Agricultural Engineering
Our Agricultural Engineering (AE) program is consistently highly ranked (#1 for over a decade) with a practical curriculum providing excellent career opportunities in some of the most stable industries in the world. We believe our students will fill some of the most critically needed positions over the next 50 years – Your Career! – Read on to learn more about options in AE.
Agricultural engineers apply their knowledge of agricultural systems, natural resources, and engineering to equipment design and to assure environmental compatibility of practices used by production agriculture. The Agricultural Engineering curriculum offers great breadth, with specialization choices in Machine Systems Engineering and Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering. Subject areas include computer-aided engineering, fluid power, finite element analysis, natural resource conservation, and engineering properties of biological materials. Excellent career opportunities exist in product engineering, equipment research and design, facilities design, environmental consulting, and engineering management.
Environmental & Natural Resources major:
Environmental and economic sustainability are key to our future -- Environmental & Natural Resources Engineering (ENRE) at Purdue University helps prepare you to meet this challenge. In ENRE, you learn about ecosystem processes (the water cycle, nutrient transformation processes, and biological systems), how human activities such as agriculture affect these complex systems, and how to design sustainable solutions. You will also gain the background in chemistry and biology necessary to understand the influences of contaminants on the environment. Basic engineering principles, as well as some of the newest technological approaches such as geographical information systems, finite element analysis, sensor design, hydrologic modeling, and soil and water remediation are applied to solve challenges related to soil and plant environments, surface and ground water quality, air quality, animal environments, and food safety. Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering training prepares graduates for exciting careers in federal, state, and local government, engineering consulting firms, industry, and graduate study opportunities.
Machine Systems major:
The Machine Systems Engineering major within Agricultural Engineering prepares professional engineers for rewarding careers focusing on the systems, processes, and machines that are used to generate or utilize energy, food, and water. GPS satellite position control was adapted for construction and agricultural vehicles before the automotive with auto guidance accuracy to 1 cm on varied terrain. Biotech is now being developed to monitor plant and seed DNA onboard for national security and high value pharmacological crops. Agricultural Engineering is a leader in the application of new sensing in vehicles subjected to hostile environments. This program provides students with background in mechanical design, hydraulics, instrumentation and control, finite element analysis, electronics and sensors to design, develop, analyze and operate machines and systems for agricultural and biological products and processes, materials handling, construction and mining, forestry, lawn-and ground-care, and food and fiber production and processing.