2024 Outstanding ABE Alumni
Ross Cornelissen, BS BFPE '14
Ross Cornelissen earned his B.S. Degree from Purdue University in Biological & Food Process Engineering in Spring 2014. During his time at Purdue he participated in several clubs such as BFPE Club, Boiler Gold Rush, PPA Co-Op, PUDM, and Swim Club. Ross was also a Professional Practice Co-Op student, completing all rotations at Tate & Lyle’s Sagamore plant focused on the feed-house and wet-mill operations.
During his time in the ABE program, Ross quickly found the value in the hands-on and in-depth education the department provided, sparking his interest and now passion for fermentation.
Ross started his career at MGP Ingredients in Lawrenceburg, IN, as a distillery supervisor at one of the largest beverage alcohol distilleries in the US, learning the intricacies of whiskey, gin, and GNS production. After several years, he was promoted to the Fermentation & Distillation Manager with a stronger emphasis on how process changes affect product quality.
In 2018, Ross moved to Denver, Colorado, and began working for a bio-technology start-up doing mycelial fermentation for food ingredients. He started at this facility as a process engineer during the build-out and plant start-up. He was then promoted to Plant Manager and led the operations and maintenance teams until 2022. During his time there, he was part of a team that developed novel mycelial fermentation processes, assisted in product development, and optimized through statistical analysis.
Ross then came back to the whiskey industry in August 2022 in his current role as the Master Distiller of Barton 1792 Distillery. In the short time in this role, he has placed a continued, strong emphasis on consistently producing quality distillate. To do so, he developed the distillate sensory program, showing a stronger correlation between process changes and quality. Additionally, he has worked with the team on multiple experimental projects, led capital projects, and assisted in the on-site single-barrel program. The distillery has won several awards for their whiskey, including world’s best bourbon for their 12-year expression.
Ross currently resides in Bardstown, Kentucky, with his wife and 1-year old son. In his free time, he enjoys running, baking, and spending time with family.
Dalton E. Harbison, BS ASM '14
Dalton Harbison lives in Crawfordsville, Indiana, where he works for Bane-Welker Equipment as the Connected Vehicle Manager. He oversees the AFS Connect platform for the entire complex of Bane-Welker locations. Dalton started as the Parts Department Manager at the Spray Center in 2017. During that time, he was heavily involved with the technology portion of the business and has continued to be. When Bane-Welker expanded the sprayer business to all locations, he moved into the managerial role he currently holds.
Dalton was raised on a family farm in Roachdale, Indiana, where they grow corn and soybeans. He is still involved with the family farm when time allows. When Dalton graduated from high school, he went to college at Ivy Tech in Lafayette. After graduating from Ivy Tech with his associate degree in 2012, he began at Purdue. He went on to graduate in December of 2014 with a BS in ASM and a minor in Food Agriculture Business. While at Purdue he was involved with the ASABE Club, Purdue Off-Road Club and the ¼-Scale Tractor team.
After graduation, Dalton went to work at Gavilon Grain as an Operations Superintendent. During his time there, he oversaw the operations of the location. Looking for a move into machinery, he took an opportunity to move to Bane-Welker.
Dalton and his wife, Cara (also a Purdue Alum in Animal Science) have a one-year-old daughter, Elsie. When they both are not at work, or home with Elsie, they like to be with their families at either Dalton’s family farm or Cara’s family commercial cattle farm. They both are still heavily involved at Purdue after graduation. Cara is with the 4H-Extension Department on the Purdue Campus, and Dalton is involved with the Senior Capstone Judging at ABE.
Jada P. Hoerr, BS AE '97
Jada joined Caterpillar upon graduation from Purdue where she worked for 21 years in a variety of roles in Sales & Marketing. Jada joined a Technical Marketing program at Caterpillar and worked and lived in Latin America supporting the Caterpillar Dealer Network there. She grew significantly as a professional during her time living in Brazil and working with the Cat Dealer Sales and Marketing teams across the territory. Jada also spent time with the recruitment of Marketing Talent for Caterpillar and enjoyed returning to Purdue each fall to meet with students about their career opportunities at Caterpillar. During the second half of her tenure at Caterpillar, Jada worked with the Cat Dealers in North America and finished her career at Caterpillar with a global role in the aftermarket business. Jada credits her time at Purdue in ABE and an international study abroad in Hungary with the School of Agriculture as a keys to her success at Caterpillar.
In 2018, Jada’s career pivoted to the nonprofit sector as she joined Midwest Food Bank where she now serves as the Chief Resource Officer. Midwest Food Bank is the largest food bank in the US and distributed $482M in food and resources to nonprofits both in the US and Internationally in 2023. Jada is blessed to serve the Midwest Food Bank mission to share the love of Christ by alleviating hunger and malnutrition.
Jada lives in Peoria, IL with her husband Jeff and they have four adult children. Together they enjoy serving in their local community. They live in an under-resourced community that is a food desert, providing Jada with a deeper understanding of the issues of food access and food insecurity. To learn more about their story, you can hear from Jada in her 2017 Purdue TedX presentation. In her free time Jada enjoys backpacking, trail running, gardening and time with friends.
Christopher M. Limiac, BS AE '12, MS '14
Chris studied in the Environmental and Natural Resources track for his BS. As an undergraduate student, he was a student researcher for Dr. Gary Krutz, whose fishing stories and life anecdotes are still fondly remembered. Chris studied with Dr. John Lumkes for his MS, which focused on developing alternative energy resources for emerging communities in Africa. As part of his project, Chris had the opportunity to intern with the United Nations in Nairobi, Kenya, for several months. The international experiences afforded by the ABE department have been some of Chris’s most exciting experiences.
