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B i o l o g i c a l S y s t e m s E n g i n e e r i n g , U n i v e r s i t y o f N e b r a s k a Page 1

BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS ENGINEERING

D E P A R T M E N T O F

Contact theDepartment of

Biological Systems Engineering223 L. W. Chase Hall

Lincoln, Nebraska 68583-0726402-472-1413

Web: bse.unl.edu

ISSUE 2 N E W S L E T T E R O F A C H I E V E M E N T NOVEMBER 2006

Next time you are in Lincoln for a visit, stop by and take a peek at the new lab/classroomin room 114. You will find that we have upgraded the computers and monitors, andrearranged the desks to create a new state-of-the-art teaching facility. The new setup iscomposed of 23 Dual Core Pentium D 3.0-GHz machines, each with one gigabyte ofmemory and a 17" LCD monitor. Students now have an improved hands-on-experience with great software titles like LabVIEW 8, Mathcad 13, Solidworks/Cosmos2006, Matlab 2006,Autocad 2007, Office 2003,ArcGIS 9.1, Manifold 7, and high-speedaccess to the internet. We have also added a new ceiling-mounted projector, a screen,and an instructor’s podium so that faculty can lead classes in software instruction. Thiseffort is part of the Department’s continuing plan to bring the latest computingtechnology to our students.

Dr. Adamchuk demonstrates precision agriculture software in the new computer lab configuration.

Big changesin the BSE Computer Lab

AnnualSpring Banquet

Awards RecognitionFriday,

April 20, 2007

Plan NowFor your calendar:

Visiting ScholarDr. Abbas Hemmat isvisiting from IsfahanUniversity of Technologyfor nine months. In hishome department ofAgricultural MachineryEngineering, his researchfocuses on tillage andplanting systems forirrigated and dryland cropproduction, and on site-

specific tillage. He is working with Dr. SlavaAdamchuk developing a tillage implement tobreak through the hard pan formed fromrepeated plowing. A plow pan can impedecrop root development and the depth of theplow pan might not be uniform throughoutthe field, making it difficult and laborintensive to identify and break. A tool that canadjust to the varying depths of a pan wouldreduce energy, ensure that the pan is brokenthroughout the field, and allow a farmer tomake adjustments on the go.Dr. Hemmat is working to accurately locatethe depth of the pan using a mechanical soilstrength sensor.

He received his B.S. degree in AgriculturalEngineering from Tabriz University in Tabriz,Iran, his M.S. degree at the University ofCalifornia-Davis, and his Ph.D. fromCranfield University in England. We welcomeDr.Hemmat and his family to Nebraska.

In his research,

In this issue of theNewsletter we bringyou up to date onhappenings in theBiological SystemsE n g i n e e r i n gD e p a r t m e n t , a n dinform you about some

of our research and extension activitiesrelated to water. In future issues we willhighlight other emphasis areas. We also saygood–bye to graduating students and Dr.Leonard Bashford, and hello to incomingstudents and Dr. Roger Hoy, the newDirector of the Nebraska Tractor Test Lab.On August 31, 2006, Dr. Leonard Bashfordretired after more than 30 years as a facultymember at the University of Nebraska – hewill be missed in the Department.

Over the past year we saw the graduation ofeight Agricultural Engineering students, 16Biological Systems Engineering students,and 18 Mechanized Systems Managementstudents who received their bachelor’sdegrees; five students received theirmaster’s degrees, and two students receivedtheir doctoral degrees. Our currentundergraduate enrollment is 34 students inAgricultural Engineering (down 8%), 110in Biological Systems Engineering (up18%), and 73 in Mechanized SystemsManagement (up 7%). Maintainingstrong enrollment in each program is veryimportant to us, and we would like tosolicit your continuing help in recruitingstudents to our programs.

Ron Yoder

Ron YoderDepartment Head

From theDepartment Head

B i o l o g i c a l S y s t e m s E n g i n e e r i n g , U n i v e r s i t y o f N e b r a s k a

As population increases, water resourcesbecome stressed and environmentalproblems become tougher to solve.Multiple stressors often threaten ageographic region across many levels.Agricultural production and communityactivities all affect the environment andwater resources of Nebraska, and each ofthese stressors operates on differenttemporal and spatial scales. Mitigatingone problem requires understanding howit relates to others, and engineers mustconsider social and economic impacts,not just environmental issues, whendetermining best solutions to water andenv ironmental problems. Otherenvironmental and water resources issuessuch as drought can span massivegeographic regions, with potentiallydevastating effects on the economy, theenvironment, and numerous ecosystems.To u n d e r s t a n d a n d t a c k l e t h eproblems—and to mitigate damage fromfuture events—scientists and engineersneed integrated, real-time data andsophisticated simulation models forcatchments, streams, watersheds,aquifers, communities, and citiesthroughout a given region.

I am involved in a National ScienceFoundation (NSF) initiative termed theCollaborative Large-scale EngineeringAnalysis Network for EnvironmentalResearch (CLEANER) program with afocus on expanding the toolbox ofenvironmental engineering beyond thelaboratory or single, small-field sites inorder to solve complex modern water andenvironment problems. Solutionsrequire collecting and integratingmassive amounts of data and the input ofsociologists, educators, industry, policymakers, and the general public, inaddition to engineers. Modern problemsrequire modern approaches andtechnology to solve them.

