,” said Greg. “When

professors, staff and students all take a

vested interest in both your personal and

professional achievement, it’s no longer just

about learning the day’s lesson; it’s about

your broader development as an important

part of something larger than yourself. I

think it’s that development that sets ABE

grads apart when they get to the real world.

“Keep in contact with ABE alumni after

graduation,” he concluded. “ABE grads

go on to have such varied and prominent

positions throughout academia, society, and

industry that there’s often someone with

expertise to turn to when you need it. That’s

just being part of the ABE family.”

Jennifer Feickert ByardJennifer Byard graduated from the ABE

program with a bachelor’s degree in soil and

water resources engineering in 2006. She

began work as a hydraulic and hydrologic

engineer at the Illinois State Water Survey.

Jennifer is married to Greg Byard, and

today she is a stay-at-home mom to their

two children, Eireann and Brendan.

“I also continue to work part-time in my

position at the Water Survey,” said Jennifer.

“Our project, the Coordinated Hazard

Assessment and Mapping Program, works

closely with FEMA to reduce flooding

damages while providing community

outreach and education. I perform analysis

of riverine flooding, updating digital

regulatory floodplain maps in the state of

Illinois.”

Jennifer said her time at Illinois

was memorable, in part because of the

“camaraderie of the small and friendly

ABE department of students and faculty.”

She encourages students to make as many

contacts as possible and explore all their

options. “There are so many interesting

opportunities out there, and employers

are really interested in the strong soils

background ABE students have over civil

graduates,” she said. “Keep in touch with

fellow students as well as faculty after

graduation. It will yield countless benefits

and opportunities!”

Young alumni make their mark early

Jennifer Byard with her daughter, Eireann

Greg Byard with his wife Jennifer and their children Eireann and Brendan

continued on page 7

http://abe.illinois.edu6

continued on page 8

Clinton CharlesClinton Charles received his bachelor’s

degree in technical systems management

in 2008. Since graduation, Clinton has

worked as a product promotion specialist

for CNH in Wisconsin, a technology sales

rep for Altorfer Ag Products in Illinois and

Iowa, and a precision ag specialist for Raven

Industries in territories from the Mississippi

River to the Chesapeake Bay area.

Today he is the manager of Brasil

Operations for Interstate Commodities,

based out of Troy, New York. “My current

responsibilities are to oversee new import/

export operations based out of Brasil and

other countries or ports in South America,”

said Clinton. “I’m also the farm operations

manager on two farms, with one located in

Illinois and a second operation located in

upstate New York.”

Clinton said one of his favorite

memories of ABE is “the labs in Dr. Grift’s

precision ag class. We got to build Lego

farm machinery and programmed them

to operate autonomously. It was a group

project, and each group was responsible for

a different piece of machinery to produce an

autonomous harvest setup.”

Clinton also worked for the College of

ACES, and said, “I got to work with great

people and network within the college as

well as all of campus, to meet various people

in various capacities. They are people I will

never forget, and I stay in communication

with them.”

Clinton advises students to “chase

your dreams, whether they are professional

or personal. Working hard each day and

taking advantage of various opportunities or

circumstances that present themselves will

help you achieve your dreams.”

Matthew FullMatt Full graduated from the ABE

program with a bachelor’s degree in off-

road equipment design in 2005. He also

completed an MBA with a focus in finance

at DePaul University in Chicago. 

Matt has spent his entire career with

Navistar, Inc., headquartered in Lisle,

Illinois, and has worked in a variety of

positions. He began in engine engineering,

played a role in Navistar’s joint venture with

Ford Motor Company, worked in Navistar’s

parts division as a product manager for

engine components, and was a national

account representative for Navistar’s fleet

services group.

“I’ve recently taken a new role with

the company,” said Matt. “Like other

commercial truck manufacturers, we sell

and service our products through a dealer

network. We support our independently

owned dealerships with factory

representatives from various areas such as

new truck sales, parts and engineering/

service. Our largest dealer network operates

over 55 locations with a great deal of

geographic diversity. I manage a team of six

field service engineers that support these

locations.”

Matt said the senior design project

course was his most memorable ABE

experience. “The ABE program is a small,

tight-knit group. By the time we took

that course we had taken so many classes

together and knew each other so well, it

made for a great experience.”

Matt’s advice to students - don’t be

afraid to get out of your comfort zone.

