IllinoisCollege of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental SciencesEngineering at Illinois
Department of Agricultural and Biological EngineeringDepartment of Agricultural and Biological Engineering
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Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, University of Illinois

ABE Students and Faculty Showcase Department at ExploreACES – EOH Open House

Published Apr 24, 2009

More than two dozen students and faculty from the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering (ABE) participated in the 2009 Engineering Open House and ExplorACES, held March 13 and 14 at various locations around campus. In order to showcase their work for visitors of both open houses, ABE had exhibits in two locations, the Digital Computer Laboratory and their own Agricultural Engineering Sciences Building.

Visitors to the U of I campus were able to view and participate in a variety of exhibits set up by students and staff in ABE.

“One of the more popular exhibits this year was the air cannon,” said Scott Bretthauer, an Extension specialist in ABE and the coordinator of the Department’s participation in the Engineering Open House. “The air cannon contains a unique piston mechanism driven by compressed air that enables reproducible acceleration of a test object. Air cannons can be used for various purposes in agriculture, such as a ‘puncher-planter,’ and for general safety testing, according to Professor Tony Grift, who developed the ABE air cannon.”

Technical Systems Management senior, Ed Roy (brown leather coat) shows Wheaton Academy high school senior, Becca Long of Lyle, IL, how to fire an air canon during the 2009 Exploraces event at the University of Illinois. Long is planning on studying Animal Sciences this fall at the U of I.Katie and Kent Valentine hold their fingers in their ears while an air canon fires during the 2009 Exploraces event at the University of Illinois.

Left: Technical Systems  Management senior, Ed Roy (brown leather coat) shows Wheaton Academy high school senior, Becca Long of Lyle, IL, how to fire an air canon during the 2009 Exploraces event at the University of Illinois. Long is planning on studying Animal Sciences this fall at the U of I.

Right: Katie and Kent Valentine hold their fingers in their ears while the air canon fires .

Other exhibits included:

  • A mechanical weed control system that provides an alternative to traditional herbicides.
  • The AgTracker, a robot used for mechanical weed control.
  • TCC, or thermochemical conversion, and how it can be used to convert swine manure to crude oil.
  • A hydrogen fuel cell that could be used in a home as a combined heat and power system.
  • A self-guided robot that uses spinning laser beams to determine its location.
  • An interactive carbon cycle game, where participants became part of the carbon cycle to learn why changes in the way we use fossil fuels can make a big difference to global warming.
  • Mechatronics (the study of machinery with a “brain”) and its applications to off-road vehicles.
  • An explanation of biomass feedstock production and how to develop effective and efficient ways to convert biomass into fuel.

Visitors were also able to view a number of labs in the Agricultural Engineering Sciences Building, including the Illinois Laboratory for Agricultural Remote Sensing, the Soil and Water Resources Laboratory and the Biosensors Laboratory.

Prospective students could learn more about the work that would be expected of them at an exhibit that featured project posters completed by first-year ABE students. They were also able to talk with ABE’s student academic program coordinator to discuss career opportunities in agricultural and biological engineering.

Student organizations were well represented by the Illinois Student Branch of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) and the Illini Pullers, U of I’s nationally renowned ¼ scale tractor design team. Each year, the College of Engineering presents awards for different exhibitors participating in the Engineering Open House, and this year the Illini Pullers placed first in the “Presentation of Society” category.

The Department also offers awards to ABE and TSM undergraduate students who develop the highest quality exhibits for ExplorACES. The winners of first ($500), second ($300), and third ($200) place will be announced at the ABE Spring Awards Banquet.

“Every year I try to get more exhibits in the program,” Bretthauer concluded. “I push the students and the faculty to make their displays more interesting, more eye-catching than the year before. I want all those prospective students (and their parents) to know just how good we really are.”

News writer: Leanne Lucas

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