I have been working with the CLEANERCyberinfrastructure Committee for thepast year, and am currently Chair of thenewly formed Modeling Committee.

These two committees, along with others,have been tasked by the CLEANER ProjectOffice to form the vision for the CLEANERnetwork initiative. The network isenvisioned to include distributed sensornetworks, high bandwidth communicationsystems using the internet as a backbone,high performance computing systems, andextreme simulation and visualizationenvironments. Ultimately, this network willenable scientists to better understandnatural and human-stressed waterenvironment systems across multiple spaceand t ime scales , and to improvemanagement strategies over time as newdata are rece ived—fundamenta l lytransforming the field of environmental andwater resources engineering.

By July 2007, the CLEANER Project Office,in coordination with the Consortium ofUniversities for Advancement of HydrologicScience, Inc. (CUAHSI), will produce awater environment engineering and scienceplan that defines the key scientific questionsthat CLEANER will focus on: an overallnetwork design that includes research andeducation plans, timelines, milestones, andthe scope of facilities, resources, andrequired research. To accomplish this feat,the Project Office has formed committees onc y b e r i n f r a s t r u c t u r e , e d u c a t i o n ,environmental engineering and science,organization, sensors, social science andeconomics, and simulation modeling.Ultimately, the plan will lay the foundationfor a new, “big science and engineeringinfrastructure,” that will transform the waywater and environmental research andeducation are conducted, and will provejoint CLEANER-Hydrologic Observatoriesworthy of Major Research Equipment andFacilities Construction (MREFC) fundingin 2011.

The Department of Biological SystemsEngineering is pleased to be involved in thisexciting NSF initiative, and helping to shapethe future for a transformation of water andenvironmental research and education at thenational scale. For more information on theproject,please visit: cleaner.ncsa.uiuc.edu.

National Science Foundation InitiativeMoving to Transform Water andEnvironment Research By Wayne Woldt

Ron Yoder . . . . . . . . . . . . EditorGail Ogden . . . . . . . . . . . . Editorial CoordinatorSheila Smith . . . . . . . . . . .Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . Wayne Woldt, Dean Eisenhauer,. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Eileen Curtis, Bruce Dvorak, Suat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Irmak, Garret Coffman, Bart Coffman

Graphics and Design

Biological Systems Engineering Newsletter


The University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s internationally known NebraskaTractor Test Lab has a new director. Roger M. Hoy, a former staff engineerwith the John Deere Product Engineering Center in Waterloo, Iowa,assumed leadership of the lab on September 1. Hoy replaced LeonardBashford,who retired.

“We are pleased that UNL successfully attracted an individual with Dr.Hoy’s experience to fill the director position. In recent years, Dr. Bashfordhas broadened the areas of testing by the lab—for example, testingconstruction equipment and alternative fuels—and we know that Rogerwill continue to strengthen the testing and research that is done at the lab,”said department head Dr. Ron Yoder. He noted that Hoy is involved inorganizations such as the American Society of Agricultural and BiologicalEngineers and the International Organization for Standardization. He’salso recognized internationally as an expert in roll-over protectionstructures and has broad experience as a project manager.

“He has an excellent background to take on the challenges of directing theNebraska Tractor Test Lab,” Yoder said. “The lab works closely withstudents with an interest in machine design and testing and Roger’sexpertise and experience will be an asset for classroom instruction and foradvising student research or design projects.We are certain this hire willcontinue to foster the strong relationship that has developed between theNebraska Tractor Test Lab and our industry partners,” Yoder added.

Hoy had been with John Deere since 1999. He also spent four years asmanager of product development at Hennessy Industries Inc. and fouryears as development manager at Jacobs Vehicle Equipment Co. Hoyearned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering from the Universityof Georgia and his master’s and doctorate degrees in agriculturalengineering from North Carolina State University.

Hoy began working part-time at the lab this summer, and joined theuniversity full-time this fall. In addition to serving as the lab’s director, Hoyalso will conduct research, work on standards development, and teach andmentor students.

The Nebraska Tractor Test Lab was founded in 1920, spurred by statelegislation that required any tractor sold in Nebraska to be tested to makesure it met its maker’s claims. The lab’s importance grew as tractors madein other countries also began to be tested here. In the 1980s, the lab becamean official testing station for the Paris-based international Organizationfor Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), increasing the lab’sprominence. This spring, the lab distributed performance reports for 84tractor models — 23 of them tested at UNL during 2005, with the otherstested at other OECD stations.Visit the Nebraska Tractor Test Lab website:tractortestlab.unl.edu/

Daniel Moser, IANR News Service

NebraskaTractor Test LabWelcomes NewDirector

ASABE AwardsThe annual meeting of the American Society ofAgricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE), held inPortland, Oregon, in July of this year, was an opportunityfor Society members to share news and ideas. Several of ourfaculty received recognition for their research and service

, adjunct professor and agriculturalengineer and Research Leader, USDA/AgriculturalResearch Service at the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center,was elected as an ASABE Fellow.

was recognized for developing standards inManure Production and Characteristics. Rick also receivedan ASABE Presidential Citation for his work on thestandard.

and Dale Heermann also received PresidentialCitations. Dale, a department alumnus, was recentlyinducted into the department Hall of Fame (See story onpage 7). Roger Hoy is the new Director of the NebraskaTractor Test Laboratory.

