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Biological Systems Engineering News 2019

“Sustainable Biofuels and the American Dream”

Stewart Bohnet

October 24, 2019  |  American Voices

Turun yliopisto, Turku, Finland

Professor Bin Yang speaks on the topic of “Sustainable Biofuels and the American Dream” during the 27th American Voices Seminar in Turku, Finland. Yang was honored with a Fulbright-Aalto Distinguished Chair award, which is the most prestigious appointment in the Fulbright Program.

In Friday’s second speech, Bin Yang and Eric Hahnert talked about the American dream and its sustainability. Their speech bound social development and the need for sustainable fuels.

Yang introduced the history of US fuel consumption and its environmental impact. Fuel plays an important role in the history of the American Dream, and its easy availability is nowadays considered a fundamental right. The US transportation sector is dependent on crude oil. Transport also generates the most greenhouse gas emissions. Nevertheless, fuel prices have been kept low. Change is needed here, Yang said. Finally, Hahnort and Yang introduced how the concept of the American Dream should be changed. Its core values, along with diligence and freedom, should include sustainability. That would be a chance for future generations to have a positive, American dream of believing in the future.

Read the full article: The American Voices seminar discussed the culture and the American dream of the United States.

Satellites show promise as tool for monitoring crop development

Stewart Bohnet

November 18, 2019  |   WSU Insider

While drones equipped with high-resolution cameras are well suited for observing plant development from far above, satellites could be the next leap ahead for farmers seeking to monitor their crops over large or scattered plots.

Sindhuja Sankaran, an associate professor in the Department of Biological Systems Engineering, and her team arrived at these conclusions as a part of their paper published in Computers and Electronics in Agriculture last month.

“When breeders have multiple location trials scattered across a large area to study the genotype-environment interactions, they need to go to each plot, take measurements, and record them in order to conduct phenotyping trials,” Sankaran said. “Most of their time is spent traveling, rather than collecting data. We felt that if it was possible to use high-resolution satellite imagery to make these observations, data could be captured in a much more efficient way.” continue reading the article…

 

Read the Article : Satellites show promise as tool for monitoring crop development.  WSU Insider

 

 

 

 

 

Spray, without the sprayer – Taking air out of the equation

Stewart Bohnet

October 15, 2019  |  Good Fruit Grower

Spray without the sprayer – To get good coverage, researchers modified low-cost irrigation emitters to bounce a cone of spray up into the grapevine canopy as part of a trial to optimize the engineering of a solid-set spray delivery system for vineyards underway at the Washington State University’s Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center in Prosser. Lead researcher Lav Khot says the system aims to provide efficient coverage with minimal drift.

Researchers across the country have been collaborating on the idea, which started in tree fruit, for close to a decade now. Matt Grieshop at Michigan State University leads the project, which is funded by U.S. Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Research Initiative grants.

“We are as good as airblast in terms of coverage and deposition, but with less drift,” said Rajeev Sinha, who recently finished his doctorate at Washington State University while working on the system. “The best thing is the part that’s lost to drift in airblast hits the canopy, too… continue reading the article…

Read the article: Spray without the sprayer. 2019, Good Fruit Grower.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Getting mac and cheese to Mars

Stewart Bohnet

September 24, 2019  |   WSU Insider

By Scott Weybright, CAHNRS.

Washington State University scientists have developed a way to triple the shelf life of ready-to-eat macaroni and cheese, a development that could have benefits for everything from space travel to military use.

If human beings go to Mars, they need food. Food that won’t spoil during the long travel between planets, and while they’re on the surface… continue reading article…

Source: WSU Insider, September 24, 2019

Dr. Tang is a winner of IAEF Lifetime Achievement Award

Stewart Bohnet

August 18, 2019  |   International Congress on Engineering and Food

Photo of Juming TangDr. Juming Tang (BSE Regents Professor and Chair) is among the winners of the Life Time Achievement award from International Association for Engineering and Food (IAEF).  He will be recognized during the International Congress on Engineering and Food (ICEF13), to be held September 23-26, 2019 in Melbourne, Australia.

Congratulations to Dr. Tang!

Source: International Congress on Engineering and Food, Melbourne, Australia

Recent election to identify FED Rep/Representative-elect to the International Association for Engineering and Food (IAEF)

Stewart Bohnet

September 18, 2019  |   IFT Connect Daily Digest

Dr. Gustavo V. Barbosa-Canovas (BSE Professor) has been elected as new IFT FED Representative to the International Association for Engineering and Food (IAEF) for a period of four years (September 15, 2019 – Sept 14, 2023). 