Young alumni make their mark earlycontinued from page 6

Clinton Charles

Matthew Full, with his wife Amanda

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Young alumni make their mark earlycontinued from page 7

in; it will help you make the connections

you need. Networking is key.”

Andre’ YoungAndre’ Young received his bachelor’s

degree in technical systems management in

2007. Since graduation, Andre’ has worked

as an operations supervisor for Kraft Foods,

and a production supervisor for Hormel

Foods.

Andre’s current position is quality

systems supervisor for Mondelez

International. “I’m responsible for quality

systems and food safety,” said Andre’,

“which includes evaluating daily issues with

raw material, in-process and finished goods,

troubleshooting production issues, hold

and release of out-of-specification materials,

communication of issues to manufacturing,

and follow-up corrective actions.”

Andre’ said in his time at ABE, he most

enjoyed the family environment of the

department, and the dedication and sense

of caring displayed by the professors. “I

wish I had found my major sooner. I would

have taken more classes in the department. I

really enjoyed the curriculum.” He also said,

“Participating in lawnmower winterization

was great.”

Andre’ advises students to get involved

in an intern program, attend career fairs,

participate in volunteer events, join a

club or organization, and network. Most

importantly? “Enjoy your last year as an

undergraduate.”

Andre’ Young

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“While my career started in engineering, my

path has evolved and changed and exposed

me to experiences that I never would have

considered when I was selecting my major

or planning my career. When I took my last

final at Illinois, I was absolutely certain it

was the last exam I was ever going to take.

A couple of years later, I was beginning a

master’s program. The bottom line is, always

be open-minded and try new things. You

never know how it could change your life.”

Elise RiehleElise Riehle earned her bachelor’s

degree in TSM in 2005. Elise has worked

as a project engineer with Broeren Russo

Construction and as a project Manager

with Taylor Studios, Inc. Currently Elise

is an operations manager at Kraft Food.

She is responsible for the day-to-day

manufacturing operations assigned in

the Cheese Business Unit. “I ensure that

the department achieves its objectives –

productivity, efficiency, customer service,

cost, quality and safety – through individual

and team contributions.”

Elise said one of her most vivid

memories of her time in the department

was in a metallurgy and welding class with

Phil Buriak. “We were warned that you

could suffer from flash burns to the skin if

you didn’t wear proper personal protective

wear. One day I came out of the [welding]

booth and Dr. Buriak gasped and started

to chuckle. I had on a V-neck sweater and

had given myself flash burns – it was the

quickest little tan I’ve ever gotten!”

Elise began school in mechanical

engineering but said “It wasn’t what I

loved. Through an internship, I discovered

construction and project management,

my true passion. I quickly sought out a

program that would help me secure a career

doing what I loved. I wish I had discovered

TSM sooner!

“Do what you love,” she concluded,

“and you’ll be successful. Tell people what

your goals are and what you are interested

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The ABE Graduate Student Association

(GSA) was organized in 2008 to foster a

stronger community between graduate

students in Agricultural and Biological

Engineering, as well as act as a liaison

between the department and the students.

They represent the graduate student body

in communications with industry and with

other student organizations.

“There are approximately 80 graduate

students in ABE, and the GSA is very

active,” said Taylor Leahy, GSA president

for 2013-14, “with somewhere between 20

and 30 participants at every event.”

Each year the GSA hosts a “Welcome

Back” barbeque for incoming and returning

students, held at a local park with faculty

and family invited. Other social events

include an annual basketball tournament,

open to the whole department as well as

alumni; GSA students participate in the

intramural men’s broomball tournament

and the co-ed volleyball tournament; and

this year they sponsored an NCAA bracket

challenge. They also organize a camping trip

once a semester, although the prolonged

frigid weather earlier in the year caused

them to postpone this semester’s trip.

As much as they enjoy relaxing together

in their spare time, the organization also

works to help undergraduates as they

prepare for a career in engineering.

“We just held our second annual

alumni career panel,” said Leahy, “and I

think many of our undergrads find that

really helpful. We bring in alumni who talk

about how to determine your path after

getting your bachelor’s degree. Should you

go for a master’s or a Ph.D.? If so, where?

Is academia the route you want to take, or

should you go straight to industry? That

kind of direction in career development is a

real service to the undergrads.”

Leahy said they also make a point to

meet as a group at the ASABE International

Meeting each year. “We’re a pretty small

department, and the group of people who

go to the conference is even smaller in

number, so we try to stick together for

that.”