Finite Element Modeling and Experimental Validation ofCooling Rates of Large Ready-to-Eat Meat Products inSmall Meat-Processing Facilities

Blue Ribbon Winner

Using Modified Atmometers (ET gage) for IrrigationManagement (NebGuide)

Blue Ribbon Winner JohnLawrence, Mark Risse, Tommy Bass,Agricultural Environment Management Systems

(BSE emeritus), Bill Koenig, KathyWalker, Jack Moore, Letitia Wetterauer, Susan Lucke, KrisWilson—MidWest Plan Service (MWPS)Wiring Handbook for Rural Facilities

J.W. Jones, and S.S. JagtapEvaluation of the CROPGRO-Soybean Model forAssessing Climate Impacts on Regional Soybean Yields

D.L. Reinemann, N.E. Laughlin, S.D.LeMireWater, Feed, and Milk Production Response to DairyCattle Exposed to Transient Currents

John Nienaber

Rick Koelsch

Roger Hoy

Alejandro Amézquita, Lijun Wang, and Curtis Weller

Suat Irmak, Jose Payero, andDerrel Martin

Jill Heemstra, Rick Koelsch,Jamie Benning

LaVerne Stetson

Ayse Irmak,

LaVerne Stetson,

Superior Paper

Publications: Factsheet

Publications: Bulletins

Publications: Manuals or Workbooks

Honorable Mention Paper Awards

this year. Roger Hoy


1970s

1980s

1990s

Cezar de Mello Mesquita

Randy Carlson

Kevin Power

Garret Perrin

Priya Nataraj

Easton Eggers

Melissa Halverson

(1978,M.S., AGEN; 1989, Ph.D., AGEN)received the Frederico de MenezesVeiga Award in 2006, the mostprestigious award for agriculturalresearch from Embrapa in Brazil.The award recognized hisscientific and technological workin designing a small- to medium-sized innovative row harvestmachine that can be attached to at r a c t o r . T h e m o d u l a rcharacteristic of the equipmentalso allows it to be configured as am u l t i - r o w, s e l f - p r o p e l l e dharvester to attend bigger areas.This equipment harvests soybeans, dry edible beans, rice, wheat, and other grains with lessbreakage and invisible mechanical damage, and with significant reduction in materialother than grain. It’s socio-economic potential will benefit smaller agricultural operationsworldwide, and it should be ready for market sometime in 2007. Cezar has also been avisiting scholar in the department and is recently retired from Embrapa.

(1985, B.S., AGEN) is a Senior Manufacturing Quality Engineer with BorgWarner Turbo in the Emissions division. He has also worked in mass productionautomation development and processing for other automotive companies, such as Ford.Some of his department memories are of working on the beginnings of the Lester LarsenTractor Test Museum and of welding equipment in the machine shop. A bit too far away tomake football games or play for the Alumni day,Randy lives in Dixon, Illinois.

(1987, B.S., AGEN) owns KPE Consulting Engineers, Inc., in Bellevue,Nebraska. In 2005 the company received the MidAmerican Energy’s Energy Design ProjectTeam Award,and the 2006 Bellevue Chamber of Commerce Business of theYear Award.

(1998,B.S.,BSEN) is a Special Agent for the FBI on the east coast.

(2001, B.S., BSEN) works for Stratatech Corporation, a small, but growing,biotech company in Madison, Wisconsin. The company is working with engineering skintissue for skin grafting purposes. She is involved in R & D for the process and in productionto validate the engineering.The company is currently beginning phase I in clinical trials.

(2003, B.S., MSYM) is employed with Golden Harvest as a District SalesManager. He is based in Wayne, Nebraska. He was honored to be chosen for the Circle ofExcellence in his first year, one of only six selected in the Western corn belt. Members of theCircle of Excellence help management make decisions for the upcoming year. Easton also

(2004, B.S., BSEN; 2006, M.S., BSEN) received her master’s inenvironmental engineering this summer, and is now working for Burns & McDonnell inDenver, Colorado.

Paul Hottovy (1984, B.S., MSYM) lives in Lincoln and is a District Business Manager forNew Holland Construction Equipment, a division of Case New Holland. He providesbusiness management and product sales direction to 28 New Holland Constructiondealerships in Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, and Colorado. Paul also recently participated in apanel to share ideas about the scope and future of the MSYM program.

band on

participated in a panel to share ideas about the scope and future of the MSYM program.

2000s

Alumni News

Cezar and his wife Sonia were joined by their three sons anddaughter-in-law at the ceremony.

Send your alumni updates via the web:bse.unl.edu/contact/Alumni%20contact.htm

We bid farewell to the following studentsand wish them all the best now that theyhave graduated and are either continuingtheir education, or beginning a new career.

(Kearney, NE)

(Lagos, Nigeria)(Hastings, NE)

, M.S. Agricultural andBiological Systems Engineering, Industrialand Management Systems Engineering

, M.S. Mechanized SystemsManagement. Thesis: Field Slope Effects onUniformity of Corn Seed Spacing forThree Precision Planter Metering Systems

, Ph.D. Engineering.Dissertation: Fish and InvertebrateAbundance in Relation to Abiotic Factorsin the Missouri River

Agricultural Engineering

Biological Systems Engineering

Graduate Students

Brandon Wyant

Oluwatosin AdekoyaChristopher Artz

Ashish Maheshwari

Corey Searle

Christopher Hay

AugustGraduation

Joining CASNRAA for $20 per year entitlesyou to receive the fall and spring issues ofClass Acts and The Sower—publicationsproviding current information about theCollege and our Alums. You will be invitedto our annual Football Reunion and receivethe quarterly Online Sower. To obtain a freebrochure about CASNRAA, contact PaulHorton, 103 Ag Hall, Lincoln, NE 68583-0702; or,email [email protected].

