Conference Session

Strategies and/or Approaches to Engage Students in Agricultural, Biological, or Similarly Named Programs

Collection

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Madhumi Mitra Ph.D., University of Maryland, Eastern Shore; Abhijit Nagchaudhuri, University of Maryland, Eastern Shore; Jesu Raj Pandya, University of Maryland, Eastern Shore

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Biological and Agricultural Engineering Division (BAE)

) of sustainability, and the well-being of communities and workers involved inagriculture. One important aspect of the experiential learning project was growing peanuts andhemp with FarmBots. Growing peanuts provided a unique opportunity to not only explore theagricultural contributions of George Washington Carver, an African American scientist in the early20th century, but also helped shedding light on his remarkable achievements in the context ofsocial justice. By integrating hemp cultivation on the FarmBot platform, the investigators createdan engaging space that highlighted the potential of this crop while addressing the historical andcontemporary social challenges faced by marginalized communities. The students honed theircontent on the

Conference Session

Biological & Agricultural Division Technical Session

Collection

2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Abhijit Nagchaudhuri, University of Maryland, Eastern Shore; Madhumi Mitra, Ph.D., University of Maryland, Eastern Shore; Jesu Raj Pandya, University of Maryland, Eastern Shore

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Diversity

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Biological and Agricultural Engineering Division (BAE)

food production and food safety. ©American Society for Engineering Education, 2023 Peanut Trials on Raised Beds with Indoor and Outdoor FarmBot SetupsAbstractFarmBots are three-axis Cartesian robots quite similar to 3D printers that run on Raspberry Pi 3and Arduino-like microprocessor boards. These machines can seed, kill weeds, sense soil-moisturecontent, and irrigate plants individually over the raised bed area they serve. FarmBots can bemanipulated using web applications over smartphones. The Raspberry Pi Camera (Pi-Cam)integrated with the machine can be used for weed detection and time-lapse photography.FarmBot efforts on campus are integral to the ongoing “Smart Farming” project. The “SmartFarming” project

Conference Session

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Division (BAE) Technical Session 1

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Madhumi Mitra Ph.D, University of Maryland Eastern Shore; Abhijit Nagchaudhuri, University of Maryland Eastern Shore; Jesu Raj Pandya, University of Maryland Eastern Shore; Alena Zheng, University of Maryland College Park

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Biological and Agricultural Engineering Division (BAE)

project explores the use of FarmBot, an open-source robotic farming system, andaeroponics, a soil-less cultivation method using Tower Garden technology. Integrating thesetechnologies presents a scalable and innovative approach to space agriculture, with potentialapplications both on Earth and beyond. Over the past two years, 10 diverse STEM undergraduates(first-year to senior) and three exchange summer interns have engaged in hands-on research onsustainable lunar agriculture. They cultivated crops such as spinach, lettuce, Swiss chard, arugula,and basil in simulated lunar environments using FarmBot and Tower Garden systems. Learningobjectives included (a) programming autonomous farming systems, (b) exploring lunar regolithsimulants such as Lunar

Conference Session

Engineering education issues relevant to agricultural, biological and ecological engineering-Part 2

Collection

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Richard Cody Prince, East Tennessee State University; PAMELA MIMS, East Tennessee State University; Aruna Kilaru, East Tennessee State University; Eric Jorgenson, East Tennessee State University

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Diversity

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Biological and Agricultural Engineering Division (BAE)

bioengineering program in rural settings - Work-in-Progress Richard C. Prince*, Eric Jorgenson, Pamela J. Mims, Aruna KilaruRecently, there has been a national push to improve the competitiveness of the U.S. in thebioengineering, biomanufacturing, and biotechnology sectors, as demonstrated by the Exec-utive Order to Advance Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation for a Sustainable,Safe and Secure American Bioeconomy. To date, much of the country’s biotech infrastruc-ture has been concentrated near coastal areas — even though rural agricultural productioncould provide suitable feedstocks for bioproduction. In this work, we present updates on ourcurrent project titled “Completing the Bioindustrial Pipeline: A Multidisciplinary Work-force

Conference Session

Biological & Agricultural Division Technical Session

Collection

2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Heydi Han, University of Nebraska, Lincoln; Hector Palala, University of Nebraska, Lincoln; Jennifer Keshwani, University of Nebraska, Lincoln; Deepak R. Keshwani, University of Nebraska, Lincoln

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Biological and Agricultural Engineering Division (BAE)

activitiesto foster community building was designed for this course. All the activities were related to thecontent studied in class but had an element of community building. We created two instrumentsto collect data: A series of open-ended questions and a survey using a 5-point Likert scale fromstrongly agree to strongly disagree. Results showed that a significant group of participantsexpressed positive perceptions of community and teamwork. Moreover, students felt encouragedto participate in all the group activities, team projects, and assignments to achieve the academicgoals for the semester. Students also felt in a safe environment to ask questions and to ask forthe help needed to succeed. The perceptions of students related to community building