This year’s officers include Leahy,

Stephanie Herbstritt, internal vice

president; Zhongzhong Zhang, external vice

president; Jude Holscher, treasurer; Brett

Ramirez, social chair; Tim Rendall, athletics

chair; and Jaime Thissen, webmaster.

GSA a source of academic, professional and social support

Exuberant students at GSA fall camping trip

GSA students participate in intramural badminton tournament

SAVE THE DATES!

The 2014 ASABE 1/4 Scale Tractor

Student Design Competition will

be held May 29-May 31 at the

Expo Gardens in Peoria, Illinois.

Pulling for ABE, the annual ABE

alumni luncheon will be held on

Saturday the 31st.

The 2014 Annual ASABE

international Meeting will be

held in Montreal, QC Canada,

July 13-16.

Visit the ABE website for more

information.

http://abe.illinois.edu 9

Engineering Solutions for Biomass

Feedstock Production, funded by BP

through the Energy Biosciences Institute

(EBI), is a holistic and comprehensive

research program that began six years

ago, to develop engineering solutions

for successful production and provision

of biomass feedstock from farms to

biorefineries. K.C. Ting, ABE department

head, is the principal investigator (PI) of

the program, and research participants

include six ABE faculty co-PIs, dozens of

staff, postdoctoral associates, graduate and

undergraduate students.

This research program is part of a

much larger effort that began in 2008.

The Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI)

was formed in late 2007, following an

international competition invited by the

global energy company BP, and was funded

for 10 years and $500 million. It is a

unique collaboration between four research

partners: the University of California,

Berkeley; the Lawrence Berkeley National

Laboratory; the University of Illinois at

Urbana-Champaign; and BP. The goal of

the EBI is to be involved in a renewable

energy solution through the study of

all aspects of biofuel production, from

Biomass compression experiments with the Southwark-Emery compression machines under the very high pressure of 750 MPa. Technician David Foley (left) and Dr. Zewei Miao (right) are aligning the compression stack.

lignocellulosic feedstock growth to societal

impact.

Research activities within the EBI

are organized into five areas: feedstock

development; biomass depolymerization;

biofuels production; fossil fuel

bioprocessing; and environmental, social

and economic dimensions. The EBI funds

a multitude of programs and projects

within each area. Engineering Solutions

for Biomass Feedstock Production is one

of the programs in the area of feedstock

development.

“The Engineering Solutions program

objectives are being accomplished through

five interrelated and integrated tasks,” said

Ting. “Those include pre-harvest energy

crop monitoring; harvesting of energy

crops, transportation of biomass; storage

of biomass; and systems and informatics

analysis.”

Lead investigators for each area

include Lei Tian (pre-harvest energy crop

monitoring), Alan Hansen (harvesting of

energy crops), Tony Grift (transportation of

biomass), Grace Danao (storage of biomass,

formerly led by Steven Eckhoff, now

retired), and Luis Rodriguez (systems and

informatics analysis).

Working with Dr. Tony Grift, Zewei

Miao, a visiting research assistant professor

in ABE, has been with the Engineering

Solutions program since research began

in 2008, and he is the lead author on a

number of papers published from the

research.

“By the year 2030, the United States

Department of Energy hopes to replace 30

percent of the country’s current petroleum

consumption with biofuels,” said Miao.

“Researchers estimate one billion dry tons

of biomass feedstock will be needed to

fill that requirement. That translates to

more than three times the 2011 U.S. corn

production and seven times the 2011 U.S.

dry hay production in weight.

“Prairie grass, switch grass, Miscanthus,

and even wood are considered the second

generation of biomass that can be used

to produce biofuel,” he continued. “Our

transportation task is to address two

questions: what are the optimum feedstock

forms to be supplied to bioenergy plants,

and; how can the feedstock be efficiently

collected and delivered from farm gates to

bioenergy gates?”

Miao offered a brief summary of some

of the highlights of the transportation

group’s accomplishments in the past six

years.

biomass size reduction with three scales of

milling machine. 1) Size reduction is one

of the most energy-expensive operations in

the feedstock supply chain. If Miscanthus is

ground to 1 millimeter, 3-5 percent of the

biomass inherent energy will be consumed

by just grinding. 2) A power law could be

used to describe the relationship between

energy consumption and output particle

size no matter what scale of milling machine

is used. 3) A grinding law was developed

for upscaling from a bench-scaled mill

machine to a field-scaled machine. (Miao,

Z., T.E. Grift, A.C. Hansen, and KC Ting.

Industrial Crops and Products 33 (2011),

504–513.)

