BAE Connections | Fall 2014

Connections

University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment | College of Engineering Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Vol. 3, Fall 2014

Inside...

Wildcat Pulling Team Czar Crofcheck’s NSF grant Technical Systems Management Mike Sama on UAS Carmen Agouridis wins an ASABE award Joe Dvorak on app location accuracy Student Spotlight Alumni Spotlight Bode joins the BAE faculty Staff Spotlight: Tim Smith Grants, Awards & Publications Bobby Carey on traveling to Brazil

‘No Right or Wrong Answers in Design’

By Nicole Koeninger Graduate Research Assistant, Bioenvironmental Engineering In the last few years, the Wildcat Pulling Team has demonstrated that it is a force to be reckoned with. The team has come home with two international championship titles in 2012 and 2014 as well as a second place victory in 2013.

The International ¼-Scale Tractor Student Design Competition has been an American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) competition for the last 17 years. This competition is a well-rounded experience that incorporates team building, design, report writing, and presentations. Given only an engine and a set of tires, the teams spend the academic school year designing and manufacturing their tractor.

Continued on page 4

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Welcome from the BAE Connections Editorial Committee Greetings Alumni and Friends, To me, fall is synonymous with harvest; it is a time when we are able to take a few moments and celebrate the fruits of our labor. For this edition of BAE Connections, we are doing just that—celebrating!

And with our outstanding students, staff and faculty, we have so much to celebrate. Our Wildcat Pulling Team won first place overall in the 2014 ASABE Quarter Scale Student Design Competition, Dr. Crofcheck (co-PI) received a $24 million NSF grant, I received the 2014 A.W. Farrall Young Educator Award, and James Ash received the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment Outstanding Staff Award in the Technician/Paraprofessional category, just to name a few.

But as we celebrate the successes of our students and colleagues, we continue to work diligently to meet current and future engineering challenges. In these pages, you will learn about our efforts to do Matt Barton, UK College of Agriculture so through the creation of a new Technical Systems Management (TSM) minor, hiring of a new Food and Bioprocessing faculty member, involvement in Greenhouse—the new Environment and Sustainability Residential College, and expansion into the exciting new research area of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). If you see something on these pages that interests you or you would like to get involved, let us know. We would love to hear from you. You can also learn more at www. bae.uky.edu and through our social media feeds (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube).

Sincerely, Carmen Agouridis, Ph.D., P.E.

Drew McGill, aka ‘Scratch’

By Amanda Hickman | Graduate Research Assistant, Food and Bioprocess Engineering In BAE, we know him as Drew McGill, but the rest of UK knows him as Scratch, one of the University mascots! Drew chose BAE because of the path toward a possible Biomedical Engineering career, and stuck around because of the smaller size of the department. He loves the tight-knit feel we have here, which has given him the ability to get to know his peers and professors on an academic and personal level.

As for his time as Scratch, he has his sister to thank. After she learned the past mascot was retiring, she encouraged Drew to get in touch with him. That same night, he put on the suit at a volleyball game and has been Scratch ever since. Drew’s favorSteve Patton, UK College of Agriculture ite thing about being Scratch: He gets the freedom to entertain and make people laugh without them having any idea who he is. “I like to fly under the radar, but when I put the suit on I get to let out a completely different side. I can be as silly and energetic as possible because people expect that from a mascot,” Drew explained. As one of four UK mascots, he’s part of something much bigger; he is the face of the University, and feels incredibly lucky to be a part of that.

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New Opportunities: Technical Systems Management Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering is developing a Technical Systems Management (TSM) program, which will be offered in the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment as an Individualized Program in Agriculture and as a minor. Many of our sister departments have similar programs, which have their roots in older Ag Mech programs. With updated names, these new programs reflect a technology-rich curriculum that suits the needs of students and employers.

“Our department is excited about this project. We are confident we are launching this program at a good time. Kentucky and the nation are in need of a workforce trained in both the technological and the business aspects of industrial and/or agricultural problems. We are preparing students to fill that void,” BAE Department Chair Dr. Nokes said.

In BAE’s Technical Systems Management (TSM) program, students will learn practical, theoretical, and managerial skills, including how to prevent and solve problems, make decisions, and manage teams.

BAE’s Engineer Associate for Academics, Dr. Modenbach, said, “The TSM program is well-suited for students interested in taking a hands-on approach to learning and linking business and management with the technical skills of industry practice.”

The TSM undergraduate degree combines educational theory and workplace experience partly because of an awareness of the United States’ reported “skills gap” but also because, as a hands-on engineering department, our faculty expertise strongly lends itself to teaching these technical skills. Students will complete six workbased learning courses (supervised internships) to gain practical, hands-on experience, and to make the critical link between theory and industry practice. TSM Photo: Donnie Stamper, BAE graduates will be prepared to enter the workforce in areas such as manufacturing, agriculture, environment, and systems management.