College of Agricultural Sciencesand Natural Resources AlumniAssociation (CASNRAA)

I participated in a Faculty Development Leave at theBiolog ical and Agr icultural Engineer ingDepartment at Kansas State University from Januarythrough June 2006. My faculty hosts included Drs.James Koelliker and Phil Barnes. While at K-State Iworked on two research projects dealing with thehydrology of prairie and agricultural watersheds.One theme of my work was that byobserving the hydrology of prairieecosystems we can learn more about howto achieve water resources sustainability.K-State afforded a great opportunity forthis because only 10 miles south ofManhattan is the Konza Prairie BiologicalStation, an 8,600-acre tallgrass prairielocated in the Kansas Flint Hills. KonzaPrairie Biological Station is owned by TheNature Conservancy and Kansas StateUniversity and operated as a field researchstation by the K-State Division of Biology.The station is dedicated to a three-foldmission of long-term ecological research,education, and prairie conservation. It is aunique outdoor laboratory that providesopportunities for the study of tallgrassprairie ecosystems. Dr. Koelliker has beenconducting hydrologic research at this sitefor more than 20 years. My goal was tolearn more about the hydrology of thisprairie system and contrast the hydrologyto that of the Nebraska Sand Hills.

The ground and surface water resources in many parts of Kansasand Nebraska have been highly developed, especially foragricultural irrigation. Ground water and stream flow depletion inlocalized areas of these states suggests that the current level ofdevelopment is not sustainable in these areas given the prevailingagricultural water management practices. Essentially all groundwater and stream flow depletion occurs in agricultural cropproducing areas. Interestingly, there are also localized areas inNebraska where water resources depletion is not evident, evenwhere irrigation development is very intense. Why is that? Why dosome regions show depletions and others do not? Undoubtedly theanswer lies in the relationship between evapotranspiration (wateruse) of vegetated surfaces and local precipitation, and how thisrelationship compares to a sustainable system. The hypothesis ofmy research was that natural ecosystems, which are inherently inbalance with the available water resources and thus are sustainable(assuming of course that the climate does not change), could serveas models for water resources management in managedecosystems. Table 1 shows a summary of the hydrology of the twoprairie systems that I studied.

Hydrologic Studies inPrairie and Agricultural WatershedsGleanings from a Faculty Development Leave

By learning more about how water is partitioned atthe earth’s surface in natural ecosystems of an area,we can better understand how to create a sustainableagroecosystem in the same region.

The second research project that I worked on duringmy leave dealt with the agricultural hydrology in theRepublican River Basin of Colorado, Kansas, and

Nebraska. I am currently cooperating withDrs.Derrel Martin and Ayse Irmak at UNLand Drs. James Koelliker and Phil Barnesat K-State on a project that pertains to theimpact of agricultural water conservationpractices on stream flow in the RepublicanRiver in Nebraska and Kansas. The U.S.Bureau of Reclamation is funding the five-year project. During my leave Icoordinated the establishment of five fieldresearch sites, two in northwest Kansasand three in southwest Nebraska. Four ofthe sites are on farmer-owned land andone site is at the Kansas State Research andDevelopment Center at Colby, Kansas. Atthese sites we installed instrumentationneeded to monitor precipitation, runoff,evapotranspiration, soil water content,and percolation. In addition, we measuredthe infiltration characteristics at each siteand obtained soil cores to a depth of 25feet at each site to quantify water

movement below crop root zones. All sites are terraced and are indryland eco-fallow crop production. The data from these sites willhelp us determine how local precipitation is partitioned intoevapotranspiration and streamflow in these drylandagroecosytems.

The projects that I worked on during this leave will lead to futurecollaborative research on how to manage water for sustainabilitywhile using this valuable resource for food production. K-State wasthe right place for this Faculty Development Leave because of theKonza Prairie site and because of our joint project in the RepublicanRiver Basin.

by Dean E. Eisenhauer

B i o l o g i c a l S y s t e m s E n g i n e e r i n g , U n i v e r s i t y o f N e b r a s k aB i o l o g i c a l S y s t e m s E n g i n e e r i n g , U n i v e r s i t y o f N e b r a s k aB i o l o g i c a l S y s t e m s E n g i n e e r i n g , U n i v e r s i t y o f N e b r a s k a

Page 5Page 5

Kansas Flint HillsKonza Prairie,

Manhattan, Kansas

Nebraska Sand HillsDismal River,

Thedford, NebraskaAnnual Precipitation (in.) 32.9 20.9

Annual Water Yield(Stream Flow) (in.)

7.7 2.9

Percent of Stream Flow fromGround Water (Baseflow)

54 98

Actual AnnualEvapotranspiration (in.)

25.2 18.0

Brian Twombly (undergraduate BSEN) and Shannon Rose Bates(undergraduate AGEN) assisted Dr. Eisenhauer with research inthe Republican River Basin in Kansas. They used this Cornellinfiltrometer to simulate rainfall and measure water infiltration.

