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Machine
Design Engineering
Look at all the ways machines have been designed to help us realize
achievements unheard of 60 years ago. Become a part of the next wave in
the industrial revolution by devising ways to increase machine power while
making efficient use of the power systems you create. Use your engineering
education to invent, design, or improve the machines used by agriculture,
heavy construction, industry, and households. You can learn to test equipment
in the Nebraska Tractor Test Laboratory, or participate in building the
Quarter-scale Tractor. Develop equipment and processes to transport, handle
and process farm products (such as grains, vegetables, fruits and animals)
into food products for human and animal consumption. Put some power into
your education with a focus on machine design.
Relevant
issues: precision agriculture, sensors, control systems, farm equipment
design, power and energy, tractor performance
Courses: Unit Operations of Agricultural Machines, Power Systems
Design, Machine Design, Instrumentation and Controls, Kinematics &
Dynamics of Machinery, Materials Science, Failure Analysis |
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Soil
and Water Resources Engineering
Soil is the thin skin covering the land;
water is becoming more precious every day. Find out how engineering helps
conserve these two valuable resources as you study the interactions between
soils, plants, and water that influence the way these resources are used
in planning irrigation systems, conservation buffers, and animal production
facilities. Apply engineering and design skills to improve water quality
and minimize pollution from nonpoint sources.
Develop
irrigation systems, drainage systems, methods to reduce and control erosion,
methods to reduce and control pollution of streams, rivers and lakes,
and developing biological systems as cleaning systems, such as biofilters
to clean air or constructed wetlands to clean water. There
are many applications for this career field, and if you want to play a
role in improving and protecting the environment, this is the field of
study for you.
Relevant issues: irrigation system design, irrigation water management,
soil erosion, drainage systems, water supplies, water quality and quantity,
geographic information systems, nonpoint source pollution control
Courses: Soil and Water Resources Engineering, Design of Water
Management Systems, Animal Waste Management, Hydrology, Water Quality
Modeling, Water Resources Development, Nonpoint Source Pollution Control,
Groundwater Engineering |
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Sensors
and Controls Engineering
Sensors are being used more frequently and in
more ways as new technological applications are designed. From machine
vision to monitoring equipment, the engineer who knows sensors and controls
will be designing solutions for greenhouses, animal environments, more
effective and safer guidance systems, or controlling equipment on the farm or in industry.
Develop building
systems to provide safe and healthy environments for animals or plants
including hearing and cooling, clean air, lighting, clean water, food,
and remove and process wastes. Develop new instrumentation systems and
procedures (especially rapid, non-destructive methods) to measure things
like nitrogen (fertilizer) in soil, phosphorous in soil, soil moisture,
crop yield while combining, crop moisture content, estrous in animals,
density of crop pests (insects diseases, weeds), and development of control
systems to increase production rates, decrease waste, and increase safety. Whether creating systems for manufacturing or agricultural
uses, the intricate world of sensors and controls will be a rewarding
career path for the right engineering student.
Relevant issues: animal facilities, precision agriculture, processing,
greenhouse environment, farm equipment control, geographic information
systems, global positioning, waste management
Courses: Instrumentation and Controls, Design of Light-Frame Structures,
Unit Operations of Agricultural Machines, Power Systems Design, Animal
Waste Management, Digital Control, Control Systems Design, Site Specific
Crop Management |