“We have been getting such positive feedback regarding the new TSM program, from students and parents to faculty and administration. It’s a brand new program, but the interest in TSM has been unbelievable so far,” Modenbach noted.

In this issue...

Cover, Pages 4&5

‘No Right or Wrong Answers in Design’

Page 3

New Opportunities: TSM

Page 2

Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9

Page 10, 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14

Welcome; Drew McGill, aka ‘Scratch’ Akinbode Adedeji, Ph.D., joins the BAE faculty

Will UAS become a standard tool for precision agriculture?

Carmen Agouridis receives A.W. Farrall Young Educator Award K Week, Water Week big hits Student Spotlight, Alumni Spotlight Staff Focus: Tim Smith Publications; Grants; Awards, Recognitions, Appointments

Are app location sevices accurate for agricultural operations?

Page 15 Brazil: An Epic Adventure

BAE Connections is published twice a year by the University of Kentucky Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Department, an Equal Opportunity Organization. The newsletter is produced by BAE in partnership with Alpha Epsilon. ©2014.

BAE Connections Editorial Committee

Director: Sue Nokes, Ph.D., P.E. Advisor: Carmen Agouridis, Ph.D., P.E. Editor, Designer: Karin Pekarchik Alumni Advisor: Elizabeth Bullock, P.E. Writers: Carmen Agouridis, Ph.D., P.E., Bobby Carey, Joe Dvorak, Ph.D., P.E., Amanda Hickman, Nicole Koeninger, Karin Pekarchik, Michael Sama, Ph.D., P.E., Donnie J. Stamper Photography: Special thanks to Matt Barton, CAFE Agricultural Communications, Carl King, Tim Stombaugh, BAE faculty/staff, and individuals for granting permission use photographs. Please submit story ideas, questions, or comments to carmen.agouridis@uky.edu or karin.pekarchik@uky. edu.

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Continued from cover The international competition is held in Peoria, Ill., each year where the teams gather to demonstrate and present the tractors they manufactured.

Along with the written report and presentations, the tractors are put to the test by performing in tractor pulls as well undergoing several design inspections. Tractors and teams are judged on manufacturability, safety, serviceability, sportsmanship, craftsmanship, appearance, ergonomics, sound level, and test and development. In the 2014 competition, the University of Kentucky team came home with awards in manufacturability, safety, “first-time through,” serviceability, 1st in the written design report, 2nd in team presentations, and the overall championship win. The points awarded for their victories gave them top honors in the 17th Annual International Competition.

Since the Wildcat Pulling Team is an integral part of the BAE department, all undergraduate majors are encouraged to participate. The 2015 design team demonstrates that inclusiveness, with eight students from Agriculture Economics, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Agricultural Education, and BAE eagerly awaiting next year’s competition. Along with the students the team has three advisors: Michael Sama, Tim Smith, and John Evans.

The Wildcat Pulling Team works hard year-round to get the tractor perfect for competition. Starting in the fall semester they park cars for all home football games to raise money to manufacture a winning tractor.

They also have sponsorships from many local businesses to help them with the building, painting, and construction of their tractor. Paris Stockyards, the Kentucky Corn Growers Association, Altec, and Qualex are some of their sponsors.

To prepare for the next year’s competition, the team spends a lot of free time designing and building the tractor. This year’s team captain, Brad Wilson, said that team members spend about two solid hours working on their individual design tasks per week. These “mini” projects are accomplished on an individual or small-team basis and are sub-systems of the larger tractor design and build.

Tractor team photos courtesy of Carl King

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To design the tractor, team members use software such as Pro/Engineering. Although Pro/E has been the software of choice for several years, the team is looking into using Inventor or SolidWorks for next year’s design. Being a part of this team allows the students to become familiar with design tools that future employers may use, giving students a head start when looking for employment after graduation. “Being a part of the pulling team is a good learning experience. It teaches you to be an engineer. Being able to go through the entire design process and fabrication helps get jobs and prepares you for what future employers expect from their employees,” said John Evans, former team captain and current advisor.

After the design is finished, the team must machine and fabricate the tractor. Although sponsors may help with metal bending and painting, the students make sure the tractor is within the competition guidelines and is a functioning tractor. “The build is stressful but worth it,” according to Wilson. “The competition has a fun atmosphere. There is a lot of welcoming among the teams and we all find time to hang out with one another. Everyone there is fun-spirited and excited to be at the competition.”

Although the students have fun at competition, it’s also a learning experience. Evans explains that designing and building the tractor is very different than taking a class. “School is about right and wrong answers. There are no right or wrong answers in design; you just approach the same problem in a different way.”

Being a part of this team allows students to think creatively and use the knowledge they have acquired in school in a practical way. To become a member of the Wildcat Pulling Team, contact Team Captain Brad Wilson at Wilson.thomas.b@gmail.com. The team also meets every Monday at 5:30 p.m. in room 236 of the C. E. Barnhart Building. To learn about the ¼-Scale Tractor Student Design Competition, visit asabe.org.