Dr. Juming Tang (BSE Regents Professor and Chair) has been elected as IFT FED representative-elect to IAEF for four years (September 15, 2019 – Sept 14, 2023) followed by service as IFT FED Representative for four years (September 15, 2023 – September 14, 2027).  
Our congratulations to both of them!

Source: Press Release: IFT Connect Daily Digest

Adding Washington State to the California-Dutch AgFoodTech

Stewart Bohnet

August 13, 2019  |  California Dutch AgFoodTech Collaboration Update #17

The summer vacation period was in between the last newsletter in July and this one. We used this period to prepare important next steps for the project. One of these steps was adding Washington State to the initiative, Peter Frans de Jong of Wageningen University & Research and Marcel van Haren visited Washington State and California to further specify next steps in the so called collective CAWADU project for fruit orchard automation.

The first week of our visit we got to know the Washington State fruit sector very well, thanks to great help of Washington State University (WSU) and the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission. The picture is taken at the WSU extension in Prosser (WA) where Peter Frans and Marcel had the pleasure to present about Fruit 4.0, FME and AgriFoodTech Platform for a large group of students and other interested people…

Read the article: Adding Washington State to the collaboration, 2019, California Dutch AgFoodTech Collaboration.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who are you going to call? Rotbusters!

Stewart Bohnet

August 29, 2019  |  Capital Press

SankarinIf potato farmers worry about storage losses, they might want to call “Rotbusters.”That’s the name Sindhuja Sankaran uses to explain her work using sensors to detect storage diseases like pythium and soft rot at early stages, even before their symptoms become visible.

Sankaran is an associate professor in the WSU Department of Biological Systems Engineering.

She says the sensors “smell” differences in potatoes that a disease emits. For example, a farmer might use a portable sensor to scan different areas of his potato storage. If the sensor detects a certain marker compound produced by rot or another disease, it triggers an alarm. That allows farmers to address the problem before it grows…

Read the Full Article : Western Innovator: Sensors ‘smell’ plant diseases, 2019, Capital Press

 

 

 

 

 

New global fellowship program grows discoveries, partnerships in ag research

Stewart Bohnet

September 3, 2019  |  CAHNRS News

Now being piloted at WSU, a 12-week fellowship program is the first of its kind to be offered through CGIAR, formerly known as the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research. Sponsored by the USDA’s Foreign Agriculture Service and modeled on the USDA’s well-established Borlaug International Agricultural Science and Technology Fellowship Program, the new program brings early and mid-career researchers from five CGIAR centers around the globe to WSU, promoting agricultural productivity, food security, and economic growth through collaborative research.

Milton Valencia joined the lab of Sindhuja Sankaran, a Biological Systems Engineering researcher studying how sensor technology can aid plant breeding, crop research, and precision agriculture. “CGIAR Borlaug Fellowships are a starting point for international collaboration,” said Sankaran. “We’re learning from Milton, and he is learning from us.”

Prospective fellows are chosen for their research interests, achievements and potential, then recruited and matched with mentors by WSU’s Office of International Programs. Mentors later make a return visit to their fellow’s home country to help foster continuing discoveries. “Visiting fellows become part of the scientific community on campus,” said Colleen Taugher, Associate Director for Global Research & Engagement at WSU. “Through the CGIAR Fellowship program, we’ve brought some very promising scientists to WSU and are expecting strong outcomes.”

Read the Article : New global fellowship program grows discoveries, partnerships in ag research, 2019, CAHNRS News

 

 

 

 

 

WSU’s Ag Tech Day – 1:30-6:00 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 22, in Prosser, Washington.

Stewart Bohnet

August 13, 2019  |  WSU Insider

Experts from WSU, the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, Microsoft FarmBeats and ASI Robots will share updates on cutting-edge agricultural advances with growers, agricultural industry professionals, and crop consultants.

This year’s event explores the theme of automation in specialty crop production, and includes field demonstrations and discussions of digital agriculture solutions, automation in farm operations, robotics in specialty crops, intelligent orchard sprayers, a survey of autonomy on the farm, and regulations on the use of autonomous vehicles in Washington farming.

Read the article : Tech Day explores automation in specialty crops, 2019, WSU Insider.