It has been an amazing year in MSU BAE, in terms of new hires, new programs, and outstanding service and leadership in ASABE and other professional societies. We are currently searching for three new tenure-track faculty members (ads posting after Jan 1) in climate solutions for animal agriculture, smart ag systems engineering, and an exciting new position focused on inclusive engineering. By the end of this hiring cycle, we will have hired 11 new tenure-track faculty members in 5 years (a net gain of 7), which has added significant capacity in ag climate resiliency, water management, and AI applications in agriculture and food safety. On a related note, our total portfolio of research grants has nearly doubled in the last four years, and we just launched a new minor in Smart Ag Systems, so it has been a very busy year in research, education, and extension programs. | |
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In this edition of our quarterly newsletter, rather than our standard format of highlighting feature stories in our mission areas of food, energy, environment, and health, we are giving just a very small sampling of the many and diverse ways in which our BAE team members are serving in leadership roles within professional societies, international conferences, and stakeholder engagement programs, to illustrate the breadth and depth of their engagement. We had the largest contingent of Spartans in memory (over 50!) at the ASABE International Meeting in Anaheim, CA this past summer (see photo below), participating in multiple student competitions, leadership roles, and technical programming (a few examples below). Additionally, MSU BAE faculty members also serve in significant leadership roles in a variety of other application-focused professional societies and international conferences (examples also below). All these service and leadership activities extend the impact of MSU BAE across the discipline, the profession, and the specific fields of practice, for which we are very appreciative and proud!
As always, please feel free to drop me a note anytime if you want to discuss ideas or opportunities for collaborations or partnerships.
Go Green!
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Bradley Marks, Ph.D., P.E.
Professor and Department Chair
MSU Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering
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The department was well represented at ASABE 2024 | |
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American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE)
- Daniel Morris, Ph.D. is mentoring the undergraduate student organization, Ag-Robotics, who competed in the robotic strawberry bush tending competition. They came in 5th out of 11 teams.
- Bradley Marks, Ph.D. began his term as an elected member of the ASABE Board of Trustees and as chair of EOPD-210 – the national committee of department chairs/heads.
Institute of Food Technologists (IFT)
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Ilce Medina-Meza, Ph.D. completed her term as Chair of the Food Engineering Division.
International Association for Food Protection (IAFP)
- Bradley Marks completed a term as the Chair of the Low Water Activity Food Safety Professional Development Group.
Society of Food Engineering (CoFE)
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Ilce Medina-Meza chaired a session on Food and Health Engineering.
Korean Society of Food Science and Technology (KoSFoST)
- Jiyoon Yi, Ph.D., was an invited speaker at the international symposium and annual meeting
Inverse Problems Symposium
- Kirk Dolan, Ph.D. is chairing the planning committee for the next international conference on inverse problems.
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American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE)
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Pouyan Nejadhashemi, Ph.D. presented in the Distinguished Lecture Series on Water and Natural Resources in International Development.
- Younsuk Dong, Ph.D. advised the MSU Fountain Wars Team.
- Yuzhen Lu, Ph.D. chaired ITSC-312 Machine Vision technical committee.
- Ehsan Ghane, Ph.D. chaired NRES-23 Drainage technical committee.
12th International Congress on Environmental Modeling and Software
- Pouyan Nejadhashemi served as chair for this biennial international conference.
30th Annual International Conference on ISDRS in Kathmandu, Nepal
- Wei Liao, Ph.D., P.E., was the keynote speaker, presenting on Sustainable Development Research.
The 7th Satellite Soil Moisture Validation and Application Workshop
- Narendra Das, Ph.D. organized this event that was attended by participants from the United States and Europe.
USDA-REEU Workshop
- Narendra Das organized the first USDA-REEU session at MSU on the use of SAR remote sensing in agriculture for undergraduate students (from across the US).
Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development
- Younsuk Dong chaired the Irrigation Water Use Generally Accepted Agricultural and Management Practices (GAAMP) committee.
Invited Speaker for climate-smart decision support systems for livestock and plant agriculture
- Daniel Uyeh, Ph.D. was an invited speaker at multiple universities this past year, including: the University of the Philippines, Los Banos. Kyungpook National University, South Korea. IPB University, Indonesia. Khon Kaen University, Thailand. Hawassa University, Ethiopia. Haramaya University, Ethiopia. Nasarawa State University, Nigeria. Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta-Nigeria.
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American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE)
- Ajit Srivastava, Ph.D., P.E., received the presidential citation for organizing an international conference in Senegal for the Alliance for Modernizing African Agrifood Systems.
PoliMOVE-MSU
- Daniel Morris is leading the MSU portion of the program to develop an autonomous race car in partnership with Politecnico di Milano, the largest technical university in Italy, and the University of Alabama.
Ecological Engineering in the Tropic Study Abroad
- Wei Liao led a group of 10 MSU Students to Costa Rica for the Study Abroad Program.
US-Botswana Workshop
- Wei Liao presented on Research Technologies in Water and Energy Needs for Remote, Austere Locations.
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American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE)
- Evangelyn Alocilja, Ph.D. was inducted as an ASABE Fellow, and led a panel on Entrepreneurship for Scientists.
Society for Risk Analysis (SRA)
- Jade Mitchell, Ph.D. served as an elected member of the SRA Leadership Council.
Global Alliance for Rapid Diagnostics (GARD) Forum
- Evangelyn Alocilja organized and chaired this incredibly novel, three-day, round-the-clock virtual conference.
EPA Science Advisory Board
- Jade Mitchell was appointed to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Science Advisory Board (SAB) and Chemical Assessment Advisory Committee.
GS1 Connect 2024 (supply chain conference)
- Bahar Aliakbarian, Ph.D. was an invited speaker for the panel titled Drive Automation Using IoT with Lessons from Smart Medicine.
14th Annual Pharma Anti-Counterfeiting Conference
- Bahar Aliakbarian was an invited speaker for the topic Use of Smart Technologies to Improve Track and Trace of Pharmaceuticals.
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