After earning his Master’s degree and graduating in 2014, Chris began working with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources as a Hydraulics Engineer. In 2018, Chris earned his Professional Engineer license and made a career move to the private sector with BF&S, where he is the Lafayette Water Resources Department Manager. His engineering team provides consultation services to clients and designs solutions in water resources and other civil utility infrastructure from the early conceptual stages of a project to final construction completion. Chris currently manages projects for wastewater treatment systems, stormwater and floodwater management systems, drinking water production and distribution systems, sanitary sewer projects, and site development projects. His favorite part about his work is getting a firsthand look at the benefits that engineering solutions have in the community.
Growing up in rural Marion, Indiana, Chris developed an appreciation for the importance of agriculture and natural resources at a young age. Chris’ parents continue to live on the farm that’s been in the family for nearly 100 years. He’s an avid outdoorsman and his combined interest in engineering and natural resources naturally led him to pursue degrees in the ABE department.
Chris lives in Lafayette with his wife, Mandy, another ABE alum and current department employee, and kids Elizabeth and Miles. The kids keep the family busy and are always excited to learn more about being an engineer and a scientist like their parents. The Limiacs are ever grateful and ever true and always try to attend ABE events and cheer on their Boilermaker teams.
John K. Schueller, MS AE '79, PhD '83
Daniel R. Skelton, BS AE '12, MS '14
Daniel joined Terra Drive Systems in 2016 as a Hydraulic Controls Engineer. His time in this role led to improving the hydraulic package for the EzTrac on highway product line. His Purdue ABE experiences helped him upgrade the data acquisition for remote sensing of prototypes and improve lab tests. In 2020, Daniel became VP of Engineering and directed new product developments. He is excited about Terra Drive Systems’ recent projects, including powered and non-powered track undercarriages going into production this year.
Daniel and his wife Zarah live in West Lafayette with their two children. You will find him at Churchill Downs the first Saturday in May, in Ross-Ade cheering on the Boilermakers, and watching his children in their many activities.
Jonathan T. Welte, BS AE '12, MS '14
As an ABE alumni, JT continued to support the Purdue Quarter Scale team by hosting the team at his home near Peoria, Illinois, and enjoyed helping the team during the competition. His passion for Quarter Scale and ABE inspired him to coordinate PQS alumni donations totaling $125,000 for the ABE building renovations. Since graduating, JT looks forward to returning to campus and participating in the ABE Capstone judging each spring.
JT currently works remotely for 360 Yield Center, based in Morton, Illinois, as a design engineer. His area of expertise is wire harnessing and electronics on mobile agricultural equipment. He is the product manager for 360 DASH and works on the autonomous irrigation platform, 360 RAIN. In his 10 years with this company, he has been awarded four patents with more pending.
JT and his wife, Alyssa, live in Elberfeld, Indiana, with their two future Boilermakers, Maddie and Mitchell. He volunteers with the Vanderburgh County Fair as the Assistant Beef Superintendent and serves on the county Livestock Committee. He is also involved with the Vanderburgh County 4-H Center fundraising committee. His hobbies include lawn care, landscaping, raised-bed gardening, woodworking, smart home automation, and DIY home improvement projects. He also helps around the family farm, Sky Point Farms, with tech support and installing wireless networking and remote cameras for animal welfare monitoring.
2023 Outstanding ABE Alumni
Jason Brown, BS MSE '01, MS '02
Jason Brown is currently an Engineering Director for Eli Lilly and Company, at the company’s parenteral products manufacturing site in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Following graduation from Purdue with a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural and Biological Engineering in 2001, and a Master of Science in Agricultural and Biological Engineering in 2002, Jason began his career at Lilly as an automation engineer supporting insulin manufacturing. In the twenty years that followed, he has held numerous roles of increasing technical and administrative leadership responsibility, including experiences in Engineering and Operations. The technical expertise he developed in pharmaceutical manufacturing and aseptic processing have allowed him to support Lilly’s global manufacturing network. He has previously led projects to create new manufacturing capacity and capability for both vial and pre-filled syringe products, as well as delivery and startup of a new facility for commercialization of Lilly’s growing portfolio of parenteral products. He currently leads projects within Lilly’s rapidly expanding pre-filled syringe manufacturing network. He has seen firsthand the impact that Lilly medicines can have on peoples lives, and this fuels his passion for continued growth and development of Lilly’s manufacturing and quality network.
Jason credits his Purdue education and experiences in the ABE department, for establishing the foundation for much of his success at Lilly. The combination of a deep understanding of engineering first principles from Purdue, along with a curiosity and passion for continuous improvement, fueled many of his early successes. Throughout his career, he has had the opportunity to lead cross-functional teams, delivering countless process improvements and contributing to significant reliability and manufacturing capacity increases.
Outside of work, you will find Jason spending time with his family and working on their small farm in Pendleton, Indiana. The Brown family includes his wife, Jenny, one daughter, and two sons. The family keeps busy with attending sporting events for each of their children, and he also coaches youth basketball. The Browns especially love Purdue basketball – both attending games at Mackey arena, as well as working their way through the goal of attending away basketball games at each Big Ten school before the kids graduate. Jason also serves on the board of directors for the Purdue Ag Alumni Association, is a board supervisor for the Madison County (Indiana) Soil and Water Conservation district, and serves as chairman of the elder board for Fall Creek Christian Church in Pendleton.
Jennifer L. Brown, BS BE '02
Jenny graduated in 2002 with dual bachelor’s degrees in Agricultural and Biological Engineering and Pharmaceutical Sciences. During her time at Purdue, Jenny decided her career motivation was helping patients, and chose to focus specifically on drug product manufacturing because of the close link between the finished product and the patient. She has over 20 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry in a technical support role for parenteral manufacturing at Eli Lilly and Company, primarily focused on aseptic processing, formulation, and filling of insulin drug products. Throughout her career at Lilly, Jenny has led clinical trial manufacturing activities, provided technical leadership for large capital projects, and implemented process modernizations in the manufacturing area. Jenny has recently moved into an expanded role in Central Technical Services and Manufacturing Sciences as the Humalog global molecule steward and now provides support and oversight to manufacturing sites worldwide.