ABE plays vital role in EBI research

continued on page 11

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http://abe.illinois.edu10

ABE plays vital role in EBI researchcontinued from page 10

RES

EAR

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Biomass compression experiments under the pressure of 7 MPa. (Left: Dr. Zewei Miao, Right: Mr. David Foley)

Biomass size reduction experiments with a Haybuster H-1000 tub grinder.

http://abe.illinois.edu 11

We are pleased to announce the addition

of three new members to our faculty over

the last eighteen months. Welcome and best

wishes to Dr. Davidson, Dr. Hayes, and Dr.

Bhattarai!

Paul DavidsonPaul Davidson, B.S. ’05 AgE, M.S. ’07

AgE, Ph.D. ’10 ABE, has joined the ABE

faculty as an assistant professor. Davidson

has a 50 percent teaching and 50 percent

research appointment. His teaching emphasis

is in technical systems management and

his research emphasis is in soil and water

resources.

Davidson took a position as an agricultural

engineer at Waterborne Environmental, Inc.

after earning his Ph.D. in 2010. Waterborne

provides consulting services related to non-

point source pollution and the environment.

“One of the largest projects I worked

on was in California,” said Davidson. “We

designed and built a neighborhood to look

at the run-off of pyrethroids, a group of

insecticides that kill a range of pests, including

ants and termites. Pyrethroids were up for re-

registration in the state of California. We built

this neighborhood on a research farm in the

central valley, near Porterville.

“It was six house lots with everything

you’d expect,” Davidson continued. “We tried

to mimic everything from the front house wall

out to the street. We had grass lawns, concrete

driveways, and garage doors. We applied the

chemicals to all the different surfaces and

collected the run-off from natural rainfall

and lawn irrigation. We also had a rainfall

simulator over the entire site so we could add

additional rainfall to meet our needs.”

Davidson said the project was an

“engineer’s dream. Obviously, we had a

budget, but it was an expensive study, so we

got to do a lot of really interesting things and

our team was awesome to work with.”

Davidson said he thoroughly enjoyed his

experience with Waterborne, but when the

position in ABE became available, “it was too

hard to pass up. My time as a student in this

department was great; there’s such a family

atmosphere here. I grew up an Illini fan, and

I’ve always had a desire to be in academia.”

Davidson said his family still has a small

farm, and he helps out when he can. He

lives in Camargo, where he is active in his

church as a youth leader. He also works with

the sports ministry and Team One20Two

mission efforts, most recently participating in

a mission trip to El Salvador.

Morgan HayesMorgan Hayes has joined our department

as a clinical assistant professor for research and

extension. She came to Illinois from a position

as a post-doctoral research engineer at the

USDA-ARS Meat Animal Research Center in

Clay Center, Nebraska.

Hayes obtained a bachelor’s degree in

agricultural and biological engineering from

Pennsylvania State University, a master’s in

biosystems and agricultural engineering from

the University of Kentucky, and a Ph.D. in

agricultural and biosystems engineering from

Iowa State University.

Hayes’ work will focus on livestock

environment, including facility design,

management, air quality and environmental

impacts of animal facilities. “There’s a lot

of interest right now in alternative housing

in the livestock industry for welfare and

environmental reasons,” said Hayes, “to make

modifications to how we manage animals.

I’ll be focusing a lot of my energy on the

implications of moving to an alternative

housing option.”

New faculty bring new expertise to ABE

continued on page 13Davidson passes out refreshments after a church service. Many women and children in this area are dependent on the food and meals provided by the church.D iidd tt ff hh tt ftft hh hh ii MM dd hihildld ii tthihi

Paul Davidson spends time with David during a visit to a children’s orphanage in rural El Salvador.

The orphanage was almost 100% sustainable, with the children running and maintaining an

on-site farm to provide food and revenue for other resources.

http://abe.illinois.edu12

NEW

FAC

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Bhattarai works on berm at Erosion and Sediment Control Center.

New faculty bring new expertise to ABEcontinued from page 12

Hayes enjoys biking and running, and

participates in an Olympic-length triathlon

once a year. “I do a shorter triathlon earlier in

the year as a practice, and I’ll do a longer one

in the fall. I’m fast enough to be competitive,

not fast enough to win,” she said, “but that’s

okay. It keeps me active and accountable for

my health.”

Hayes and her family also like to road

bike, and she and her relatives use their

vacation to do a week-long ride together. “Not

everyone’s family has the personality to do

that, but mine finds it pretty entertaining,”

she said.

