Breaking New Ground/Indiana AgrAbility was invited by Angie Abbott the Associate Director of Health and Human Science (HHS) Extension to the spring HHS extension educator training meeting at the Beck Center on the Purdue Agronomy Farm.  Kylie Hendress staffed a display which included the BNG tabletop display and resources with an emphasis on arthritis and agriculture.  Attendees included HHS extension administration staff and approximately 75 extension educators.

Indiana AgrAbility and the National AgrAbility Project staffed a display at the 2011 National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, Kentucky February 16-19, 2011. The display included NAP and Indiana AgrAbility resources along with grain bin safety and rescue information. Record crowds were reported for the show this year.

The Bilsland Dissertation Fellowship provides support to outstanding Ph.D. candidates in their final year of doctoral degree completion.

WangHee has been recognized by the College of Agriculture and Michael Holland has been recognized by the College of Engineering for their outstanding work. Congratulations, WangHee and Michael!

The Magoon Award recognized hard work and excellent service to the ABE Department and its students. The Graduate Committee has selected Laurent Ahiablame to receive the 2010 Award for Excellence in Teaching. Well done, Laurent!

The Committee for the Education of Teaching Assistance exists to enhance the excellence of education at Purdue University by providing opportunities for graduate students to experience and understand all aspects of instruction in higher education. One of the goals for accomplishing this purpose is to promote understanding of the importance of the educational process and the necessary acquisition of skills and techniques that are the basis of excellent teaching. This year, the Graduate Committee has selected Kyle Bailey to receive the CETA Teaching Award in recognition of his excellent service to the department and it's students. Thank you, Kyle!

The College of Engineering awards scholarships based on contributions to the school, the college, and the University. Elizabeth Casey has been selected to receive one of this year's scholarships. Congratulations, Elizabeth!

Caitlin Grady has been awarded an "Across Borders Fellowship." It is a summer exchange program funded by the US Department of State’s office of Citizen Exchanges. The goal is to teach "emerging young professionals" more about the interconnectedness of environmental issues, specifically focused on water resources. The program provides travel for several weeks in Israel, Palestine, and Egypt. It is being coordinated through Dickenson College. Congratulations, Caitlin!

The Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant College Program (IISG), has funded Laurent Ahiablame's project, "Modeling methods to evaluate low impact development," ( Dr. Bernie Engel, co-PI). The IISG invests in promising research, outreach, and graduate student projects. The proposed study will enhance the capabilities of the L-THIA model to assist land use planners with "what if?" scenarios to evaluate hydrologic and water quality impacts associated with land use changes, and identify LID practices that can be implemented to alleviate these impacts. The proposed study, which is expected to finish in December 2011, falls under water quality improvement in the Great Lakes watershed. Congratulations, Laurent!

Rebecca Logsdon, doctoral student in Agricultural and Biological Engineering, has been selected for the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) Robert E. Stewart Engineering Humanities Award. This award is given to one student each year to “recognize outstanding contributions to the advancement of interaction of the profession and the humanities”. She will receive this award during the ASABE Annual International Meeting in August in Louisville, KY.

Three students in Agricultural and Biological Engineering earned awards in the poster competition at the Institute for Biological Engineering annual meeting in Atlanta Georgia. Matt Stensberg was awarded 3rd place on his work on silver nanotoxicity in Daphnia. Jonathan Claussen was awarded 2nd place for his work on modeling/engineering nanomaterial platforms for biosensing. Jin Shi won the grand prize for his work on developing glucose micro/nanobiosensors and their application in studying pancreatic bets cells and diabetes. All three students are advised by Dr. Marshall Porterfield.
 

Twenty-nine students from the participating schools were at Purdue for the weekend touring Caterpillar, Subaru, Valero Renewables, and NRCS-related projects around Tippecanoe County, and our own ABE department.  1^st and 2^nd Presidents of the Midwest Region of ASABE, Stephen Brunton and Anne Dare deemed the weekend a success and passed the reigns to Iowa State to host the event in 2012.  The student chapter wants to extend a special thanks to everyone who volunteered their time and energy. 

Every spring the Academic Programs Committee of the ABE Department recognizes four outstanding students, one freshman, one sophomore, one junior, and one senior. This year's recipients are Zane Graper (freshman), Sean Kearney (sophomore), Ben Daily (Junior), and Kat Gilbert (senior).

We congratulate these students on this recognition and wish them the best in the next round of competition!

Zane Graper

Zane is a freshman in BFPE. He grew up on a farm and attended Gibson Southern High School in Fort Branch, Indiana. He is a 10-year 4-H member and an officer in the local FFA chapter. "For 13 years of my life, I wrestled on a wrestling team." He enjoys watching and critiquing movies and playing poker with his friends. He came to Purdue under the influence of an older brother after seeing that it is "a great college and the best place to be." He hopes to work as an engineer in a food processing plant.

Sean Kearney

Sean is a sophomore majoring in Biological Engineering and Applied Mathematics. He has participated in the internationally Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) competition as a member of the Biological Engineering in Genetics Club where he presented collaborative synthetic biology research at MIT in November of 2010. He has worked extensively with Professor Rickus and Professor Clase in studying an aggressive brain cancer, glioblastoma, as an intern in the NIH funded Cancer Prevention Internship Program. As a member of their HHMI Genomics Research Institute course in biotechnology, he isolated a bacterial virus for genomic sequencing and annotation in the second section of the course on bioinformatics. He is a member of the Institute of Biological Engineering and Purdue Student Pugwash. He also loves animals and cooking, but not together.   

 Ben Daily

Ben is a junior working toward a dual major in Agricultural Systems Management and Agricultural Economics and pursuing an Associate’s Degree in Agronomy in addition to a minor in Spanish. He is also Vice President of the Agricultural Systems Management Club and a member of Alpha Mu, the Honor Society of ASM. He is a Lilly Endowment Community Scholar and a member of the Boilermaker 400 Club for maintaining a 4.00 GPA through the 5 semesters he has completed thus far. He is a member of Sigma Delta Pi, the Spanish National Honor Society, through which he serves the Spanish-speaking community through volunteer work. He is a member of St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Columbus, IN.

The son of Jim and Carol Daily, he "chose to come to Purdue because Purdue has the best agriculture program in the country. Since I want to return to the family farm upon graduation, Purdue, with its outstanding agricultural program and the variety of ag- related degrees offered, was the best fit for me. "

 Kat Gilbert

Kat is a senior in BFPE. She is from Indianapolis and chose Purdue ABE because she knew she would have a solid foundation to pursue a multitude of career options. She will be continuing her education at Indiana University School of Medicine. "I hope one day to integrate my Food Process Engienering skills in conjunction with my medical knowledge and to contribute to the research surrounding obesity." In her free time, she enjoys playing soccer, biking, running, and being outdoors.

"I am so happy I chose ABE. All of the extra support from the students, faculty, and staff, has made my engineering experience manageable, and dare I even say it...enjoyable at times."

Alpha Mu, the honor society for the Agricultural Systems Management program, initiated a new class of members on February 23. The new members are Shawn Ehlers, Eli Fred, Caleb Leibering, Justin Moffit, Carter Morgan, Leo Muhlenkamp, Ben Overmyer,  Kevin Paul, and Drew Rush.Students are elected to membership based primarily on their academic standing. The club seeks to promote scholarship and excellence in all areas of Agricultural Systems Management Club. Join us in congratulating these new members.