While 3D television never really caught on, 3D printing has earned itself a permanent spot in agriculture for creating tools, making replacement machine parts and crafting models for large projects such as grain facilities or 3D models of terrain for erosion control.

Saves time, money

URBANA, Ill. — While robots in agriculture haven’t entirely lost their cool factor, they certainly aren’t the novelty they were even five to 10 years ago.

“They still have their appeal, but we wouldn’t care less if they didn’t solve a problem,” said Drew Schumacher, president of Rogo Ag, a company that deploys their autonomous robots to accurately take soil samples, allowing Midwest farmers to make better soil nutrient decisions.

The National Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes program awarded $20 million to the Center for Digital Agriculture at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) for the new Artificial Intelligence for Future Agricultural Resilience, Management, and Sustainability (AIFARMS) Institute.

Which cutting-edge nutrient stewardship practice requires a typography map, gates on drainage tile and knowledge of your soil profile? If you thought of the term drainage water management (DWM), you’d be on the right track.

In Shelby County, farmers and University of Illinois researchers are working closely to learn more about DWM and its potential to reduce nutrient loss through a working system of adjustable control structures that can manipulate tile outflow levels.

Each year, the Grainger College of Engineering recognizes a select group of faculty, staff, and students for their achievements and contributions to the college and to the world. We are proud to announce that Anne Marie Boone and Professor Girish Chowdhary belong to this distinguished group.

URBANA, Ill. – When engineers develop drinking water systems, they often expect their technology and expertise to work in any context. But project success depends as much on the people and place as on technical design, says Ann-Perry Witmer, lecturer in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering (ABE) and research scientist at the Applied Research Institute at University of Illinois.

Four faculty in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at the University of Illinois have been promoted to associate professor and granted tenure effective August 2020: Rabin Bhattarai, Maria Chu, Girish Chowdhary, and Paul Davidson.

Two new faculty members have joined the ABE department in July 2020: Cody Allen and Mohammed Kamruzzaman.

URBANA, Ill. – Five University of Illinois faculty members received major awards at the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) 2020 annual international meeting. The virtual event took place July 13 to 15. Illinois recipients include Paul Davidson, Vijay Singh, Richard Cooke, and Prasanta Kalita, Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering (ABE) in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) and The Grainger College of Engineering, and Laura Christianson, Department of Crop Sciences, College of ACES.

URBANA, Ill. ­–  As University of Illinois employees and students return in the fall, safety measures to limit the spread of COVID-19 are critical. University administrators have announced a partial return to normal activities, with a combination of in-person and online instruction. Precautions include limited crowd sizes, frequent cleaning of classrooms, and hand sanitizer stations in all buildings.