News Archive

K-State BAE: Championing female engineers, pioneering change
Read about the experiences BSE senior Lauren Stanton and BSE alumnae Alison Renner have had both during and after their time in the BAE department.

New BAE irrigation professor brings farm management competition to Kansas
Daran Rudnick, professor of biological and agricultural engineering and director for Sustainable Irrigation for Kansas State Research and Extension, is implementing a farm management competition in Kansas. TAPS – Testing Ag Performance Solutions is a farm management competition Rudnick started while at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

K-State researchers work to enhance prescribed burning safety with NSF grant
Zifei Liu, assistant professor of biological and agricultural engineering, is part of a team that has been awarded a $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation to develop technology to enhance the safety of prescribed burning.

K-State launches next-gen Institute for Digital Agriculture and Advanced Analytics
Kansas State University is setting the stage as a national leader in digital agriculture with the launch of the interdisciplinary Institute for Digital Agriculture and Advanced Analytics. The Institute will be co-led by Ajay Sharda, professor of biological and agricultural engineering.

BAE Senior's family selected as K-State Family of the Year
Claire Winter, senior in biological systems engineering, and her family were selected as the K-State Family of the Year by the Chimes Junior Honorary. They were honored at K-State's Sept. 8 football game vs. Troy.

Wilkins elected ASABE fellow
Mark Wilkins, department head and professor in the Carl and Melinda Helwig Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering at Kansas State University, has been elected a fellow of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, or ASABE.

Zhang and Armstrong part of new FogAg project
Naiqian Zhang, professor of biological and agricultural engineering and Paul R. Armstrong, adjunct professor in BAE, are part of a new $1M project funded by USDA-National Institute of Food and Agriculture led by Arslan Munir, associate professor of computer science.

Hutchinson leads ERVA task force, releases report on water security
Stacy Hutchinson, associate dean for research and graduate programs and professor of biological and agricultural engineering in the Carl R. Ice College of Engineering, is the chair of a thematic task force of the Engineering Research Visioning Alliance, or ERVA, that recently released a new report on engineering research priorities to address the complex issue of water security.

Aguilar part of $6M NSF project to study soil moisture preservation methods
The National Science Foundation, or NSF, has announced that Melanie Derby, associate professor in the Carl R. Ice College of Engineering at Kansas State University, will receive a nearly $3 million grant as part of a $6 million cooperative award to study the potential for microbially active soil amendments to provide a long-term solution for conserving moisture and increasing nutrient availability for climate change-stressed crops. Jonathan Aguilar, associate professor of biological and agricultural engineering, is part of the research team.

K-State tractor team overcomes adversity to take second place at international competition
Despite a serious last-minute challenge, the K-State Helwig Farms Quarter-Scale Tractor Team took second place at the 26th annual American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers' International Quarter-Scale Tractor Student Design Competition.

Hutchinson chairing Engineering Research Visioning Alliance's standing council
Stacy Hutchinson, associate dean for research and graduate programs and professor of biological and agricultural engineering within theCarl R. Ice College of Engineering, is serving a one-year term as chair of the standing council in the National Science Foundation-funded Engineering Research Visioning Alliance, or ERVA.

Sharda awarded USDA grant to develop irrigation strategies in eastern Great Plains
Vaishali Sharda, assistant professor of biological and agricultural engineering, has received a USDA grant to develop water and nutrient management strategies to aid in managing climate risks and preserving resources in the eastern Kansas River Basin.

Biological and agricultural engineering department names next department head
Mark Wilkins, graduate programs chair and professor of biological systems engineering at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, has been named head of the Carl and Melinda Helwig Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, effective Aug. 7.

K-State engineering student recognized as Goldwater scholar
Avanelle Stoltz, sophomore in biological systems engineering, was one of two K-State students to receive the prestigious recognition in 2022 from the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation.

A. Sharda receives Deere & Company grant to innovate planting systems
Ajay Sharda, Patrick Wilburn — Carl and Mary Ice Keystone research scholar and associate professor in the Carl and Melinda Helwig Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineeringat Kansas State University, has received a grant from Deere & Company to innovate planting systems to more accurately place seeds and maximize productivity and profitability.