Tractor team photos courtesy of Carl King

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Akinbode Adedeji, Ph.D., joins the BAE faculty Akinbode Adedeji, Ph.D., or Bode, as he prefers to be called, has accepted a position as Assistant Professor in Food and Bioprocess Engineering. He is teaching AEN 340, Principles of Food Engineering, this fall, while he assembles his laboratory. Bode’s areas of expertise are agricultural produce value addition via processing, heat and mass transfer applications in food processing and safety assurance, e.g. deep-fat frying, drying, freezing, and extrusion processing; and non-thermal processing of food namely pulsed electric field, ultrasonic and UV applications in food processing. He comes to BAE from Canada’s McGill University.

“We are so pleased that we were able to attract Dr. Akinbode Adedeji to join our faculty in Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering at UK. Dr. Adedeji brings a new dimension to our faculty with his experience in food process engineering, and we look forward to working with him,” Dr. Nokes, department chair, remarked.

In addition to his food engineering experience, Bode brings a wealth of cultural experience with him, having worked in Nigeria, Canada, and France. Two years into his Ph.D. program in his native Nigeria, Bode had the opportunity to apply to McGill. Despite having already received two degrees in Nigeria, Bode was placed in the master’s program at McGill. After only one semester, he proved his mettle and moved to the Ph.D. program, which he completed in 2010. He continued to work for his supervisor at McGill before returning to Nigeria. He then accepted a short appointment as a post-doctoral scholar in Nantes, France, before moving to Kansas State University, where he spent two years working as a post-doctoral scholar. When his two-year contract at Kansas State expired, he was able to return to McGill, where he worked prior to accepting the position with BAE. His wife and two children, who have remained in Canada while he is getting acclimated to life in Kentucky, will join shortly.

“This position in Kentucky is a perfect fit. It fits my background and my skill set. I felt very much at home here and I believe I can succeed. I also was impressed with the resources in the department and the warm reception I received,” Bode said soon after his arrival.

Bode was in a pioneering food engineering program at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) in Nigeria, the first in the country to offer a degree in that area of specialty. Bode explained that now there are four other universities that offer food engineering and more than 25 food engineers graduating every year. Because of the limited funding for research and industry positions, Bode chose to look for opportunities outside of Nigeria.

“I had to think about my joy as a teacher. Close to ninety five percent of food engineering students in Nigeria graduate and have to do something else, due to lack of opportunity. Only the very lucky ones get into the food industry,” he said.

For more information about Bode’s research focus and background, visit http://www.bae.uky.edu/People/adedeji.asp.

Borlaug Fellow studying greenhouse gas emissions from composting Horacio Alvarado Raya, Norman E. Borlaug International Agricultural Science and Technology Fellow, is studying greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from composting with Drs. Taraba and Coyne (Plant and Soil Sciences) for 12 weeks this fall. A scholar from Mexico, Alvarado Raya is focusing on GHG emissions from composting dairy manure with bedding in a compost bedded dairy barn, and specifically, the controlling factors that lead to GHG generation during the composting process: e.g. moisture content and particle size of the compost material.

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Will UAS become a standard tool for precision agriculture?

By Michael Sama, Ph.D., P.E. | Assistant Professor, Machine Systems Automation Engineering Research on Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) in agriculture is currently experiencing a revival of sorts thanks to recent national exposure. In 2013, the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) conducted an economic impact study of unmanned aircraft systems integration in the U.S. and estimated that UAS will generate over $82 billion and 100,000 new jobs in the next decade with over 90 percent of the economic development in the area of precision agriculture and public safety. Researchers at the University of Kentucky have been working with small UAS in a wide range of applications since the early 2000s. Quite a bit has changed since then–particularly with respect to the availability of fully autonomous low-cost platforms. The financial barrier to entry for using UAS to conduct remote sensing research has been virtually eliminated and the difficulties associated with putting expensive sensors in the air are greatly reduced.

A more recent challenge has been understanding and incorporating the frequent rules issued by the Federal Aviation Administration as they determine the process of integrating small UAS into the national airspace.

Conducting UAS-based research currently requires a special waiver called a Certificate of Authorization (CoA) and is limited to public entities. In late 2013, UK established an Unmanned Systems Research Consortium (USRC) which includes faculty from seven departments across the College of Engineering and College of Agriculture, Food and Environment and membership of several private companies. The USRC has provided the expertise and staffing required to apply for CoAs while promoting collaborative UAS research across the country.

BAE faculty have had a national presence orecently as invited speakers at the InfoAg Conference and the National Farm Machinery Show to discuss UAS-based research in agriculture. BAE has been working with faculty researchers in the departments of Plant and Soil Sciences and Computer Science to conduct study variability due to stress factors such as plant population and nitrogen availability. Hundreds of hours of autonomous flights were conducted over test plots throughout the growing season. The vast amount of high-resolution data recorded has proved to be the largest challenge to manage, but this challenge also provides new opportunities, such as the potential to estimate biomass from three-dimensional photogrammetric data. While most commercial applications are still prohibited, the potential for UAS to become standard tool for precision agriculture continues to grow.