Conference Session

Engineering Education Issues Relevant to Agricultural, Biological and Ecological Engineering: Part 1

Collection

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Hector Palala, University of Nebraska, Lincoln; Amy Millmier Schmidt, University of Nebraska, Lincoln; Mara Zelt, University of Nebraska, Lincoln; Bethany Zelt, University of Nebraska, Lincoln; Andrew Stiven Ortiz Balsero, University of Nebraska, Lincoln; Maria Jose Oviedo Ventura, Cornell University

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Biological and Agricultural Engineering Division (BAE)

San Carlos in Guatemala, and before that, an elementary teacher. His research centers on the intersection of bilingual/multilingual education and technology (in particular, Mayan languages), literacy programs in Indigenous languages, pedagogy of tenderness, and artificial intelligence for education.Amy Millmier Schmidt, University of Nebraska, LincolnMara Zelt, University of Nebraska, Lincoln Mara Zelt is the program manager for the Schmidt Research and Extension Team at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the Department of Biological Systems Engineering. In her role Mara is responsible for supporting the team’s outreach and research programs including the nationwide iAMResponsible project, a partnership of multi

Conference Session

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Division (BAE) Technical Session

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Christopher Isaac Camacho, University of Texas at El Paso; Toluwalase Opanuga, University of Nebraska - Lincoln; Heidi A. Diefes-Dux, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

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Diversity

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Biological and Agricultural Engineering Division (BAE)

educators and programs determine if reflection haseffectively contributed to students learning as intended so that teaching approaches can beadjusted to better meet student needs and improve overall instructional quality. Instructors needtools that can help assess reflection activities implemented in their classroom.This study was part of a larger research project to integrate reflection across two engineeringprograms. The purpose of this study was to (1) investigate a tool that instructors can use to assessthe impact of integrating reflection into their courses and (2) demonstrate its use in twoBiological and Agricultural Engineering courses. The intention is to provide validity evidencefor the tool and determine whether it can capture differences

Conference Session

Engineering education issues relevant to agricultural, biological and ecological engineering-Part 2

Collection

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Hector Palala, University of Nebraska, Lincoln; Heydi Han, University of Nebraska, Lincoln; Juan Carlos Ramos Tanchez, Cornell University; Boanerges Elias Bamaca, University of Nebraska, Lincoln

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Diversity

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Biological and Agricultural Engineering Division (BAE)

implementation of scientific research projects at farms with diverse scales using diverse strategies to advance agriculture and environmental management.Boanerges Elias Bamaca, University of Nebraska, Lincoln ©American Society for Engineering Education, 2024 Language Fusion in the Lab: Unveiling the Translanguaging Strategies ofSpanish-Speaking Students in Biological Engineering Technology and ScienceBackground and research questionModern classrooms are a melting pot of cultures and languages, presenting teachers with thechallenge of explaining scientific and engineering concepts to a diverse student body. To bridgelanguage gaps, educators are turning to adaptive methods like 'translanguaging', which taps intostudents

Conference Session

Engineering Education Issues Relevant to Agricultural, Biological and Ecological Engineering: Part 1

Collection

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Trisha Moore, Kansas State University; James Randall Etheridge; Glenn Thomas Dale; Sara Winnike McMillan, Iowa State University of Science and Technology; Niroj Aryal; David Austin; Theresa Thompson, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

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Biological and Agricultural Engineering Division (BAE)

(EcoE) program. To establish this knowledge base,the committee first identified 13 example design projects (applications) on which a recent EcoEgraduate could be expected to work. Example applications included the design of a streamrestoration system and the development of a prairie restoration plan. Next, the specific tasks thatthe graduate would need to carry out to complete each design application, along with theunderlying knowledge or skills needed for each task were outlined. Additionally, the necessarylevel of learning for each knowledge area was qualified, ranging from simple recollection of factsto integration of knowledge across engineering and ecology to develop designs. Each applicationarea was reviewed by the committee and up to two

Conference Session

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Division (BAE) Technical Session

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Leslie Bartsch Massey, University of Arkansas

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Biological and Agricultural Engineering Division (BAE)

Paper ID #46853Work In Progress: Mentorship Matters—Shaping the Professional Pathwaysof Biological Engineering StudentsMrs. Leslie Bartsch Massey, University of Arkansas Leslie Massey is an advanced instructor in the First-Year Engineering Program (FEP) at the University of Arkansas, holding a BS in Biological Engineering and an MS in Environmental Engineering. She previously worked as a project manager at the Arkansas Water Resources Center before returning to teaching full-time in 2013. Currently, she teaches various courses in the FEP, including Introduction to Engineering I and II, and coordinates the First-Year Honors