K-State engineering faculty earn Concept of the Year award
A Kansas State University team of researchers in agricultural engineering has been recognized for an idea that will use robotic machines to collect data that can help farmers make better decisions when planting crops.

Rahmani awarded USDA grant to improve estimation of evapotranspiration
Vahid Rahmani, assistant professor of biological and agricultural engineering, has received a U.S. Department of Agriculture — Research Education and Economics grant to improve evapotranspiration and soil moisture information across the U.S.

Publication by K-State authors on irrigation system device featured in ASCE Journal as Editor's Choice
A journal article written by three biological and agricultural engineering authors will be featured in the Editor's Choice section of the ASCE's Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering.

K-State Soil Judging Team places sixth at national contest with top individual
The K-State Soil Judging Team recently competed in the 2021 National Soil Judging Contest, which was in a virtual format. The K-State team performed well, placing sixth overall. Team member Jagger Borth placed first overall as an individual.

Showcase highlights engineering undergraduate research activitiesThe Carl R. Ice College of Engineering hosted its virtual Undergraduate Research and Creative Inquiry Showcase in April. Participants submitted their abstract, digital poster and three-minute recorded video explaining their poster and research activity.

From KSU Foundation: Kansas State University celebrates the naming of the Carl and Melinda Helwig Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering
Carl and Melinda Helwig have invested in the naming of the Carl and Melinda Helwig Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering. On Friday, April 23, the Carl R. Ice College of Engineering will celebrate this naming in the Helwigs' honor.

K-State team receives USGS grant to study management of harmful algae blooms affecting freshwater systems
Trisha Moore, Kansas State University associate professor of biological and agricultural engineering, is leading a three-year collaborative project to study management of harmful algae blooms.

Engineering professors receive funding for DOE water infrastructure projectThe U.S. Department of Energy has announced awards totaling $27.5 million for 16 water infrastructure projects, including one at K-State led by Prathap Parameswaran, associate professor of civil engineering.

Engineering alumni honored for career successThe Carl R. Ice College of Engineering will honor 10 alumni for professional career accomplishment during the first 20 years following their graduation.

NRES awards graduate fellowships for spring 2021Jessica de Oliveira Demarco, biological and agricultural engineering, and Micah Cameron-Harp, agricultural economics, have been awarded graduate fellowships for the spring 2021 semester by the natural resources and environmental sciences secondary major.

Ajay Sharda, associate professor in the Carl and Melinda Helwig Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, has received the Educator/Research Award of Excellence for 2020.

Carl and Melinda Helwig invest in naming the biological and agricultural engineering department at K-State
At its March 18 meeting, the Kansas Board of Regents approved the naming of the department in the Helwigs' honor.

Engineering college adding bachelor's degree in environmental engineering
The Carl R. Ice College of Engineering, with recent approval from the Kansas Board of Regents, will add environmental engineering as its 12th Bachelor of Science degree program.

Two K-State faculty receive $5,000 Iman Awards for research and teaching
Lisa Wilken is one of two Kansas State University faculty members who will receive a $5,000 award in recognition of their outstanding research and teaching.

Honorees of the Women of Distinction Recognition Ceremony
The ceremony recognized K-State women faculty, including Stacy Hutchinson, for their achievements.

NSF planning grant to help research team better understand needs of rural communities
Stacy Hutchinson is principal investigator of a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center planning grant, the first of its type to be awarded to the university.

Inaugural cohort of Rural Resource Resiliency NSF research trainees selected
The Rural Resource Resiliency graduate training fellowship, funded by the National Science Foundation Research Traineeship, known as NSF NRT, program at Kansas State University has selected 16 students in its first cohort.

Four doctoral students awarded University Distinguished Graduate Student Awards for 2019
Jun Li, doctoral candidate in biological and agricultural engineering, is one of four winners of the University Distinguished Professors Graduate Student Awards who will be recognized at the Sept. 17 meeting of the University Distinguished Professors Group.

Engineering college awards 24 named faculty positions under matching initiative
Dan Flippo, Ajay Sharda, Donghai Wang and Lisa Wilken are recipients of either a Keystone Research Scholar or Cornerstone Teaching Scholar award funded as a part of the Carl R. Ice Faculty Development Initiative Match Program.