Strengthening the Commonwealth’s economy Czarena Crofcheck, Ph.D., P.E., co-PI on the recently awarded $24 million NSF “new energy economy” grant, will serve as faculty lead for workforce development, education, diversity, and outreach. She will work closely with the science leads to provide connectivity between the research and education activities and to help guarantee that successful outcomes are achieved through NSF funding of KY EPSCoR. The combined grant totals $24 million ($20 million from NSF and $4 million from Kentucky EPSCoR), and focuses on three pillars: Advanced Membranes (B. Hinds), Chemical Biology (S. DeBolt), and Electrochemisty (Y.T. Cheng), with CAER’s Dr. Rodney Andrews acting as director and PI. “This is a very exciting opportunity for Kentucky to strengthen our economy by building infrastructure and expanding our education efforts in science and technology,” Crofcheck said.

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Carmen Agouridis receives A.W. Farrall Young Educator Award Carmen Agouridis, Ph.D., P.E., is the recipient of the 2014 A.W. Farrall Young Educator Award, one of ASABE’s major awards for early-career achievement. Agouridis is a wonderfully gifted teacher, whose students are both challenged and supported by her creative approach to teaching. She also is a force among the faculty, championing progressive ideas, adopting new approaches to teaching, and supporting innovation in departmental procedures and decision-making. She is currently teaching five courses, one of which is BAE 532/CE 542, Introduction to Steam Restoration, a course she developed and one of the first stream restoration courses on record in a U.S. academic institution. She has a research portfolio totaling more than $5 million to fund 35 research projects. She Photo: Matt Barton, College of Ag has authored or coauthored more than 22 refereed journal articles, symposium papers, 18 extension publications, reviewed technical reports, book chapters, and 90 conference presentations. (For a full review of her achievements, visit ASABE’s announcement of the award.) Despite her prodigious achievements, in the halls of BAE, Agouridis is probably known for something else: her beautiful ringing laughter, which fills the halls with its booming vigor and generosity, a match for her character.

Her love of working with students and colleagues across campus shines through in a number of her recent endeavors. Just stroll along Farm Road to see the new bioretention facility or rain garden. This rain garden started out as a student design project in Agouridis’ Low Impact Development course, but with the support of the Tracy Farmer Institute for Sustainability and the Environment and UK’s Office of Sustainability, design assistance from Landscape Architecture and Horticulture, and the construction know-how of the BAE Engineering Design Center, this student idea quickly became reality. The rain garden now serves as an outdoor classroom, used by a number of instructors on campus. Learn more at http://greenhouse.as.uky.edu/video/ greenhouse-stream-restoration.

Agouridis also serves as Co-Director of Greenhouse, UK’s new Environment and Sustainability Residential College. Located in Woodland Glen II, Greenhouse is a new living learning community designed to engage students in learning about the local environment through the context of sustainability. As part of the program, she co-teaches a two-hour connected course in the fall and will teach a one-hour seminar in the spring.

Students also engage in co-curricular activities such as field trips, film viewings, and talks with leaders in the field. Learn more at http://greenhouse.as.uky.edu/about-greenhouse, where Agouridis writes a blog.

Resurgent: Alpha Epsilon Over the last few years, Alpha Epsilon, the honor society for agricultural engineering, has started to become more active within BAE. Last year, Nick Rhea, president, used funds to purchase honor cords for all members of Alpha Epsilon. He and Tim Mains also helped spearhead the peer mentoring program between freshman and upper classmen. To continue these efforts, the 2014 officers, Nicole Koeninger, Amanda Hickman, and Bobby Carey, have continued the peer mentoring program and have initiated new activities. During the fall semester, Alpha Epsilon hosted a welcome back BBQ so all new graduate students and faculty could meet current students, faculty, and staff. Looking into the future, Alpha Epsilon is hopeful that it will continue to sponsor similar departmental activities, such as pizza lunches and intramural sports. To try and give back to the community, potential collaborations with local schools to teach kids about engineering and science are being explored.

Members hope that by the spring semester, an outreach program will be established. Fall initiation and election for the 2015 officer positions are also coming up.

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K Week and Water Week big hits This summer, Carmen Agouridis, Ph.D., P.E., worked with colleagues in the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment (CAFE) to highlight environmental programs at UK’s annual K Week event. The inaugural CAFE Environmental Programs event offered students a chance to learn more about majors and programs with an environment and sustainability focus—and to have a great lunch. Students enjoyed local foods such as hamburgers from Marksbury Farm Market, brats from the UK Butcher Shop, buns from Bluegrass Baking Company, vegetables and watermelon from the UK Horticulture Research Farm along with Ale-8-One and water from Highbridge Springs. In keeping with the spirit of sustainability, Steve Patton, UK College of Agriculture plates, napkins, utensils and food scraps were composted while beverage containers were recycled. UK mascot Scratch even made an appearance!