Konza Prairie

Table 1. Hydrology of Two Prairie Ecosystems

The Field Day was held on September 6, 2006, at the UNLARDC-Mead. The main theme of the Field Day was to transferinformation to participants on irrigation water and energyconservation strategies. The program was organized by KeithGlewen, Extension Educator in Saunders County, incoordination with the BSE Irrigation Specialists and TheNebraska Corn Board.

There were four break-out sessions, 80 minutes each, thatparticipants were able to attend:

1. Demonstration of soil water measurementtechnologies – Suat Irmak

2. Evapotranspiration measurements – Derrel Martin3. Furrow irrigation management – Dean Yonts4. Sprinkler package selection: Above and In-Canopy

Demonstration – Bill Kranz

Participants were exposed to learning newer technologiesand/or strategies that could help them in their farmmanagement practices to save water and reduce energy costs tomaximize their net return.

Irrigation and Energy Conservation Field DayBy Suat Irmak

Many businesses do not have thetime or resources to learn about themost current technologies availableto help them minimize waste. Thisis a niche that the UNL Partners inPo l l u t i o n Pre ve n t i o n ( P 3 )internship program has filled forthe past ten years. Student internsoffer technical assistance to small-to medium-sized businesses byconducting assessments of wastestreams and then developingsuggestions to minimize waste generation and to make operationsmore sustainable. The P3 program is sponsored by UNL Extension,the UNL College of Engineering, the Nebraska Department ofEnvironmental Quality, and the U.S. Environmental ProtectionAgency.

From 1997–2006, 134 P3 interns have helped 377 businesses saveover $14.8 million through waste reduction and conservation ofenergy and resources. To celebrate this success, a 10th anniversaryluncheon was held on August 8 in the Nebraska East CampusUnion. Chet McLaughlin of the U.S. EPA Region 7 office gave thekeynote address on“Sustainability: Power for the Future.”

A total of 80 people participated in the program. This table showsthe background of the participants who filled out questionnaires.

“When this program was started in1997, I did not imagine that it wouldbe this popular with students, andsuccessful at providing benefits forbusiness,” said Bruce Dvorak,associate professor of CivilEngineering and Biological SystemsEngineering. “It is front-endenvironmentalism because itattacks the causes of pollutionproblems before they are aproblem,”he said.

An average of 15 interns from fivee n g i n e e r i n g m a j o r s f r o m

colleges/universities in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouriparticipate in the statewide program each summer. Internscomplete two weeks of training before spending nine weeksproviding assistance to clients. During the summer of 2006, 15students fanned out across Nebraska and worked in Kearney,Columbus, Lincoln, Omaha, Central City, York, and other townsnear Lincoln.

The P3 program has no full-time technical staff, but relies ongraduate students, part-time staff, and faculty to assist clients indeveloping projects, and on student interns to deliver assistance.For more information about the UNL P3 program:www.p3.unl.edu/index.shtml.

P3–Ten Years

Summer interns and staff for P3 in 2006


# %Farmer 28 48%

Independent Crop Consultant 10 17%Agribusiness Representative 16 28%

Public Agency Representative 2 3%Other 2 3%

All participants provided very good feedback about the program.More than 50% of the participants stated that they plan toimprove their management based on knowledge and/or skillslearned in the sessions. More than 25% of the participantsexpressed that they will definitely plan to improve theirmanagement practices and adopt some of the new technologiesthey learned from the program.

This program was one of the many series of programs that havebeen conducted in the state. Winter programs will be conductedto transfer information to users about how to make cropproduction more profitable, and similar topics will be covered.

Born and raised in Scribner, Nebraska,Dale Heermann received his B.S. inagricultural engineering at UNL duringwhich time he was also a student traineewith USDA ARS. After graduating, heserved in the U.S. Air Force from1959–1962 and earned the rank of FirstLieutenant.After his military service, Dalemoved to Fort Collins, Colorado, andbegan graduate study in agriculturalengineering at Colorado State University,where he received both a masters (1964)and a doctorate (1968). After graduation, he joined theUSDA ARS in Ft. Collins, and became Research Leaderof the Water Management Unit in 1981.

As a leader in promoting improved irrigationmanagement throughout the U.S. and the world, someof his notable work includes deriving the mathematicalformulas to describe the hydraulics of center pivotirrigation systems, and development of a computerprogram for center pivot evaluation and design that wasincorporated into the USDA NRCS national toolbox.The methodology he derived for computing theuniformity of irrigation by center pivots wasincorporated into both U.S. and InternationalStandards. In 1969, he pioneered computer irrigationscheduling technology for center pivots based on localweather data and irrigation application depth. In 1980,Dale led a team that integrated irrigation schedulingtechnology into computerized controls for centerpivots, and worked closely with industry to successfullytransfer that technology to the marketplace.Over the

p a s t d e c a d e , h e h a s l e d a ninterdisciplinary team of ARS engineers,CSU scientists, and industry cooperatorsin a major project to integrate water,weed, pest, fertility, and economicsciences with state-of-the-art technologyto assist farmers with interpreting spatialc ro p y i e l d m a p s a n d to w r i teprescriptions for site specific farmingusing moving sprinkler irrigationsystems.