Jenny and her husband Jason live on a small farm in Pendleton, Indiana, with their three kids, one daughter and two sons, and their dog Mackey. The majority of her free time is spent cheering her kids on while they play basketball, soccer, and tennis and serving as a free taxi to games and practices. The family faithfully follows Purdue basketball, and love to attend games at both at Mackey arena and at rival Big10 schools. Jenny enjoys gardening, landscaping, volunteering at her church, and tending to the family’s flock of chickens with her kids.
Jacob L. Misch, BS ASM '05
Jake Misch lives in Wheatfield, Indiana where he owns and operates a row crop farm. He currently produces seed corn, commercial corn, soybeans and grain sorghum. Jake started farming in 2010 and transitioned to full-time farming in 2018. He has focused on growing the operation both in size and scope with a focus on irrigation and specialty crops. Today the operation covers 4 counties and is 50% irrigated.
Jake was raised on a small farm in Wheatfield and came to Purdue in 2001. During a campus visit, Mack Strickland and Dan Ess convinced him that changing majors from ABE to ASM was the proper course. Jake graduated in 2005 with a BS in ASM, AS in Agronomy, and a Minor in Agribusiness Management.
After graduation, Jake joined Eaton Corporation and worked in their hydraulics and automotive groups in Supply Chain Management. There, he implemented a system to approve new suppliers of raw materials and source new automotive components across the globe.
In 2007, Jake felt called back to agriculture and joined Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., at their seed production facility in Plymouth, Indiana. From 2007 to 2013, he held roles as Management Assistant, Agronomist, and Senior Agronomist. As Senior Agronomist, Jake was responsible for seed corn production across 40,000+ acres in northern Indiana and southwest Michigan. In late 2013, he took on a sales role with Pioneer as a Territory Manager covering Benton, Newton, and Jasper Counties. Jake worked in this role until 2018 when he started farming fulltime.
Jake and Cassie (also a Purdue alum in Agronomy) have 2 daughters - Josie 5, and Brynlee 2. Jake is also involved in his community, serving on the Farm Credit Mid-America Advisory Committee, Jasper County Farm Bureau board and is the President of the Jasper County Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals. In his free time, Jake likes to travel, hunt, and fish.
Chelsea Q. Mohler, BS BE '07, BS PharmS '07
Chelsea (Steele) Mohler was born and raised in South Bend, IN. After ten years of 4H and multiple trips to Purdue for Horse Judging competitions, she knew she was destined to be a Boilermaker. She arrived in the fall of 2002 with a love for math and science and the goal of working in the pharmaceutical industry. Her intent to study Chemical Engineering was diverted by a convincing Freshman Engineering lecture by the ABE department and a visit with Dr. Martin Okos. Chelsea soon enrolled in the Dual Degree program between ABE and the College of Pharmacy. While studying, Chelsea was active in Purdue Student Government, where she was elected Student Body Vice President and met her husband Justin, a Senator from the College of Agriculture. Through her college career she was also active in Mortar Board and Iron Key.
Chelsea had two internships with Eli Lilly and Company before hiring on full-time as a Technical Operations Engineer in Fall 2007. She worked 13 years in Oral Solid Dosage manufacturing and packaging with functional experiences in operations, quality, maintenance, utilities, and process engineering. She has been a cross-functional leader within manufacturing for the past 10 years and has a passion for building people's capabilities while driving operational excellence and compliance. She has held roles in both Indianapolis and Puerto Rico with responsibilities including commercialization of new products, start-up of new facilities and continuous tablet manufacturing. More recently she has transitioned to an Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient manufacturing facility where she currently serves as a Director of Operations.
Chelsea and her husband, Justin, own a corn and soybean farm in Lebanon, Indiana. They served together on the Indiana Farm Bureau State Young Farmer Committee and hosted an Indiana Farm Bureau Agricultural Cultural Exchange trip while living in Puerto Rico. They have three very active boys, Alister, Arlen and Adlai, who sell sweet corn over the summer. Chelsea enjoys teaching the boys' Sunday School classes and loves spending time with her family baking, biking, hiking, and traveling.
Cedric A. Ogden, PhD AE '10
Born in the small town of Warner Robins, Georgia, Cedric Ogden’s early years centered around agriculture and technology. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Engineering (2005) and Master’s degree in Plant, Soil, and Agricultural Systems (2006) from Fort Valley State University and Southern Illinois University Carbondale, respectively. Under the advisement of Dr. Klein Ileleji, Cedric Ogden completed his Doctorate degree in Purdue University’s Agricultural & Biological Engineering Program in 2010. His dissertation was entitled, “Flow Mechanics of Switchgrass Bulk Solid in Hoppers under Gravity Discharge”.
Dr. Cedric Ogden currently holds appointments in teaching, research and extension at the 1890 land grant institution, Fort Valley State University (FVSU) located in Georgia. His research focus in alternative and renewable energy sources aid in the development of more self-sufficient facilities and operations while addressing global concerns of population growth, food security and climate change. Dr. Ogden has designed and maintains several renewable energy operations that provide power to campus greenhouses saving University dollars on utility costs. More recently, Dr. Ogden coordinated the use of over 100 FVSU acres to partner with regional and state utility distributors (Southern Company and Georgia Power Company) to develop one of the largest commercial scale solar operations on a U.S. campus at 11MW that provide clean and reliable grid power to over 10,000 Georgia residential homes that help stabilize rising energy costs and reduce Georgia’s carbon footprint.