Dr. Agouridis, a member of the Water Working Group, collaborated with multiple departments to create Water Week, an event designed to highlight water. The week-long program included ways for students, staff, and faculty to celebrate water such as through films, seminars, career panel, scavenger hunt, photo contest, and camping trip to Robinson Forest. To learn more, visit www.uky.edu/waterweek/ or the UK Water Week Facebook page.

Alumni Advisory Board Member Focus: Tim Greis Technical Support Manager, Central National Accounts, Cummins Inc.

Before placing the winning bid on one of two tractors sold at the inaugural quarter-scale tractor auction this summer, Tim Greis talked about his tractor team years, amusing the audience with stories of taking pictures of the tractor in front of major tourist attractions, including the St. Louis Arch, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas strip, Hoover Dam, Bonneville Salt Flats, and Cadillac Ranch while he, Tim Smith, and Scott Shearer drove cross-country to the 2001 ASABE meeting.

Greis, a technical support manager at Cummins, lives near Cincinnati with wife Stephanie and son Ian. After graduation, he began working for Cummins as a service engineer. Over 11 years, he has worked in current product support, future product field testing and service process development, and field service engineering. He currently works in marketing and sales as a technical support manager for Cummins’ largest national account.

“I attribute much of my success to the practical knowledge I gained as a member of the tractor team. As a member I was able to transform classroom learning into practical application. When I started to work, most of my colleagues had not had comparable programs at their university and, consequently, they faced a much steeper learning curve when entering industry,” Greis said.

Eric Dawalt Craig Duvall Steve Gardner Tim Greis Bradley Heil Tyler Holley Blair Lauer Wanda Lawson Katherine Niebuhr Pamela Pabian Angela Penn Sarah Short Richard Shultz 2014 Meeting Dates May 2, 2014 October 24, 2014 9

Student Spotlight

By Amanda Hickman and Nicole Koeninger

Ashley Cutshaw, BAE freshman Ashley Cutshaw, a freshman from Kalamazoo, Mich., was named a 2014 Chellgren Student Fellow. Through the Chellgren program, Ashley will conduct her own research project with a mentor in the area of her choice.

Chellgren Student Fellows enroll in a special one-hour lecture where faculty and guests lecture on external academic activities, scholarships, and research opportunities. In addition to the academic resources and opportunities resulting from being a Chellgren Fellow, Ashley has surrounded Photo courtesy of the Chellgren Center herself with peers sure to provide lifelong friendships. With her interest in biology and engineering, Ashley thought BAE’s combination of science, math, and design was a perfect fit, and the small department size has allowed her to get to know other students. Looking ahead, Ashley hopes to be living somewhere with some beautiful mountain scenery, maybe married with kids, and working in biomedical engineering, possibly conducting her own research on cell and tissue regeneration.

Coleman Stivers, BAE freshman Unlike most incoming freshman, Coleman Stivers is already a successful businessman. With the help of his grandfather and father, Coleman started growing and selling vegetables and honey in 2007. Coleman recognized the market for local honey and produce, and has expanded his operation, including direct marketing to specialty restaurants. “Customers truly drive my business. I have to constantly react to what the customers want to stay ahead of the competition and retain customers,” he Photo provided by Coleman Stivers says. His advice to other entrepreneurs: “Keep an open mind, and learn from your mistakes. Failure can teach you just as much as success can.

Don’t be afraid of failure, learn from it.” His interest in agriculture led to an internship at Big Ass Solutions last summer. He worked with in-house agricultural engineers, local producers, and others conducting research on increasing produce shelf-life. The internship further solidified his choice to enroll in BAE.

Stefan Fink, TSM junior, Ag Ambassador Stefan Fink was the first student to enroll in BAE’s TSM program, where he will earn an individualized agriculture degree. Stefan’s father and uncle started Double F Club Lambs in 1992, and Stefan starting showing and raising sheep when he was quite young. “Showing livestock with my family taught me many skills that I see using in my career like organization, responsibility, and hard work. Today, my dad and I work together on our family farm, raising and selling show lambs and breeding stock to other sheep breeders across the country,” says Stefan. He says TSM caught his attention because it seemed to be a better fit than other options. “I really enjoy the work-based learning and being able to learn from some of the most experienced experts in the field. I want this new major to grow and become a success here in the CAFE. I think it is a good mix of technical agriculture, business, and engineering.”

Photo: Matt Barton, College of Ag

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Alumni Spotlight

By Amanda Hickman and Nicole Koeninger

Keelin O. Cassidy, Process Engineer, Haskell Keelin Cassidy started at Florida’s Haskell after graduating with her master’s. For Keelin, working has been an adventure but she still misses some things about being a BAE student. “I miss saving the world.