A recognized international authority oncenter pivot irrigation and precision farming, he hasbeen an invited advisor in Saudi Arabia, England, TheNetherlands, Israel, Portugal, Belgium, China, andChile. Dale has published more than 150 technicalpapers and made more than 100 technical presentationsat national and international meetings. He is a memberof four national academic honorary societies, and hasalso been recognized as: Irrigation Association’s Man ofthe Year in 1985; Alumnus of the Year in 1988 fromCSU’s College of Engineering; the John Deere GoldMedal recipient in 1990 and election as a Society Fellowin 1991, both from ASABE, and as team leader by theU.S. Department of Energy in 1994 with the nationalWater and Energy Conservation Award. In 1996, Dalereceived the Native Son award from his hometown. TheU.S. Secretary of Agriculture presented him with theSecretary’s Superior Service Award in 2002. Dale alsoserved on a National Academy of Science panel thatdeveloped the report, Future of Irrigation in the Face ofCompeting Demands and Water Quality Constraints.He retired from USDA ARS in May 2005.

We welcome visitors to view the Biological Systems Engineering Hall of Fame

Biological Systems EngineeringUniversity of Nebraska–Lincoln

Hall of Fame

B i o l o g i c a l S y s t e m s E n g i n e e r i n g , U n i v e r s i t y o f N e b r a s k a Page 5B i o l o g i c a l S y s t e m s E n g i n e e r i n g , U n i v e r s i t y o f N e b r a s k a Page 5B i o l o g i c a l S y s t e m s E n g i n e e r i n g , U n i v e r s i t y o f N e b r a s k a

Foyer ofL. W. Chase Hall

East CampusUniversity of Nebraska–Lincoln

Dale Heermann

Vegetative Treatment SystemsHelp Small Livestock ProducersControl Animal WasteKalee OlsonIANR News Service

EXTENSION NEWS

Leadership Education

Bit-by-bit and class-by-class, extensionproject manager workedon continuing her education. Herperseverance paid off this past Maywhen she received a master’s degree inLeadership Education, with aspecialization in distance education.

and arethe proud parents of PetroViacheslavovych, their son, born in June.

andwelcomed their daughter Kathryn, bornin July.

and welcomed theirsecond son, Grant, in August.

(and her

husband, Marcus, welcomed ThomasMichael (their third son), who was bornin October.

Congratulations to each ofthese families.

Jan Hygnstrom

Viacheslav Kateryna Adamchuk

Alan Boldt Carla McCullough

Rick Amy Stowell

Tami Brown-Brandl

Future Engineers?

U.S. Meat AnimalResearch Center in Clay Center)


UNL Service AwardsYears of service to the University wereacknowledged at the annual State of theUniversity function in September.

Gary DeBergRene GellatlyLeonita Masek

Paul Jasa

30 years

25 years

15 years

5 years

Wayne Woldt

Garret CoffmanMonte ShomakerRichard StowellYiqi Yang

“A vegetative treatmentsystem is a multi-stepsystem used to control

livestock wasterun-off ”

The University of Nebraska-LincolnE x t e n s i o n L i v e s t o c k P r o d u c e rEnv ironmental Ass is tance Projectcontinues to help small livestock producersm a k e t h e i r o p e r a t i o n s m o r eenvironmentally friendly.

With its second tour in six years, the projectpromoted methods to minimize the impactof livestock manure on the environment,said , UNL Biological SystemsEngineer.“Vegetative treatment systems areexcellent solutions for small- to medium-sized open lot livestock feeding operations.They are composed of a solids settling basin,an outlet structure, and a vegetativetreatment area. The treatment area replacesthe need for a conventional holding pondtypically used in feedlots.”

About 85 participantsfrom six states attended aday-long tour to learnmore about the benefitsof vegetative treatments y s t e m s f o r s m a l llivestock operations.Participants visited fivesites across southeasternNebraska and discussedsystem designs and how producers hope tocontribute to a cleaner environment in thefuture.

UNL Extension’s Livestock ProducerEnvironmental Assistance Project, a groupformed to promote alternative methods ofminimizing the impact of livestock on theenvironment, developed the tour to informparticipants about vegetative treatmentsystems and the environmental challengessmall producers face. “The projects wedesign and build are examples forproducers, regulators, and technical serviceproviders to evaluate and learn from. Manyof our solutions are contrary to traditionalthinking and practice for run-off control,”said Henry.

“A vegetative treatment system is a multi-step system used to control livestock waste

Chris Henry

run-off,” Henry said. The system collectsthe run-off and separates solids fromliquids. The liquids are stored in the rootzone of the vegetation until the plants inthe treatment area can use the nutrients.Because the producer can control thetiming of release, either by a pump or avalve, run-off entering the treatment areais evenly distributed, and little or no run-off should leave the treatment system andpollute streams or groundwater.“Regardless of environmental impacts,vegetative treatment systems areappealing to producers for other reasonsas well,” Henry said.“Although producersare responsible for the labor involved,management is relatively simple and lossof productive land is minimized becausehay can be harvested from the treatmentarea,”he said.