With current participation leads in two Centers of Excellence and over $3 million in grant-funded projects, Dr. Ogden’s research and extension ventures beyond renewable energy focus on the use of remote sensing and drone technology for field observation, crop health and precision forestry. In addition to the appointment as an Assistant Professor in Agricultural Engineering, Dr. Ogden’s position as an Extension Engineer for FVSU’s Cooperative Extension Program has allowed his research to find its impact through outreach to farmers and landowners. Dr. Ogden understands that agricultural concerns not only affect the US but is world-wide; His renewable energy and precision agricultural impact has been requested and recently found its way to other countries with his visits to Accra (Ghana), Delta State (Nigeria), Kigali (Rwanda), and Nairobi (Kenya).
Ruth L. Pinto, BS BFPE '08, MS BFPE '10
Ruth earned her B.S. degree in Bio & Food Process Engineering and M.S. degree in Ag & Bio Engineering, both from Purdue. During her time at Purdue, Ruth enjoyed participating in Dr. Martin Jischke’s President’s Leadership Class, the Soybean Innovation Competition, Burton D. Morgan Business Plan Competition, and working in several labs and offices in the ABE department. Her master’s thesis under Dr. Klein Ileleji was funded by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and investigated the use of dried distillers grains as carriers for slow release fertilizers.
Upon graduation, Ruth moved to Houston, Texas, with the non-profit group Teach for America, where she became a high school math teacher. In 2011, Ruth joined the Polyurethanes division of Huntsman Corporation based in The Woodlands, TX. Huntsman is a global manufacturer and marketer of differentiated and specialty chemical products. Ruth started out as an engineer focused on formulation development of fire-rated rigid foam for use in insulated metal panels for North and South American markets. Over the years since, Ruth has worked on formulation development for polyurethane insulation products for use in various applications such as refrigerators, water heaters, refrigerated trucks, walk-in-coolers, and garage doors. Her areas of interest include rheokinetics of expanding polymerizing materials, fire science, and project management.
In her current role, Ruth is the Innovation Technology Manager for Construction & Infrastructure markets for Huntsman Polyurethanes’ Americas region. In this role, she leads a team working on cross-functional projects to develop and commercialize new technologies for applications such as insulation and compressed wood products.
In Ruth’s free time, she enjoys gardening, traveling, and spending time with family. She and her husband Alejandro live in Conroe, Texas, with their two boys.
Joshua D. Reid, PhD BE '02
Joshua Reid, Global Research & Development (R&D) Vice President of Value Transformation and Technology at Kellogg Company, earned his BS in Chemical Engineering and Ph.D. in Biological Engineering at Purdue University as a Graduate Opportunities Fellow, working in fluid mechanics with Dr. Osvaldo Campanella and Dr. Martin Okos as his major advisors. Before his Ph.D., he received an MS in Biological and Agricultural Engineering at the University of Arkansas, with Dr. Terry Siebenmorgen as his major advisor.
Joshua is grateful for the possibilities available at the nation's #1 Agricultural & Biological Engineering program and his major advisors' incredible support. He credits Purdue and University of Arkansas for developing a solid foundation. Beyond his academic program, Joshua had the opportunity to grow as a leader at Purdue by completing the Applied Management Principles Program, competing in the Burton D. Morgan Business Plan Competition, serving in the Minority Engineering Program's Pre-College Programs, and leading the National Student Chair for the American Association of Cereal Chemists.
After completing the doctoral program, Joshua spent six years at General Mills as an R&D Engineer, primarily developing cereal for international markets with Cereal Partners Worldwide (CPW). During this time, CPW transformed its portfolio to incorporate whole grains.
Joshua joined Kellogg Company in 2009 and led R&D teams in Latin America, Europe, and North America before becoming a Global R&D Vice President. Through these experiences, he has had the opportunity to make significant contributions to Kellogg through the development of people and technologies. These contributions include food, process, agricultural innovations, and packaging technologies.
Agriculture-driven innovation has been the most fulfilling, where he has worked with rice growers in his home state of Louisiana, quinoa growers in Bolivia, and rice breeders in Thailand. Participating in the link between our food and the growers reinforces the value of building sustainable food systems. This value was instilled in him by his grandfather, a leader and advocate for smallholder farmers in his home country of Guatemala.
As part of his role at Kellogg, Joshua also serves as a board observer at Mycotechnology, Inc. and as an advisor to the Kalamazoo Valley Community College Culinary Arts program.
Joshua currently resides in Michigan with Nicole Reid, who is a graduate of Purdue Agricultural & Biological Engineering (BSABE 94). Their youngest child is in high school, while their three older children are pursuing their passions.
2022 Outstanding ABE Alumni
Michael A. Holland, MS '07, PhD '12
Michael grew up in Noblesville, Indiana on a small farm. Michael holds 3 degrees from Purdue University: BSME (2005), MSE (2007), PhD (2012). Even as an undergrad with a major outside of ABE, Michael joined the ABE community while taking technical electives, building ¼-scale tractors, and winterizing lawn mowers. Connections made at ABE during that time led to lifelong friends, internship opportunities, and an interest in graduate studies at ABE.
With advisor Dr. Gary Krutz, Michael investigated tire-sensing technology and designed simple electronic circuitry that could be used to detect changes in the tire condition. Michael interned in the utility tractor hydraulics group at the John Deere Product Engineering Center in Waterloo, Iowa, during grad school. Upon completion of his Master of Science in Engineering in 2007, Michael began working at John Deere full-time with rotations in component test and operator station groups.
In late 2008, Michael was made aware of a PhD project opportunity at Purdue University in digital hydraulics and took a leave of absence from John Deere. Michael developed and built a bidirectional digital hydraulic pump/motor under advisor Dr. John Lumkes and through the Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power. With a young child at home, the time at Purdue was extra special, seeing the university through the eyes of a child in his formative years.
