Graduate Student in a lab working.
CAHNRS > Biological Systems Engineering > Graduate Program

Graduate Program

PhD and MS Degrees (4 General Research Emphasis Areas)

Bioenergy and Bioproducts Engineering

Develop engineering processes to produce useful, high-value products from the byproducts of agricultural operations and other sources of plant biomass.

Food Engineering

The application of engineering to the production of safe, nutritious food.

Land, Air, Water Resources & Environmental Engineering (LAWREE)

Engineering applications related to hydrologic processes at the field level or at the scale of large watersheds. Application of engineering and biological principles to the study the environmental impact of managed biological systems, including agriculture, confined animal operations, aquaculture, and natural resources.

Facilities Overview

BSE has several major facilities with modern analytical equipment available to graduate students including a state-certified Water Quality and Waste Analysis Laboratory, a computerized GIS and Environmental Modeling Laboratory, a food processing pilot plant and other food processing laboratory equipment, and a controlled atmosphere facility.

Graduate students have used facilities at the USDA’s Conservation Research Farm in Pullman and at WSU’s Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center in Prosser, Washington.

Faculty members who have substantial collaborative arrangements with food processing companies or government laboratories send students to off-campus laboratories to use highly specialized equipment or to learn advanced techniques.

Learning Outcomes

During their training in our graduate program, we expect students to grow professionally and acquire skills for successful careers. Alumni who are successful in their careers will exhibit most, if not all of these features.

Academia

  1. Possess a national and international reputation for excellence in their area
  2. Value the significance of quality scholarly work
  3. Are creative and innovative
  4. Contribute to the knowledge base within their discipline
  5. Attract funding for their research
  6. Provide leadership to professional organizations
  7. Enable undergraduate and graduate engineering students to be successful in their careers

Industry

  1. Effectively manage engineering research and/or development research teams
  2. Provide leadership in developing industry standards of practice
  3. Are creative and innovative
  4. Develop profitable products or revenue saving manufacturing procedures
  5. Provide vision for future direction of their companies and for the industry

Government Service

  1. Provide expert technical knowledge in decision-making processes
  2. Provide leadership within their technical and professional societies
  3. Contribute to the development of public policies
  4. Provide global perspective in the use of technical knowledge