In school we had the idea to improve what we are doing and make our world a better place for now and for the future.” Looking back, she realizes that school really did help prepare her for the transition into the work field. “Everything in BAE prepared me for where I am today. Classes taught me how to think, homework taught me how to work late hours, projects taught me how to work in a team, labs taught me patience, research taught me to be curious, and working with BAE professors opened all the right doors that led me to where I am today.” Her advice: Photo provided by Keelin Cassidy “Be patient. After all of the hard work, it will be worth it in the end.”

Holly Enlow, Graduate Research Assistant, University of Oklahoma Holly Enlow started working on her Ph.D. at the University of Oklahoma in January of 2014 under Dr. Garey Fox. Her research looks at ways to quantify streambank erosion in a predominately agricultural watershed. Although UK helped her get used to working on multiple projects, she’s still adjusting to Oklahoma. “I’m not sure I will ever get used to the wind. It really does come sweeping down the plains!” Holly says one of the most valuable skills she learned was being able to manage several different projects at the same time and figuring out how to fix something Photo: Matt Barton, College of Ag when it didn’t go as planned. She’s not sure where her future will take her; she still has two more years of school to finish her Ph.D. and is looking forward to all of the challenges that may come her way. If you would like to learn more about Holly and the research she is conducting you can follow her research group on twitter, @FoxTeamOSU.

Kathryn Gray, Manufacturing Engineer, Altec Industries, Inc. Kathryn Gray left BAE to work as a manufacturing engineering at Altec in Elizabethtown. One of her main roles is to provide floor support for the front end manufacturing process, which could include anything from fixing issues with the laser cutting machines or redesigning an area or process. One of her biggest challenges has been bringing in a new product, designing the entire process from raw materials to final installation.

Working with people who want to learn new things and want to help her Photo: Steve Patton, College of Ag learn new things has been a fun experience. Although she loves her job at Altec, BAE and Barnhart felt like home. Besides peers and professors, her favorite thing about BAE was that “the problems matched real life scenarios; you didn’t get all the required information right off the bat.”

That development of her engineering skills has been a huge help in her transition to real-world engineering.

Kathryn advises younger students to seek out hands-on learning. “Learning the book part is important, but the hands-on skills are equally so. I’m kicking myself that I didn’t spend more time in the shop!”

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Staff Focus: Tim Smith

By Donnie J. Stamper In 1977, high school senior Tim Smith, or “Smitty,” made two important trips. The first was to UK for a 4-H event. The second took him to Louisville’s Galt House, where he met Dr. Gerald White, professor emeritus.

Dr. White convinced Smith to join the department, then called Agricultural Engineering. Smith entered the department in 1977, when it was located across campus in the Kelley Building. As part of his senior design project, Smith helped design and build a corn cob collector that was mounted on the back of a combine. When Phillip Morris gave the department a grant to develop a tobacco harvester, Department Chair Joe Ross hired Smith to work on the project. In August 1984, Smith was hired full time, a position he has held for the past 30 years. Around the same time, Tobacco Counsel provided money to the department to help build what is now the Agricultural Machine Research Lab. The structure was designed in-house and built by seven members of the BAE department, nicknamed the “PBC,” or Permanent Building Crew. Four of the PBC still work for the department: Dr. George Day, Lee Rectin, Carl King, and Smitty.

Smith is still actively involved with Phillip Morris in the development of tobacco equipment, though his focus has shifted from tobacco harvesting to tobacco processing. Most recently, his focus has been on building a segmented tobacco stripper, which takes the entire plant, cuts it into three-inch segments, and separates the stalk from the leaf. The most recent iteration of the machine is currently being built in the Agricultural Machine Research Lab. Students may know Smitty best for his work on the tractor team. Dr. Scott Shearer (former Professor and Department Chair) wanted BAE to compete in the ASABE International ¼-Scale Tractor Student Design Competition. At first, Tim was reluctant, but Dr. Shearer was able to talk him into it. Now, 15 years and two championships later, Smith says, “I’m glad to have been a part of the team from the beginning.”

Tim Smith grew up on a farm in La Grange, Ky., a town that sits northeast of Louisville along I-71. He has been happily married to his wife Joyce for 29 years. Outside of work, even his hobbies revolve around mechanical machines. These days you might find him taking a tour of the Bluegrass on his motorcycle. In the past, you might have found him working on his mini modified pulling tractor. The “Mini Rod,” a hobby of his from 1979 through the early 1990s, was built by Smith and a friend and was powered by an engine (also built

by Smith )that had 800 horsepower. There is nothing mini about that!

Now, 15 years and two championships later, Smith says, “I’m glad to have been a part of the team from the beginning.”

Left: Smitty and Scott Shearer. Right: Smitty, Scott Shearer, Christina Lyvers. Tractor team photos courtesy of Carl King.

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Publications E, X. (Abby), and Crofcheck, C. 2014. Pretreatment of Scenedemus biomass as a potential anaerobic substrate. 2014. Biological Engineering Transactions, 7(1): 41-52.