Upon completion of his doctorate, Michael returned to the John Deere Product Engineering Center to the tractor hydraulics group. Michael has held positions from analysis to design engineering and supervision. Project highlights include selective control valve updates; development of a closed center, pressure and flow compensated utility tractor hydraulic circuit; and design and implementation of steering, braking, and trailer braking systems for domestic, European, and worldwide markets. Michael is currently a staff engineer, supporting the advancement of hydraulic technology and architecture for future product programs. Through John Deere, Michael has had the opportunity to work with engineers and customers from around the world, including on-farm experiences with customers in the United States, Europe, and Scandinavia.
Outside of work, Michael enjoys raising three boys. With his wife Zita and parents, Michael raises corn, soybeans, and hay on a small Iowa farm. The farm provides a great opportunity to mix older tractors and newer technology. Michael supports the ASABE International ¼-Scale Tractor Student Design Competition each year as a volunteer and as an officer in the competition committee. Of course, Michael continues to cheer on Purdue basketball, football, and volleyball.
Zita C. Holland, MS '10
Zita Crayner Holland earned her bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering (2005) before starting as a Product Engineer at John Deere Power Systems in Waterloo, IA. She took a leave of absence to return to the Purdue campus to complete her Master of Science in Engineering at Agricultural and Biological Engineering. Her thesis under Dr. Gary Krutz investigated applications of electro-active polymer actuators.
She returned to John Deere, where she redesigned the 13.5L crankshaft before becoming a tribology analyst. Zita is currently a staff engineer working in product safety and compliance for tractors at the John Deere Waterloo Works, supporting the newest models of the 7R, 8R, and 9R tractor platforms. She works with internal design teams, external regulations, and international standards bodies to maintain the highest levels of compliance and market access for John Deere tractor products. Zita has been with John Deere for over 16 years. During her time at Purdue, she interned with Alcoa at the Lafayette, Indiana, location.
A firm believer in continuing education, Zita is also working on a degree in German Studies at Oregon State University. She loves hockey, crocheting, and rucking, and she has recently purchased an older home to hone her renovation skills. She is a life-long fan of Purdue.
Zita works full-time and is raising 3 boys with her husband, Michael, who is also being honored this year as an outstanding alumnus. The Holland family lives and farms in Iowa.
Kyler B. Laird, MS '04
Kyler Laird is an agricultural robotics expert with a passion for developing innovative solutions and sharing knowledge through presenting and teaching. He serves as a Farmer and Manager at Lairdscape LLC based in Rensselaer, Indiana.
Robert Lynn 'Bob' Malcomb, BS '78
Bob Malcomb, of Southeastern Indiana, is well-known for designing and building pole barn hospitals, churches, and orphanages. While a student at Purdue, he worked for the ABE (then Ag Engineering) Department.
During Bob’s matriculation, the department taught a post-frame building design course. The process requires 1/3 less labor and 1/3 less material than traditional buildings. The university asked Bob to go to Ukraine to teach a pole-barn design course for low-cost churches. Each building is outfitted with a soup kitchen as well as space for collecting and distributing coats and medications. To date, Bob has overseen the building of 29 churches in several countries.
Financing these trips was accomplished by building churches and “barndominiums” here in Indiana.
Bob has been a faithful supporter of our students and our programs, returning to campus annually to share with our seminar classes and inspire the next group.
Bob has designed hospitals in Haiti, Mexico, Mauritania, Central Africa, and Asia.
Corwin 'Cory' Spaetti, BS '02
Cory has over 20 years of engineering and product management experience since graduating from the ABE program in May of 2002. Following graduation, Cory returned to farming, but shortly after transitioned to a product engineering role at Kubota Tractor Corporation. At KTC Cory expanded the application of their compact and utility tractors through the development of new attachments.
Three years later, in 2006, he joined CNH Industrial as a design engineer and served the Compact and Cash-Crop High Horsepower Tractor platforms. He was the architect for systems that integrate electrical, hydraulic, drivetrain, and cabs for these tractors. In 2011, Cory migrated from engineering to purchasing within CNH Industrial. Cory was responsible for product development purchasing activities on the Case IH Steiger / New Holland T9 tractor platform. Specifically, Cory orchestrated strategic sourcing of all new components during the development of Case IH’s RowTrac Steiger tractor. Then in 2013, Cory moved over to CNH Industrial’s Precision Solution & Telematics group, as the Telematics and Connectivity Platform Manager where he initiated and managed the development of Case IH’s AFS Connect telematics product.
In 2017, Cory joined The Climate Corporation as the Product Manager for FieldView Drive Machine Compatibility. Cory was the project manager for the expansion of the Drive’s compatibility to legacy and new precision agriculture equipment.
Since the fall of 2019, Cory has been at Sabanto and is a leader in autonomous agriculture equipment development.
Cory strongly believes that his education and experiences at Purdue gave him a strong foundation to succeed within the agriculture equipment and technology space.
Cory was raised on a 1200 acre grain farm in Southern Indiana and earned a bachelor’s degree in Agriculture Engineering at Purdue University in 2002. He is a two-time Ironman Triathlon finisher, an Eagle Scout, and a 10-year 4-H club member.
2021 Outstanding ABE Alumni
With the ongoing restrictions and the we have again made the difficult decision to cancel the 2021 Alumni Awards. The Fall semester is beginning to look more "normal" and we anticipate celebrating our 100th anniversary in September. Our hope is that the spring 2022 awards will be in-person.
2020 Outstanding ABE Alumni
With the social-distancing requirements currently in place, we had to make the hard decision to cancel this year's Alumni Awards, originally slated for April 23, 2020. We look forward to next year, when we can celebrate not only our Outstanding ABE Alumni and our seniors, but the 100th anniversary of the conferring of the first Agricultural & Biological Engineering degree (then called Agricultural Engineering). Please make your plans to join us then!