Stream of success: Fountain Wars Team takes first, continues winning tradition
It was nothing less than the best for students of the Kansas State University Fountain Wars Team in 2019. The creative design group from the Carl R. Ice College of Engineering brought home first-place honors in a recent international competition.

Deere & Company funds precision planting project with Kansas State University research team
Development of a precision planting system, offering producers the ability to plant large areas of acreage rapidly while maximizing yield per acre, will be the goal of a research team at Kansas State University.

Hutchinson named associate dean of engineering
Stacy Hutchinson, professor of biological and agricultural engineering, has been selected as associate dean for research and graduate programs in the Carl R. Ice College of Engineering effective June 16.

Ten graduate students to present research posters at the Capitol
Sylvester Badua, doctoral student in biological and agricultural engineering, is among students presenting posters of their research at the Capitol Building today and will have the opportunity to share their work with Kansas legislators.

Robotics research to reduce chemical application, advance crop production
Ajay Sharda, assistant professor of biological and agricultural engineering, is principal investigator for the project titled "An autonomous insect Sense, Identify, and ManagePLatform, or SIMPL, to advance crop protection."

Kansas AgrAbility Project earns additional grant funding
With approval of a new four-year grant, the Kansas AgrAbility Project will continue until at least 2022, which would mark two decades of the program as a resource for Kansas farmers and ranchers dealing with disabilities and chronic illness.

K-State engineer Aguilar a plenary speaker at international conference in SE Asia
Jonathan Aguilar, K-State assistant professor of biological and agricultural engineering, was a plenary speaker at an international conference on sustainable agriculture, food and energy in Manila, Philippines.

Making a splash: Kansas State University team scores high in fountain wars competition
Six members of the Kansas State University Fountain Wars Team, a creative design team from the College of Engineering, brought home third-place honors in a recent international competition.

Biological and agricultural engineering garners awards at international society meeting
The biological and agricultural engineering department at K-State was well represented with award winners at the 2018 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, July 29-Aug. 1, in Detroit.

Maghirang named fellow of international professional society
Ronaldo Maghirang has been honored by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, or ASABE, with selection to the grade of fellow at ceremonies during the group's recent annual meeting.

Tractor team once again makes its mark in international competition
The Kansas State University Helwig Farms Quarter-Scale Tractor Team came home with two top finishes at the 21st annual American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers' International Quarter-Scale Tractor Student Design Competition.

Exceptional undergraduate scholarship earns students Kirmser research awards
Excellence in research has earned biological and agricultural engineering students at Kansas State University recognition through the fifth annual Kirmser Undergraduate Research Awards.

Kansas State University design team awarded EPA grant for innovative technology project
Kansas State University was among 31 schools selected to receive phase I grants from the EPA program — a unique competition open to teams of college and university students working to design solutions for a sustainable future.

Presidential Award winners reflect best of university's teaching, leadership and advising
Lisa Wilken, assistant professor of biological and agricultural engineering, earned Kansas State University's 2018 Presidential Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Advising.

Harner honored with induction to Hall of Fame
Joseph Harner, professor and department head of biological and agricultural engineering, was inducted into the Rural Builder Hall of Fame at an awards luncheon Feb. 15 at the 2018 Frame Building Expo in Columbus, Ohio.

Engineers and soil physicist are joint recipients of National Water and Energy Conservation Award
Three K-State agricultural engineers and a soil physicist share in a national award for water and energy conservation.

USDA-funded multi-robot farming project to aid in increasing world's food supply
The new project "Multi-Robot Farming on Marginal, Highly Sloped Lands" has the potential of not only increasing yield for an enlarging population but to do so in a sustainable way that will allow continued feeding of the world.

Kansas State University a part of collaborative effort for study of Arctic warming trends and effects
Biological and agricultural engineering researcher Aleksey Sheshukov is part of a collaborative research team studying warming effects in the Arctic.

Drenched with success: Fountain Wars team takes third in international competition
For the sixth time in past seven years, a team from K-State has finished in the top three in the annual Fountain Wars Competition.

Biological and agricultural engineering faculty honored at international meeting
Seven faculty members and two graduate students from the biological and agricultural engineering department were recognized for their accomplishments at the 2017 American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineering's annual international meeting.

