Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering

The Ohio State University is a national leader in undergraduate and graduate education in food, agricultural and biological engineering. We have a unique combination of exceptional new facilities, talented faculty and students, and challenging research programs, in association with outstanding faculty in both the College of Engineering and the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

Opportunities for Students

Graduate students in food, agricultural and biological engineering may pursue a master’s or doctoral degree and choose from five specializations, listed below with examples of research interests.

Soil and Water, Ecological, Environmental and Biological Engineering: water-table management systems, engineering design and modeling; watershed hydrology and modeling; runoff management, control and recycling; soil-water-plant relationships; treatment and application of wastes; bioremediation of contaminated soil and water; biofuel production systems; ecological engineering of agricultural systems; probabilistic methods; and engineering, ecological and geomorphological principles applied to design and management of drainage networks
Agricultural Systems Operations and Management: analysis of system costs and operation, management of production systems, machinery safety on farms and highways and occupational safety and health
Mechanical Systems Engineering: machinery systems used in precision agriculture, automatic guidance of agricultural vehicles, real-time sensors to measure soil characteristics, image processing, tillage and soil management systems, soil compaction, pest control technology, chemical application, process automation for field and specialty crops, high value crop mechanization systems and human factors and safety engineering
Food and Process Engineering: emerging technologies in sterilization/pasteurization, including ohmic heating, pulsed electric fields, ultra-high pressure processing; interaction of electricity with biomaterials; aseptic processing and packaging characteristics; extrusion; physical properties characterization with emphasis on phase transition in food systems; edible films and coating; pulsed electric field food processing; package sealing methods and integrity inspection; process automation; biological sensors and instrumentation; microbiological food safety related to processing and storage; and food product shelf life and quality
Plant and Animal Environment Engineering: controlled environment plant production; monitoring and assessment of impacts of animal production systems on air, water and soil; engineering environmentally friendly and sustainable animal production systems; composting and system parameter evaluation, modeling and optimization; treatment, management and application of animal wastes; air movement and quality at agricultural facilities; and fluid dynamics modeling of natural ventilation

About the Department

The department offers exciting opportunities to work with world-class researchers in the fields of food engineering, agricultural engineering and biological engineering. One of the greatest advantages to students in the department is their ability to tailor their programs to their specific areas of interest. The low faculty-to-student ratio of approximately 1-to-6 allows a great deal of personalized interaction.

Research

Students in the Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, an ABET-accredited program, reap the benefits of excellent teaching and state-of-the-art research facilities. A multidisciplinary approach to applied and engineering research is encouraged.

Research Thrusts

Agrichemical Application Technology
Agricultural Systems Engineering
Agricultural Wetlands and Ecological Engineering
Composting
Food and Process Engineering
Greenhouse Engineering
Precision Agriculture
Wastewater and Solid Waste Management
Water Management
Water Quality
Watershed Systems

Facilities

The department has the advantage of having two buildings for research, one on main campus in Columbus and the other in Wooster, Ohio. The university provides access to state-of-the-art research facilities in many areas. Control systems engineering, simulation and electronic systems are supported by the department’s Computer and Control Labs and Food Process Control Laboratory. CAD and CAE are available in the department and through the College of Engineering. Mainframe computer systems and a supercomputer are available.

The Agricultural Engineering Building in Columbus is one of the finest facilities of its kind in the world. The building contains 9,000 square meters (97,000 square feet) of offices, workshop space and laboratories for agricultural production systems, food engineering, packaging and handling, chemical applications, chemical and physical properties, animal environment, crop and soil research, erosion, runoff and drainage, and water and waste management. Additional facilities are available for food processing and analysis through the Food Industry Center.

The Wooster facility, about 150 km (90 miles) northeast of Columbus, has more than 1,700 square meters (18,300 square feet) of offices, laboratory and workshop space, supporting many research projects in the department as well as other departments located on the Wooster Campus. The Wooster location features the Compost Research Center, a $1 million, fully-instrumented compost research facility; greenhouse and growth chambers and plot land; and Secrest Aboretum.