2019 Outstanding ABE Alumni
Left to right: Paul Miller, Kitt Farrell-Poe, Scott Strickland, Amy Penner, Steve Poe
Kathryn "Kitt" Farrell-Poe, MS '84, PhD '90 CE
Kathryn L. “Kitt” Farrell-Poe is a Department Head, Extension Specialist, and Professor in the Biosystems Engineering Department and an Extension Water Quality Specialist in the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences and the College of Engineering at the University of Arizona. A native Ohioan, she was the first woman to earn a Bachelor’s Degree in Agricultural Engineering at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in 1979, where she emphasized water quality and quantity. She immediately put her engineering skills to the test working for a USDA rural electrification program in Nebraska looking at how and when farmers used electricity.
Over several ASAE meetings, Purdue Professor John C. Nye recruited her to pursue a master’s degree in Agricultural Engineering at Purdue with a focus on containment of pesticide contaminated rinse water. She also worked as a teaching assistant for Professor Bruce McKenzie’s Farmstead Planning class. When he requested that she get the previous class notes from another graduate instructor, Stephen Poe, little did she know that she would marry him four years later. After graduating with her master’s and swearing off any more schooling, she worked for the Farm Clinic in West Lafayette doing soil analysis for a year. Graduate school called to her again, but she felt that Agricultural Engineering departments were too small to hire two Agricultural Engineering professionals at the same time, so she started a Ph.D. program in Civil (Environmental) Engineering also at Purdue University, and concentrated on industrial wastewater treatment.
During her doctorate graduate program, Kitt Farrell-Poe got married, had her first child, and moved to Utah State University, taking on a 50% Water Quality Extension position all while she was finishing her PhD. Once she graduated, she joined the Agricultural Systems Technology & Education department as first woman faculty member. It was there that she started to focus more of her time with the Cooperative Extension service becoming a statewide water quality specialist known as Water Woman often dressed in tights and wearing a cape to conduct school presentations.
Dr. Farrell-Poe joined the Agricultural & Biosystems Engineering Department as their first female faculty member and has been with the University of Arizona for 20 years. She became the department’s first female department head in 2014. Her Extension program focus has been onsite wastewater treatment education for practitioners. While teaching and conducting Extension programs as the State Extension Water Quality Coordinator, she was also the coordinator of the USDA Region 9 Water Quality Program. She is a member of the Consortium of Institutes for Decentralized Wastewater Treatment, and a writer and reviewer of CIDWT curriculum materials, as well as a member of ASABE.
Dr. Farrell-Poe has personally participated in almost $7 million in grants, and now directs 18 faculty members, 5 staff, 3 different research facilities, and has an annual departmental budget in excess of $2.5 million.
Paul S. Miller PhD '03
Paul S. Miller, PhD, is now the Head of Science and Analytics at Nutrien Ag Solution’s Champaign, IL Campus of Nutrien Digital, which was Agrible, Inc’s headquarters prior to Agrible’s acquisition by Nutrien Ag Solutions. Paul was a co-founder and served as the Chief Science Officer and Head of Product Development since the inception of Agrible, Inc from 2012 – 2018, a software development company focused on predictive analytics and sustainability analytics in agriculture.Paul went to college and found his way into Agricultural Engineering due to his love of the environment and interests in sustainability, ecosystem health, and food security. He completed his BS and MS at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign under the critical mentorship of J. Kent Mitchell, PhD. He worked on large instrumentation projects and quickly led a team of undergraduate research engineers to help with the LVR watershed data collection effort. That field-level research was critical to understanding data, its difficulty of collection, data science and analytics, and its quality control requirementsm something that is foundational to work at both Agrible and Nutrien.
After completing that early academic work, Paul decided to pursue a PhD in Agricultural and Biological Engineering at Purdue University, co-mentored by Rabi Mohtar, PhD, and Bernard Engel, PhD. Purdue’s focus at that time on the computational aspects of Agricultural Engineering including spatial processing and numerical and computational engineering were foundational to the development and conceptualization of key systems thinking for spatial data and geospatially-linked computational agronomics both at the micro- and macro-scales. He worked on data science-focused work related to combinatorial-based analytics of water quality sampling programs for mass-flux calculations from field and watershed studies. This focus led to pushing systems and hardware to being able to build massively parallel data science workflows – the ideation basis for simulation workflows at Agrible, Inc.
After Purdue, Paul worked as a post-doctoral researcher at University of Wisconsin at Madison mentored by KG Karthikeyan and consultant on massive computational agronomics-based simulation systems with linked data science and machine learning-based analytics workflows. The focus of this work was to always answer why certain things were happening and how humans affect the environment. A significant achievement was modeling millions of agricultural fields across the US to understand environmental fate and transport of agricultural chemicals and developing algorithms that reflect real-world agricultural practices and complex geospatial analyses. These algorithms led to ideation for grower-centric predictive analytics. “Why couldn’t growers use this science to know more and be more efficient with their operations?”, was the question that led to an amazing business.
Champaign has a very vibrant startup and entrepreneurial community and Paul was introduced to the world of startups there. After a few business-startup informational events, he thought, “I could do that!” After working through venture capital, business plans, series funding, and the pragmatic world of technology startups, he pursued the creation of Agrible, Inc. - a predictive analytics-based business in agriculture creating science-based products for growers to use every day in their business.
The science and technology stack created at Agrible was the first of its kind and attracted over 20,000 grower-users, served millions of data requests through web, mobile, and email application, delivered critical agronomic information checked daily across the industry, and launched predictive analytics in agriculture to growers across the world. Built entirely internally in Champaign, IL with an incredible science and technology team, the analytics products delivered concentrated on Agronomics, Logistics, Weather, and intelligent systems-based Record Keeping. Agrible became the global leader in documented, sustainably-sourced acres and provided sustainability metrics to growers and food and beverage companies by creating digital sustainability campaigns supported by the Agrible ecosystem in the US and in around 20 countries worldwide.