Clark named 'Engineer of the Year'
Gary Clark, senior associate dean for the College of Engineering, and professor of biological and agricultural engineering, has been named the 2017 Engineer of the Year by the Kansas Society of Professional Engineers.

University's quarter-scale tractor teams once again in the winners' circle
For the 19th time in the last 20 years, a K-State's quarter-scale tractor team has won or placed in the top three at the annual American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers' International Quarter-Scale Tractor Student Design Competition.

Purple reigns in EPA's national Campus RainWorks green infrastructure design competition
Erica Schmitz and Kelsey McDonough, both BAE, are two members of an interdisciplinary team from K-State that took first place in the EPA-sponsored national college competition.

Six Kansas State University educators receive Presidential Awards for outstanding work
Ronaldo Maghirang, professor of biological and agricultural engineering and associate dean for research and graduate programs, will receive the Presidential Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.

Two graduate students named winners at statewide research summit
Zheng Zhao, doctoral student in biological and agricultural engineering, was on of two Kansas State University graduate students who received statewide recognition for their Kansas-related research at the 14th Capitol Graduate Research Summit, March 10, at the State Capitol in Topeka.

Fulbright experience expands professor's global perspective
Stacy Hutchinson, K-State professor of biological and agricultural engineering, recently spent five weeks in Dnipro, Ukraine, as a participant in the Fulbright Specialist Program.

Kansas State University researchers sign agreement with Mahindra & Mahindra Limited Farm Equipment Sector
Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd. will sponsor the biological and agricultural engineering department in Kansas State University's College of Engineering to provide testing and validation of new tractor models.

Maghirang named associate dean for research and graduate programs
Ronaldo Maghirang, professor of biological and agricultural engineering, has been named associate dean for research and graduate programs in the College of Engineering at Kansas State University effective Sept. 11.

Engineering team takes second in international ag, biological design contest
A Kansas State University team earned four awards and placed second overall in an international design-build competition in Orlando, Florida.

Three from Kansas State University named to fellow status
The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers recognized three Kansas State University professors as fellows at its 2016 annual international meeting July 17-20, in Orlando, Florida.

Faculty and students garner honors at professional society meeting
K-State was well represented by faculty and students from the biological and agricultural engineering department at the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers 2016 Annual International Meeting, July 17–20, in Orlando, Florida.

K-State engineers and geographer share water research at Chinese universities
Stacy Hutchinson, professor of biological and agricultural engineering, and Shawn Hutchinson, associate professor of geography, recently presented research at Jilin University in Changchun and China Three Gorges University in Yichang.

University's quarter-scale tractor team places second at international competition
For the 18th time in the last 19 years, the K-State quarter-scale tractor A team has placed in the top three at the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers' annual International Quarter-Scale Tractor Student Design Competition.

Wilken receives university award for undergraduate mentoring in research
Lisa Wilken is the 2016 recipient of the University Distinguished Faculty Award for the Mentoring of Undergraduate Students in Research.

Six Kansas State University educators receive Presidential Awards for outstanding work
Lisa Wilken is one of six Kansas State University educators receiving 2016 Presidential Awards for going above and beyond in providing education, development and vision to students and professors.

Office of Undergraduate Research & Creative Inquiry awards summer research and travel grants
Kansas State University's Office of Undergraduate Research & Creative Inquiry has selected two engineering students for summer research and travel grants.

Kansas State University College of Engineering alumni honored for career success
Professional career accomplishments during their first 20 years following graduation from Kansas State University has earned 11 College of Engineering alumni the college's Professional Progress Award.

Researchers develop 3-D printed diagnostic device that can rapidly detect anemia
Researchers at Kansas State University's Olathe and Manhattan campuses are using 3-D printers to develop a low cost, point-of-care device that can quickly detect anemia.

Kansas State University student creates real change in Des Moines through design residency program
Kelsey McDonough, doctoral student in biological and agricultural engineering, was part of the fifth annual RDG Design Residence.

Biological and agricultural engineering professor honored for precision ag work
Ajay Sharda, assistant professor of biological and agricultural engineering, has been named the 2016 Conservation Systems Precision Ag Researcher of the Year.