Between the vegetativetreatment system sitestops, presentationsw e r e g i v e n b yrepresentatives frompartner organizationsincluding the NebraskaD e p a r t m e n t o fEnvironmental Quality,N e b r a s k a

Environmental Trust, Kansas StateUn i v e r s i t y, Na t u r a l Re s o u r c e sConservation Service, and the U.S.Department of Agriculture, AgriculturalResearch Service. The presentationsprovided participants with updates fromindividual organizations and relatedresearch, as well as background on othervegetative treatment systems not visitedon the tour. The project and tour weresponsored through a grant from theNebraska Environmental Trust. The trustis funded by proceeds from the NebraskaLottery and private donations, and hasawarded more than $100 million toconservation projects in Nebraska since1994. Read more about VegetativeTreatment Systems:afo.unl.edu/lpeapj/pages/index.jsp

B i o l o g i c a l S y s t e m s E n g i n e e r i n g , U n i v e r s i t y o f N e b r a s k a Page 5B i o l o g i c a l S y s t e m s E n g i n e e r i n g , U n i v e r s i t y o f N e b r a s k a Page 5B i o l o g i c a l S y s t e m s E n g i n e e r i n g , U n i v e r s i t y o f N e b r a s k a

Jon Niebuhr, Tim Mattson, Bart Coffman, Tyler Saatman, Jake Marotz. Colby Gardine, Brad Salter, Brian Twombly,Bethany Barber, Paige Mathew.Back row, left to right: Front row, left to right:

Vice Chancellor John Owens, faculty member Jeyam Subbiah,and Associate Vice Chancellor Susan Fritz served up ice cream.

Ice Cream Social &Scholarship RecognitionOn a bright crisp Tuesday afternoon, September 19, four days before the officialbeginning of fall, the annual ice cream social and scholarship recognition was heldon the front lawn of L. W. Chase Hall. Distinguished scoopers included NU VicePresident and IANR HarlanVice Chancellor John Owens, Associate ViceChancellor Susan Fritz, and Associate Dean of the Agricultural Research Division,Z B Mayo.Receiving scholarships through the department were:

Case New Holland

Paul E. and Mary Beth Fischbach and

Family

Mr. and Mrs. W. F. Hoppe, Sr. Memorial

Lloyd W. and Margaret V. Hurlbut

Memorial

Leslie and Harriet Jochens

John Deere Mentor

Bart Coffman

Jonathan Hazen

Jonathan Niebuhr

Tyler Saatmann

DelShawn Brown

Kimberly Grieb

Craig Brester

Paige Mathew

Allison Smith

Whitney Brown

Lisa Karel

Michaela McBride

Jonathan Sallach

Ryan Brott

Steven Fleer

Michael Hauger

Fred R. Nohavec

Warren P. Person Memorial

George Milo Petersen

Edgar Rogers Memorial

Leonard G. Schoenleber

William E. and Eleanor L. Splinter

John Sulek Memorial

Elenore Gakemeier Swarts

Distinguished Scholarship

Violetta Balayan

Grant Janousek

Ross Miller

Dane Mosel

Timothy Mattson

Jordan Carlson

Crystal Bryan

Bethany Barber

Kelsey Nordhues

Tyler Ruf

Robert Corn

Megan Krause

Erica Levorson

Leroy W. and Jean E. Thom

Tom Thompson Memorial

Wayne E. and Virginia R. Thurman

Ken Von Bargen

Ivan D. Wood Memorial

Shannon Bates

Clayton Bramble

Joshua Dodson

Luke Freeouf

Landon Heinrichs

Joseph Holoubek

Jamison Kaliff

Isaiah LaRue

Weldon (Jake) Marotz

Benjamin Robison

Brian Twombly

Michael Bierle

Benjamin Carlson

Shannon Killion

Issac Mortensen

Bradley Salber

Colby Gardine

Kurt Petersen

Adam Flaugh

Austin Merz

Kyle Wollenburg


Student NewsTwo of our students received Husker Harvest Days agriculturescholarships from the Nebraska Farmer and the Grand Islandbased Agriculture Institute of Nebraska. Congratulations to

(MSYM, Wood River) and(AGEN,Holdrege).

, an MSYM student from Burwell, Nebraska,received a scholarship from the Meat Industry Suppliers Alliance.The scholarship was awarded based on an interest in the meatprocessing industry. Kurt has found his classes in MSYMapplicable to this field.

The Distinguished Fellowship Award Luncheon, hosted by theAgricultural Research Division, CASNR, and IANR, recognizesgraduate students for their research and scholarship.

received the Widaman Trust Distinguished GraduateAssistant Award. , and

each received a John and Louise SkalaFellowship

and , both Biological SystemsEngineering majors, are editing the hard copy and online versionsof , the College of Engineering newsletter forstudents.

The UCARE Program provides students opportunities to assistfaculty in a variety of research projects. This fall, the followingstudents from our department are participating.

Hydrologic Effects of Conservation Systems onGroundwater Recharge and Deep PercolationFaculty sponsor: Dean Eisenhauer

Hyperspectral Imaging of Fractured TeethFaculty sponsor: Gregory Bashford

Evaluating Performance of Tractor CVT’s UnderDynamicallyVarying LoadsFaculty sponsor: Michael Kocher

Determination of Small-scaleVariability of Soil pHUsing a Portable ProbeFaculty sponsor:Viacheslav Adamchuk

Determination of Yolk Contamination in Egg Whiteby Near Infrared SpectroscopyFaculty sponsor: Jeyamkondan Subbiah

Effect of Sorghum on the Metabolism of CholesterolFaculty sponsor: Curt Weller

Michael Rennau Justin Vonasek

Kurt Peterson

KaraNiemeir

Ajay Kumar, Heartwin PushpadassGovindarajan Suresh Babu

Brian Watt Martin Gakuria

Brian Twombly

Prakash Chapain

Bart Coffman

Joshua Dodson

Isaac Mortensen

Rachelle Struebing

Blueprint Weekly

Quarter-scale TractorBy Bart Coffman

The ASABE International Quarter-Scale Competition hostscolleges and universities from across the United States and theworld. Teams compete in events such as maneuverability,serviceability, manufacturability, safety, and ergonomics, as well asperformance pulls. Each team must also create a written designreport and a production cost analysis, and present their design in anoral presentation.