A number of the large companies in agriculture were watching what Agrible was doing and seeing the widespread adoption of its technology across different players in the industry. Wanting to deliver science-based predictive analytics to its customers with it’s new Digital organization, Nutrien Ag Solutions, the world’s largest agricultural retailer took note and decided to acquire Agrible, Inc. in one of the top 10 ag tech business deals as of 2018. As a member of both the Board of Directors and the Agrible M&A committee, Paul presented the company’s vision and technical acumen to Nutrien Ag Solutions and worked on the deal for almost half a year – an incredible business experience. Paul became the Head of Science and Analytics at Nutrien Ag Solutions and is currently engaged in transitioning the Agrible team through the acquisition and integration of the Agrible systems alongside building new products for Nutrien Ag Solution’s digital platform. He will be incredibly proud when over 1 in 5 of every grower in the US and Canada begin using the predictive analytics products that Agrible’s team built to grow food sustainably and profitably at the same time.
Paul S. Miller is married to Sang S Lee and they live in Champaign, Illinois, with their two crazy cats, musical instruments, and mid-century modern furniture. Who knows what the future holds, too?
Amy Penner BS '07, MS '08
Amy grew up in Wabash, Indiana on a family farm and wanted to study at Purdue from a young age. She graduated with degrees in Biological and Food Process Engineering BS (2007) and MS (2008) under Dr. Martin Okos. In her Master's work, she furthered the NASA's Mars Mission Food program and additional work on developing a project-based spiral learning curriculum. As an undergraduate, she was active in the Society of Women Engineers, Mortar Board, Purdue Christian Campus House and Iron Key.
Since her time at Purdue, the last 11 years have been filled with learning and growth as she has delivered successful projects and programs across 4 countries through 3 functions and 7 roles. Within her teams, she has been named on 6 patents, launched multiple new products and portfolios, delivered multi-million dollar capex and productivity programs alongside completing her MBA and Six Sigma black belt.
Amy started her journey at Kraft Foods in R&D in Chicago and later moved to Oxford, UK, to launched new technology for an instant coffee product. After a company re-structure, she stayed with the newly formed Mondelez International to drive global process development of chewing gum in New Jersey. Then, an opportunity came up to move back to the UK to lead the Continuous Improvement team for an Instant Coffee Manufacturing plant. Following another company re-structure, the coffee business was spun out of Mondelez to create the world's largest pure coffee company, Jacobs Douwe Egberts (JDE) in 2015. With this change, she moved back to R&D to lead Technology Applications team for Instant Coffee across 6 plants for JDE. During this time, she completed her MBA at Oxford Brookes University in Oxford with a specialization in Improving success in M&A activity for R&D functions. Following an acquisition in 2017, she spent the next 2 years in Singapore, Singapore as Head of R&D Asia, leading the team of 37 across the region and delivering the R&D integration and growth agendas.
In December 2018, Amy moved to Amsterdam, Netherlands, where she is currently leading Global Procurement team for Raw Materials at JDE, where she manages a multi-million dollar annual portfolio spend. Amy strongly believes that her education and experiences at Purdue gave her a strong foundation to succeed within the dynamic global food industry.
In her free time, Amy loves to cook and she tries to integrate the flavors and textures of the amazing food from all the places she's lived. She enjoys traveling and embracing new cultures. Yet, she always enjoys coming back to Indiana to spend time with family, friends, and cheer on the Boilermakers.
Stephen "Steve" E. Poe PhD '87
Dr. Stephen E. Poe is a Professor and Extension Specialist in Biosystems Engineering and Agricultural Education at the University of Arizona. While in high school, Steve started sniffing out of a future career in mechanized agriculture while operating a manure scoop shovel at the family hog farm in Roan, Indiana. After starting college at Ball State University, he moved back to California with his family and continued his education receiving an AA in agriculture and diesel mechanics. Deciding to move back to Indiana, Steve attempted to major in Agricultural Mechanization with a focus on Agricultural Education, but his advisor (Professor Ray Lien) wouldn’t go along with the idea, so Steve ended up getting his BS and MS degrees in Agricultural Education with a focus on Agricultural Mechanization. While working as a lab assistant for AgEn 201, Steve had an opportunity to become a graduate instructor for the Agricultural Engineering Department in 1981 and was hired by Gerry Isaccs, AgEn department head. It was at that time that Dr. Mack Strickland took on one of the most difficult challenges in his life – to get Steve graduated.
During the next seven years, Steve had the opportunity to learn from and teach with a world-class faculty that included Mack Strickland, Arlen Brown, Don Jones, John Nye, Bruce McKenzie, Bill Friday, Richard Stroshine, Ed Monk, Harry Gibson, Bill Field, Dave Beasley, Martin Okos, John Barrett, Gary Krutz, Clarence Ritchie, Larry Huggins, and many others. Finally, in 1987, he finished up one of the first graduate programs to focus on computer simulation and modeling. During his graduate teaching assistantship, Steve taught/co-taught 36 total courses for the AgEn department, a record that probably still stands today. That experience, more than anything else in graduate school, prepared him for a career dedicated to working with students.
The first faculty position for Dr. Poe was with the Agricultural Systems Technology & Education department at Utah State University. So, along with soon-to-graduate spouse (Kitt Farrell-Poe), the family moved to Logan, Utah. Dr. Poe continued software development and teaching but started serving as a Cooperative Extension Specialist focusing on energy, livestock housing, and waste management. While continuing to teach, Dr. Poe’s increased consulting activities justified flying to remote locations throughout the southwest states logging almost 800 hours of flight time in his Cessna 182.