Hayes grew up in the suburbs of

Philadelphia. “I knew I wanted to work in

agriculture, even though I had no farming

experience. I just knew I didn’t want to live in

the city. Everything is rushed on the east coast.

So I’ve been happy moving to the Midwest.

And the people here are very friendly.

“My family tells me I speak significantly

slower than I used to,” she said with a laugh.

“I don’t notice it, but they say it’s true. My

driving has relaxed, that’s for sure!”

Rabin BhattaraiRabin Bhattarai joined our department

as a visiting assistant professor in the fall of

2012. Bhattarai received a bachelor’s degree in

civil engineering from Nepal and a master’s in

civil engineering in Thailand. He traveled to

Canada to study for his Ph.D., but when his

advisor moved to Germany, he had a choice

to make. He could go with his advisor to

Germany or come to Illinois. He chose Illinois

and completed his Ph.D. in 2011, working

under Dr. Prasanta Kalita.

Bhattarai did a year of post-doc work

in the department of Marine Earth and

Atmospheric Sciences at North Carolina

University in Raleigh, where his research

included the global change impact on

hydrology and water quality.

In his position at Illinois, Bhattarai has

taught a variety of courses, including ABE

456: Land and Water Resource Engineering,

ABE 458: Non-point Source Modeling, and

ABE 455, a class on sediment control.

Bhattarai also works with Dr. Kalita at

the Erosion and Sediment Control Research

and Training Center. He helped develop

the training modules and coordinates the

registration and class arrangements for

workshops held at the center.

Morgan Hayes competes in triathlon.

Hayes with her family on their annual bike vacation.

Bhattarai grew up in Nepal, where both of

his parents were bankers who were transferred

every two to three years. “I went to five

different schools, and I got to see different

parts of the country,” he said. “Nepal has a lot

of water resources, but not necessarily where

we need them. The larger cities especially

struggle with the drinking water, and there’s

not enough water for irrigation. But of course,

it’s not just a problem in Nepal, it’s all over

the world. So that’s where my interest in water

research began.”

Bhattarai was married last summer, and

at the time, his wife, Urbashi, was working at

the University of Iowa in Iowa City. She has

since taken a position at Illinois as a software

engineer in the School of Chemical Science.

“She began her job in January,” said

Bhattarai, “so we are finally together and

enjoying married life.”

Bh tt i k b t E i d S di t C t l C t

Rabin Bhattarai and his wife, Urbashi.

H ith h f il th i l bik ti

http://abe.illinois.edu 13

Dr. Richard Cooke, associate professor

and drainage extension specialist in the

Department of Agricultural and Biological

Engineering, spent fall semester 2013 at Njala

University* in Sierra Leone designing rainfall

harvesting systems to increase agricultural

productivity in the country’s inland valley

swamps.

“Despite the large amount of rainfall –

in excess of 2000mm or nearly 80 inches

annually – Sierra Leone has no national

strategy for utilizing the surplus rain

during the dry period. Irrigation there is

undeveloped,” Cooke explained.

During a sabbatical leave based at Njala,

Cooke initiated a study to investigate the

extent to which rainwater harvesting (RWH)

can impact the area’s surface water and

groundwater throughout the year. RWH is a

method of inducing, collecting, storing, and

conserving local surface runoff for agricultural

production which can promote small-scale,

cost-effective irrigation.

Cooke worked primarily with Njala’s Prof.

Rashid Noah, and two PhD students he is

supervising, Mr. Mohammad Blango and Mr.

Patrick Sawyerr.

“Rainwater harvesting technologies are

essential for Sierra Leone and West Africa

especially because of projected changes in

weather patterns. This project will use water

collected within the harvesting area to provide

a model for utilizing excess rain and therefore

extending the cropping season,” Cooke said.

Sierra Leone’s agricultural sector is based

on the production of basic staple grains,

mainly rice, but the country currently

imports more than 40 percent of its rice

requirement. The demand for rice is rapidly

increasing across West Africa. Better irrigation

technologies could help Sierra Leone become

self-sufficient in rice, and possibly even export

to its neighbors.

Cooke’s research will be ongoing for the

next three years and will include surveys,

assessments, and experiments at the Njala

University Swamp. Specifically, his team

will implement a RWH system, conduct

topographic and hydrological surveys,

compute water balance and changes in the

reservoir storage, and measure agro-climatic

data such as rainfall, temperature, relative

humidity, wind speed, leaf wetness, and

evapotranspiration.