Modenbach, A.A., Nokes, S.E. 2014. Effects of sodium hydroxide pretreatment on structural components of biomass. Transactions of the ASABE. 57(4): 1187-1198.

Sama, M.P, Stombaugh, T.S. 2014. Performance Evaluation of a Tracking Total Station as a Position Reference for Dynamic GNSS Accuracy Testing. Applied Engineering in Agriculture. 30(4): 557-563.

Stamper, D.J., Agouridis, C.T., Edwards, D.R., Purschwitz, M.A. 2014. Effect of Soil Sampling Density and Landscape Features on Soil Test Phosphorus. Applied Engineering in Agriculture, 30(5).

Grants Robert Fehr received $100,000 from the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet for “Kentucky Cooperative Extension Education Energy Outreach Program, 2014-2015.” He also received $7,620 from the Kentucky Department of Health for “CES Radon Outreach Program.”

Stephen Higgins received $44,466 from Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection for “Kentucky Dairy Education and Outreach Project (Milk, Mud, and Clean Cows).”

Samuel G. McNeill received a $27,386 subaward from Oklahoma State University for his grant proposal, “Alliance for Food Security Through Reduction of Postharvest Loss and Food Waste.” OSU is the prime recipient of the grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Michael Montross received $81,362 from Case New Holland America LLC to fund research on “Methods to increase bale density.”

Joseph Taraba received $24,764 from the Foreign Agricultural Service for his “Proposal to Host Borlaug Fellow from Mexico on Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions from Composting.”

Larry Wells received $15,000 from Arvalis Institut du Vegetal to support research on “Support of the French tobacco sector in its strip-tillage, harvesting mechanization projects, curing, and stripping of burley tobacco.”

Awards, Recognitions, Appointments Carmen Agouridis, 2014 A.W. Farrall Young Educator Award Carmen Agouridis, John McMaine, ASABE Educational Aids Blue Ribbon Award Jimmy Ash, CAFE Outstanding Staff Award Tom Bridges, Richard Gates, Ed Smith, Larry Turner, ASABE Superior Paper Award Don Colliver, Director, Kentucky Industrial Assessment Center Drew Schiavone, A.A. Teixeira, R.A. Bucklin, S.A. Sargent, ASABE Superior Paper Award Scott A. Shearer, ASABE Fellow Larry Wells, ASABE Fellow Wildcat Pulling Team, winner, ASABE International ¼-Scale Tractor Student Design Competition John Wilhoit, Tim Stombaugh, and Tim Coolong, ASABE Educational Aids Blue Ribbon Award

Did you know?

Czar Crofcheck has finished scrapbooks for every year since 2000, and her 2014 scrapbook is finished through September. Aaron Turner and his wife Allie ran a half-marathon in the Great Smoky Mountains in September.

Bobby Carey harvested his first crop of hops this summer. Rachel Norton went to the Maker Faire in New York City in September. Joe Dvorak won the moose head at ASABE’s annual conference in Montreal. Alex Fogle’s son Matt has interned for a total of twelve months at CNH in New Holland, Penn. Carmen Agouridis donated 14 inches of her hair to Locks of Love. Sue Nokes paints botanical illustrations in watercolor.

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Are app location sevices accurate for agricultural operations?

By Joseph Dvorak, Ph.D. | Assistant Professor, Machine Systems Automation Engineering The use of smart phones and tablets has exploded in our society and those working in the agricultural industry have adopted them along with everyone else. The spatially distributed nature of farm operations makes the use of the location services on these very appealing and many apps have already appeared that do so.

However, a big question appears–how accurate are the locations provided by these devices? Most of these devices list location accuracy with vague terms such as, “You can tell what city block you are in” or, “It can determine what road you are on.” Apparently non-agriculturalists do not need to know their location at any more definite precision levels than this unless they are inside. Agricultural producers would like to know if these devices can be used for tasks like marking a particular planter row in 30 inch corn or differentiating implement passes. Interestingly, the location services on these devices provide an estimate of their accuracy but apps rarely seem to provide this information to the user. Because of the lack of information on operating characteristics, a BAE Ph.D. student, Hasan Seyyedhasani, decided to perform some tests of the location systems on these devices.

Our testing (all on Android devices) revealed that with certain configurations, the location errors were consistently much larger than the device reported. In one 24hour test, the device reported an error of only 4.0 m, but actual error was over 24 m. This particularly alarming result was obtained using the newest Android location service in which Google Services combines data coming from all location sensors on the device. In four out of five 24-hour tests with the Google Services location, the error was much higher than the device reported. The two other location systems on the tablet had actual errors lower than reported errors. When determining the location based on Wi-Fi signals, the reported accuracy was 56 m, but actual accuracy was 37 m. The location provided using the GPS sensors on the device reported an accuracy of 3.2 m and had an actual accuracy of 2.6 m. This 24-hour testing was performed to the static testing standard 101 by the Institute of Navigation and was conducted on the UK campus.

