September has been the month of virtual farm shows. The 2020 Virtual Farm Progress Show (https://fpvexp.com/) and the Virtual Ohio Farm Science Review (https://fsr.osu.edu/) were both interesting and informative. I would encourage everyone to take some time to view the field demonstrations and presentations from both shows for training purposes. They are free to view. The Virtual Farm Progress Show will be available thru the spring of 2020. Ohio AgrAbility has presentations available on the Virtual Ohio Farm Science Review site.

The 2020 Virtual RESNA Conference was September 23 and 24. The presentations were live and offered a range of topics and are available online for a registration fee.

Steve Swain, Indiana AgrAbility rural rehabilitation specialist, was an expert presenter for Dr. Brad Durestock’s graduate class on Practical AT Assessments. The class was presented virtually and recorded for class members to access at a later time.

Steve Swain also continued to answer questions and acquire equipment quotes for vocational rehav (VR) counselors, supervisors, and clients.

Daniel Skelton (ABE BS '12, MS '14) gave a presentation at the 2020 International Fluid Power Exposition on a new on-demand hydraulic assist system that TDS and Poclain Hydraulics have introduced for vocational trucks. He was featured on an interview for the Fluid Power Forum. We love that our alumni represent us so well!

Paul Miller (PhD '03) and Brent Trenhaile have started another new business: Flats or Spikes. a digital sports company focused on the data, analytics, and science of continual improvement in the area of long-distance running. These long-time business partners are adding to their collection of ventures a company that "serves the Cross Country, Track and Field, and distance running community with a platform that aids in accurate data collection at meets for split times, helps to organize meets, and keeps track of the community of your team including coaches, assistant coaches, team leaders, runners, and parents." Paul is one of our Outstanding ABE Alumni and he keeps making us look good!

Andrew "Dewey" Mann (MS '10), the director of the Waterman Lab at Ohio State, has added interim director of the Chadwick Arboretum and Learning Gardens to his resume. Dewey taught several ASM courses while he was pursuing his Master's Degree at Purdue ABE. We are proud of the leadership he has exhibited that has led to these additional responsibilities.

Sabrina Jedlicka (PhD '07) has been named the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Lehigh University. She has also served on the faculty and was the director of their Integrated Capstone Design. We are proud of our alumni, and applaud Dr. Jedlicka and her promotion!

Lindsay Birt (PhD '12), has been extraordinarily busy during these past months of challenging circumstances. At Xylem Digital Solutions, she uses her expertise in smart technologies for environmental solutions (watershed, stormwater management, green infrastructure) to assist her clients. She is also the Watershed Management Committee Chair for the Illinois Water Environment Association. Last month she presented a workshop, "Diversity and Inclusion Professionals Case Study" for the WEFTEC 2020. The Water Environment Federation's Technical Exhibition and Conference is the largest of its kind in North America. More recently, she served as a panelist during the Chicago Water Week webinar, "Blue Jobs." She represented InFLOW - INtroducing Future Leaders to Opportunities in Water, highlighting her determination to mentor the next generation of water professionals. Thank you for being such a great leader, Dr. Birt!

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Professors Dennis Buckmaster and James Krogmeier are part of the team that has been awarded a $28 million grant from NSF. This grant establishes the Engineering Research Center for the Internet of Things for Precision Agriculture (IoT4Ag) The center is headquartered at the University of Pennsylvania and includes more than two dozen researchers from Purdue University, the University of California (Merced), and the University of Florida. Dean Mark Lundstrom: "Participation on the IoT4G team will leverage Purdue's strengths in developing new engineering technologies that will improve agriculture and address global challenges. Our involvement will also represent a new chapter in a long history of collaboration between the colleges of Engineering and Agriculture."  Congratulations to the team and to Drs. Buckmaster and Krogmeier in particular! The full story is found here.

Professor Dharmendra Saraswat has received notification from the US EPA that he has been awarded a grant for a project related to modernizing web-based L-THIA modeling and increasing access to delineated watershed characteristics via REST API. This funding is from the FY 2020 Exchange Network Grant Program.

Web-based L-THIA was developed in 1999 and is a popular watershed delineation and hydrologic modeling tool drawing more than 6,300 visitors every year. The grant will fund a series of improvements that will lead to user experience enhancement, access to the latest available datasets and other tools, thereby increasing its access in the Great Lakes Region through an open-source REST API as well as development of online training resources.

Professor Dharmendra Saraswat is leading a multi-disciplinary team that includes professors Dennis Buckmaster, Ankita Raturi, and Somali Chaterji. They will be developing a curriculum to "inculcate computational thinking, teach software development skillsets and increase agriscience students' competencies for Ag Informatics careers." Congratulations on the successful Higher Education Challenge Grant! Read the full Purdue College of Agriculture press release.

