Academics

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. 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

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 essential resources as you study the interactions between soils, plants, and water that influence the way these resources are used in planning irrigation systems, tillage and cultivation practices, 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 agricultural environment, and get some hands-on experiences, 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

Test Engineering

You can learn to test equipment in the Nebraska Tractor Test Laboratory, or participate in building the Quarter-scale Tractor for the annual nationwide competition. Evaluation of machine or mechanical system functional performace is emphasized through study of test procedure standards, measurements, data acquisition, electronic communication, and statistics.


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