The field testing ended up producing a different result. In the field test, the device was used to determine the locations of 88 surveyed locations on the UK Horticulture Research Farm (“South Farm”). Even though this location is within Lexington with all of its wireless signals, it was not able to determine its location using Wi-Fi. Also, the locations based on Google Services were actually similar to those from the GPS-based sensors.

In both cases, actual error and reported error averaged about 3 to 5 m in all tests. In the field testing, there were no instances of high actual error while the device reported that it would have low errors. As a final field test, the devices were used to try to determine the areas of seventeen small one-third acre rectangular plots.

These areas were on average off by 3% to 7% and at least one plot was off by over 10% in each test.

Overall, this testing of location sensors on these tablets showed that under good conditions in the field, locations could be expected to be within 3 to 5 m of the actual location and that the accuracy value provided by the device could be trusted. While this would not allow identification of a particular row of corn, it might allow a producer to identify an implement pass. However, this level of accuracy would not be guaranteed.

As revealed by our testing, under the certain circumstances the locations could be incorrect by much larger amounts even while the device reported high accuracy. It is suggested that people using these devices in agriculture do so with caution and test their devices to ensure that they will perform as expected before trusting them. Application developers should also test applications that are based on these locations to determine if they will run into any conditions that could cause large errors. It would also be beneficial if application developers would have their apps report accuracy or expected percent error of any information provided based on location services so that end users will have an idea of what to expect.

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B.S. (Spring/ Summer 2014) Maya Bentley Alexander Chen Ian Colten Sean Ferguson

Adam Fischer Joanna Foresman Josh Harmon Dylan Heath Corey Hupman Drew Jones Justin McCane

Robert Schmidt John Turley Alexander Wade David Watson Rachel Williams

Arrivals

Departures

Akinbode Adedeji, Ph.D.

Evan Wesley

M.S. (2014) Noelia Elia (May) Holly Enlow (May) Aaron Turner (May) Mary Weatherford (August) Timothy Mains (August)

Tyler Sanderson

Brazil: An Epic Adventure

By Bobby Carey | Graduate Research Assistant, Food and Bioprocess Engineering Our charter bus barreled down the mountain side on a tight two-lane road with a jungle cliff on the left and a short stone guard rail on the right. Beyond the guard rail all we could see was a homestead more than a thousand feet below. At that moment I realized I was in Brazil. Promoted as “exploring the development and adoption of automation and technology in Brazilian agriculture,” the trip was far more than a crash course in Brazilian farming. The unique itinerary, destinations, and course goals took us to places that the average tourist would never go and introduced us to people that we would have never met otherwise.

Four graduate and four undergraduate students from BAE were led by Dr. Tim Stombaugh, Dr. Joe Dvorak, and Dr. Alicia Modenbach. Eleven students from Iowa State’s Agricultural College led by Dr. Brian Steward accompanied us. Additionally, faculty from both universities traveled with us for part of the trip. For the third time in the past five years the trip was made possible by the Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education Grant. (The study-abroad program was made possible in part by the CAFE’s Dean’s International Incentive Fund (DIIF) program, UK’s Education Abroad, and a FIPSE grant.)

After landing in Rio de Janeiro we departed on a course that took us more than 2400 km (~1500 miles) from the Atlantic, through the rugged interior to the edge of the Cerrado (Brazil’s savanna), and back in a loop that spanned Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, and São Paulo. Our first stop was the Universidade Federal de Viçosa (University of Viçosa), with which BAE has shared a long partnership. We spent three days learning about current research projects and observing the technology being used. After Viçosa, we traveled down a long dirt road north of town where our drivers dogged herds of cows as we reached Guaraciaba, a cachaça distillery, on the banks of the Rio Piranga. From Viçosa we passed through the once-prosperous mineral town of Ouro Preto, to Belo Horizonte, Brazil’s third largest metropolitan. Then we headed west to the once desolate, nutrient-poor savanna Cerrado, now the site of the largest farming operations in the world. There, students and faculty of Viçosa’s satellite university in Rio Paranaíba greeted us; we toured vegetable and dairy operations on a 30,000 hectare farm (~116 square miles). The remainder of our journey highlighted state-of-the-art coffee and sugar cane harvesting technology and a tour of the Campinas EMBRAPA (Brazil’s Department of Agriculture) research outpost. Our trip ended with time to enjoy the beaches of Copa Cabana.

At every destination we absorbed a feel for tradition and culture, from agricultural practice to the diverse Brazilian lifestyle. Watching the sun rise while jogging in the forest above Viçosa provided glimpses of tamarins through the morning fog. Gaining three hundred meters from the deck we summited Pedra Redonda (translated as Round Stone) to enjoy a view that provided a comforting panorama, in the manner of Appalachia. Or maybe it was the nights learning to dance the foho with the beautiful Brazilian people that really made the trip worthwhile. You could call it study abroad, but I would call it an epic adventure.

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