Professors Ankita Raturi and Dennis Buckmaster were on the planning committee for "Unlocking the Agricultural Data Revolution," a Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research event to discuss data ownership and data privacy.  The two-day session included panels, networking, and a student competition as well as a call to action.  This event was for those who work in agriculture and food, and those interested in data and innovative research across disciplines. September 24-25, 2020.

Professor Allen Garner's blog article, "Antibiotics get a jolt to kill superbugs," was published on the Purdue Engineering Medium.com page.

ABE faculty member, Dr. Bob Stwalley, presided over the first virtual annual meeting of the Indiana School Board Association in Indianapolis on September 27^th – 29^th.  Highlights of the meeting included a dignified gubernatorial candidates’ forum moderated by Dr. Stwalley that included presentations by both Governor Eric Holcomb (below, right) and Dr. Woody Myers (below, left).  This forum represented the first time that Governor Holcomb and Dr. Myers have shared a common venue this political season.  Additionally, Dr. Stwalley presented an invited break-out session on effectively using the implied authority of a public school board member and was re-elected to a second one-year term as president of the state school board association.

The ABE family has a new addition: Professor Ankita Raturi and her husband, Sonny, welcomed their daughter Avni!

One of the unfortunate casualties of the Spring campus shutdown was the many, many awards banquets and presentations. The ABEGSA was unable to present the award for Outstanding Faculty Mentor of Engineering Graduate Students to Dr. Bill Field. Late last month, the opportunity finally came for president Eric Kong to present the plaque. Dr. Mosier was there as well, and Mahmoud Nour (the nominator) was on hand to see the presentation. Congratulations, Dr. Field!

Camila G. Jange, Pumu Taku, Shuyi Peng, Michelle P. Dixon, Abhishek Shetty, R.P. Kingsly Ambrose. 2020. Cohesivity assessment of semi-crystalline and crystalline powders using a Warren spring cohesion tester. Powder Technology 371, pgs. 96-105, 2020. doi.org/10.1016/j.powtec.2020.05.077.

Samaneh Saadat, Jane Frankenberger, Laura Bowling, Srinivasulu Ale. 2020. Evaluation of Surface Ponding and Runoff Generation in a Seasonally Frozen Drained Agricultural Field. Journal of Hydrology 588, doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2020.124985. 

Molly K Welsh, Sara K McMillan, Philippe Vidon. 2020. Impact of Riparian and Stream Restoration on Denitrification in Geomorphic Features of Agricultural Streams. Transactions of the ASABE, 63(5): 1157-1167. (doi.10.13031/trans.13777).

Yumeng Zhao, RP Kingsly Ambrose. 2020. A Real-time method for Sensing Suspended Dust Concentration from the Light Extinction Coefficient. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, 67. doi.org/10.1016/j.jlp.2020.104242.

Di Huang, Jiamin Qiu, Shihuan Kuang, Meng Deng. 2020. In Vitro Evaluation of Clinical Candidates of γ-Secretase Inhibitors: Effects on Notch Inhibition and Promoting Beige Adipogenesis and Mitochondrial Biogenesis. Pharmaceutical Research 37, 185 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11095-020-02916-7.

Janie McClurkin Moore,  Klein E Ileleji, Kevin Keener. 2020. Factors that affect high voltage atmospheric cold plasma treatment efficacy on wet distillers' grains: Shelf-life and nutrient composition. Journal of cereal science 2020 v.95 pp. 103034.

Armen Yildirim, Jesse C. Grant, Siamak Shams Es-haghi, Wojae Lee, Murali Kannan Maruthamuthu, Mohit Verma, John W Sutherland, Mukereem Cakmak. 2020. Roll‐to‐Roll (R2R) Production of Large‐Area High‐Performance Piezoelectric Films Based on Vertically Aligned Nanocolumn Forests. Advanced Materials Technologies https://doi.org/10.1002/admt.202000553.

Dongdong Ma, Hideki Maki, Samantha Neeno, Libo Zhang, Liangju Wang, Jian Jin. 2020. Application of non-linear partial least squares analysis on prediction of biomass of maize plants using hyperspectral images. Biosystems Engineering 200, p 40-54. doi.org/10.1016/j.biosystemseng.2020.09.002.

Team registration link - https://engineering.purdue.edu/ABE/academics/competitions/team_registration.  Individual registration link (if you don’t have a team we will help you find one) - https://engineering.purdue.edu/ABE/academics/competitions/individual_registration. 

Any additional questions contact the Program Manager, Micky Creech – mcreech@purdue.edu or visit the web page at - purdue.ag/soyinnovation.