“Through soil and groundwater studies,

we will determine changes in groundwater

table levels and soil water storage patterns that

result from the harvesting activities. We will

also conduct cropping activities to monitor

rice cultivation under supplementary and

fully irrigated systems. We hope to evaluate

and improve the performance of rainwater

harvesting systems, improve water use

efficiency, practice sustainable production

through the dry season, and characterize the

relationship between harvested rainfall depth

and irrigable area. Overall, we hope to increase

the availability of water for sustainable and

improved crop production,” he explained.

In addition to the technical work, Cooke

facilitated workshops for the Njala faculty and

students and he was named “2013 Mentor

of the Year” by the Njala University Society

for Academic Advancement. He will return

this summer for a Nonpoint Source Pollution

Modeling workshop.

Cooke greatly enjoyed his time in Sierra

Leone. He ran an average of eight miles a day,

fished, and enjoyed new fruits.

“I discovered six new fruits that I

have never eaten before. I am trying to

eat 100 different fruits and now I’m up to

93. My favorite in Sierra Leone was the

yumbuyambe,” he said.

*Njala University was founded in 1964

with financial assistance from the United

States Agency for International Development

(USAID) and technical support from the

University of Illinois. The University was

displaced during the country’s civil war and

since its end in 2002 has been reestablishing

its programs. The College of ACES continues

to strengthen its relationship with Njala

through an annual two-week study tour led by

Dr. Paul McNamara during winter break and

a new semester-long study abroad program

that runs in the fall semester.

Cooke designs rainfall harvesting systems in Sierra Leone by Leslie Sweet Myrick

Njala swamp

Cooke with his ‘catch of the day’

http://abe.illinois.edu14

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Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering

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Hirschi only “shifting gears” in retirementcontinued from page 3

manager with Martin, Hood, Friese, &

Associates. Mark is a licensed structural

engineer living in Hawaii. Eric earned a

degree in audio production from Southern

Illinois University and works on-air and

doing programming with WDWS/WHMS/

WKIO in Champaign.

Hirschi’s advice for new graduates?

“Follow your passions and don’t take

yourselves too seriously. Take advantage of

your connections, because you’ve got a big

Illini family and a big ABE family out there.

If you need help, all you have to do is ask.”

As for himself, Hirschi said, “I probably

won’t really retire for a good long while. I’m

just shifting gears.”

Dr. Alan Hansen, professor and

section leader of the Off-Road Equipment

Engineering division in ABE, has been

recognized for his outstanding contributions

in research and teaching.

In November of 2012, Dr. Hansen

was invited to become a full member of

the Club of Bologna, a world task force on

strategies for the development of agricultural

mechanization. Dr. Hansen attended his first

meeting of the Club in November 2013,

which was held in Hannover, Germany. The

topic of that meeting was “International

Standards: Opportunity or Problem.”

Established in 1989, the Club’s goal is to

convene the most prominent international

experts on mechanization, in order to discuss

subjects of preeminent importance for the

development of the agricultural machinery

sector in various countries. The Club has 49

countries represented with 122 members. Dr.

faculty, are also members.

Dr. Hansen was also selected to receive the

Undergraduate Teaching Award, given by the

Office of the Provost and Vice Chancellor for

Academic Affairs. This award is recommended

by the recipient’s peers, who nominate and

select the winner. Dr. Hansen was recognized

at the Celebration of Teaching Excellence

ceremony on Tuesday, April 22, 2014.

We would like to congratulate Dr. Hansen

and thank him for his excellent representation

of our department and the University.

Hansen recognized for excellence in research and teaching

Dr. Alan Hansen (third from left) with colleagues Dr. Qin Zhang, Dr. Noboru Noguchi, and Dr. John Reid at the meeting of the Club of Bologna in Hanover, Germany in November of 2013.

D Al H (thi d f l ft) ith ll D Qi Zh D N b N hi d D J h R id

http://abe.illinois.edu 15

NONPROFITORGANIZATION

U.S. POSTAGE PAIDCHAMPAIGN, ILPERMIT NO. 453

Agricultural and Biological Engineering Technical Systems Management

Integrating life and engineering for the enhancement of complex living systems

SOIL & WATER ENGINEERING

OFF-ROAD EQUIPMENT ENGINEERING

BIOENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

FOOD & BIOPROCESS ENGINEERING

BIOLOGICAL ENGINEERING