The UNL Quarter-Scale Tractor Team traveled to Peoria, Illinois,last June to participate in the 2006 International Quarter-ScaleCompetition. The team performed well, placing fourth in theoverall competition among 29 teams. The team also received thirdplace in the oral report category and second in the CampbellScientific judging, which rewards the use of testing and dataacquisition. The UNL X-Team also performed well, receivingsecond place on the modifications they made to last year’s tractorand returning it to competition.

The 2007 competition rules will be released soon, and the team islooking forward to a new design, and to competing in Illinois again.Participating in the Quarter-Scale Team is a great opportunity forstudents to gain hands-on, real-world experience applying theengineering principles being learned in their classes. The team is anextracurricular activity for its members, and is funded entirely bydonations from individuals and businesses. The Quarter ScaleTeam greatly appreciates the support that makes its existencepossible. For more information, visit the team’s website atbse.unl.edu/qrtrscale/.

Team members who attended the competitionare, from left to right: Chris Junck, Kevin Tacke,Mark Tieszen, Brian Stahlecker, Bart Coffman,Tim Mattson, and Grant Janousek.


Alan Boldt was recognized as IANR’s Outstanding Employee of theMonth in September for his consistent quality and service to thedepartment. The first of his two primary departmentalresponsibilities is to assist with project management of researchconducted by our department’s soil and water faculty. This includesassisting with planning/organization of the research, assistinggraduate students, purchasing or fabricating equipment, installingequipment, data collection, and quality control. His secondresponsibility is the management and setup of teaching labs,maintaining lab equipment, and overseeing safety concerns in thesoil and water laboratory.

Left to right: Ron Yoder; Vice Chancellor John Owens; daughter, JessicaCurtis; Chancellor Harvey Perlman; Eileen Curtis; Regent Howard Hawks;and son, Brent Curtis.

Alan is congratulated by Dr. Gary Cunningham,the Dean of the Agricultural Research Division.

Lincoln native is our new AccountingClerk III. She has one grown son and has worked inaccounting for the past 30 years. Ella is attendingmany training sessions and thanks everyone fortheir patience as she learns the procedures of theuniversity accounting system. An avid reader, shealso enjoys crossword puzzles and collectselephants,Tweety’s,and candles.

long time Accounting Clerk III in the department

moved to the Office of Research Management.

a secretary in the IAPC, has moved with herfamily to Colorado,where her husband has a new job.

retired on August 31.Recognition of his career as Director of theNebraska Tractor Test Laboratory, and his workwith agricultural engineering students over theyears, provided many fond memories at thereception held in the East Union. His legacycontinues through the many professionals hehelped educate. And though retired, don’t look forhim to be resting on his laurels, or anything else:Leonard and his wife Karen are living on a farmnear Seward,Nebraska.

Ella Carson

Belinda Gillam,

Melissa Mathews,

Dr. Leonard Bashford

received a promotion as Project Specialist for Sponsored ProgramsPost-Awards and

is now secretary for the IndustrialAgricultural Products Center (IAPC). A Lincolnnative, she attended both Nebraska Wesleyan andSoutheast Community College, and focused herstudies on Human Services, and minored inAmerican Sign Language. Beth was the officemanager for Transfiguration, Inc., and is alsocurrently a part-time employee with Vital Services;

both companies serve individuals with developmental disabilities.She and her husband Justin adore their daughter Winsome.

has athe department working with Dr. Jeyam Subbiah.

Her Ph.D. is in pulsed electric field use in agriculturefor accelerated drying process of tobacco leavesfrom Rousse University in Ruse, Bulgaria. Shetaught and conducted research for two years atMcGill University in Montreal, Canada. Herresearch focused on pulsed electric field use in foodprocessing for pasteurization, extraction, and

drying.

is a Research Technicianin the Industrial Agricultural Products Center lab.She just completed her B.S. in Biology from UNLand has worked on soybean and plant genetics.Nancy has a passion for wildlife biology and enjoyssports and painting.

Beth Plants

Tanya Gachovska

Nancy Jimenez Gonzalez

postdoctoral appointmentin

Coming and Going

University Kudos AwardEileen Curtis, Department Secretary, received a University Kudosaward during the June meeting of the NU Regents. The purpose ofKudos awards, which are presented to non-faculty staff members, isto identify accomplishments and activities worthy of note and givedepartments the opportunity to recognize and honor exemplaryservice to the university. Eileen has worked at the university since1986,and was joined by her son and daughter at the ceremony.

IANR Outstanding Employee

Department ofBiological Systems Engineering223 L. W. Chase Hall

University of Nebraska LincolnLincoln, Nebraska 68583-0726

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The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is anequal opportunity educator and employerwith a comprehensive plan for diversity.

We appreciate all who have

established endowments, or

made contributions to funds

that support BSE programs.

For information about

establishing new endowed

funds, or contributing to

existing funds, contact

Ann Bruntz, NU Foundation,

402-472-0372 [email protected]

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