In 1998, Steve and Kitt accepted positions with the University of Arizona and moved to a branch campus in Yuma, Arizona, where Steve became the Academic Coordinator for the newly minted Agricultural Systems Management program in the department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering. 1n 2009, the family was called to the main campus in Tucson, Arizona.
Dr. Poe has become an accomplished instructor in high demand with class sizes approaching 300 students per semester. Now, after 39 years of teaching college, Professor Poe has taught almost 8,000 students in 173 classes. He has authored almost a hundred publications, created dozens of computer programs, and has educational videos with over 3 million views. He credits Purdue University and the Agricultural Engineering Department (ABE) for being the best possible preparation for academic and vocational success, Mack Strickland for his continued mentoring, and his family (Kitt, Joshua, Kaitlin, Stephanie, and Alyson) for providing the love and motivation to keep him going.
Scott Strickland ASM BS '04
Scott Strickland works with CGB (Consolidated Grain and Barge Company), an innovative and entrepreneurial company whose core business revolves around the grain and transportation industries along the U.S. inland river systems. Scott works within CGB’s Grain Division as a General Manager of its Midwest Region, the largest of its four geographical grain regions. Scott is originally from West Lafayette, Indiana, and attended Purdue University earning a Bachelor Degree in Agricultural Systems Management, along with an Associate Degree in Agronomy. During college Scott completed six cooperative internships with John Deere & Co. where he focused on Product Marketing and Test Engineering in Augusta, Georgia, and as a Product Specialist Intern in their Western U.S. Sales Territory. Upon graduation in 2004, Scott accepted an opportunity to join CGB due to the comparative culture, the ability to work directly with farmers, and the opportunity to develop within a company to build a career.
Scott began his career as a Grain Operations Trainee in Mt. Vernon, Indiana, where he gained the fundamental understanding of the planning, execution, and physical aspects of the grain business. Then in the spring of 2005, he joined the Merchandising team at Mt. Vernon as a Merchant Trainee, gaining a greater understanding of commodity markets and the needs of producer customers.
In the fall of 2005, Scott was asked to become the Manager of a leased facility in Uniontown, Kentucky. Although being asked to manage folks that had been doing their jobs longer then he had been alive could be considered a fool’s errand, it proved to be one of the best experiences of his career, as it taught Scott about servant leadership and gave him the opportunity to own “his own” profit and loss statement. Then in the spring of 2007, Scott returned to Mt. Vernon to take on a new role as Group Manager of the Western Ohio Valley Region overseeing the Management, Merchandising and Operations of this asset grouping.
The summer of 2011, Scott joined the Ohio Valley Regional Trading Team at Jeffersonville, Indiana, where he focused on trading soybeans and barge freight for the Ohio River Segment for CGB, which built upon his commercial understanding. In the fall of 2013, Scott left the Ohio Valley Region to take on the role of Group Manager of three facilities at Hennepin, Utica and Peru, Illinois, within CGB’s Northern Illinois Region. This allowed him to return to his passions towards growing and developing people and assets, while expanding his experience to the customers and business structure of another Region.
In the spring of 2015, Scott was asked to take on his current role as General Manager, which has continued to expand into 35 grain facilities, 11 of which are river terminals. These facilities stretch across the Northern third of Illinois, into Northeast Iowa, and into Southern Minnesota.
Scott resides in Princeton, Illinois, with his wife Abby and enjoys sports, scouting, and outdoor activities with their 6-year-old son Cooper, playing princes tea party with their four-year-old daughter Madison, and eating breakfast and watching "The Rifleman" at 4 am with their 1-year-old son Cole.
2018 Outstanding ABE Alumni - Darla K. Aker, Jeff Cannaday, John A. "Jack" Lashenik, Yulin Lu, Bradley Marks, Shang-Tian Yang
2017 Outstanding ABE Alumni - Col. Richard W. Dean, II, Dale A. Gick, Anna Hayes, David J. "Dave" Koellisch, Ted S. Macy, John M. Shutske
2016 Outstanding Alumni - Mark Bowers, Nathan Fleck, Jill E.K. Gough, David Guntrip, Kevin King, Joseph Miller
2015 Outstanding Alumni - Danielle Bellmer, Susanne R. "Suzie" Delay, Lawrence D. "Larry" Gaultney, Steven E. Havlik, Sergio Hernandez, J. Bradley "Brad" Lukac, Betsy F. Willis
2014 Outstanding Alumni - Susan L. Brocksmith, John "Chris" Layer, Daniel Orr, Lonnie Oxley, Karl Weiss, Ryan Williams
2013 Outstanding Alumni - John R. Brubaker, Douglas E. Dawes, Brad Fife, Cynthia A. McCracken, Kevin Richman, Ronald H. Thieme
2012 Outstanding Alumni - Johann (Joe) R. Garwood, Dennis A. Kim, Reid Waitt, Amos Wu
2011 Outstanding Alumni - Edwin Bahler, Jonathan Landes, Rebecca Thompson, Brian Vorst
2010 Outstanding Alumni - Michael Cox, Brad Meyerholtz, Mark Zeltwanger
2009 Outstanding Alumni - Jeffrey F. Birkel, Ryan D. Howard, Gary A. Michel
2008 Outstanding Alumni - Dr. Charles Spillman, Dr. Michael Veenhuizen
2007 Outstanding Alumni - Del Botcher, Jason Shonk, Ernest Streicher, Edward Vondell
2006 Outstanding Alumni - Tetuo Hara, Terry Brown
2005 Outstanding Alumni - Scott Benko, W. Douglas Griffin, Stanley Morton, Dr. Leroy Pickett
2004 Outstanding Alumni - Thomas Burke, Michael R. Duncan, C. Gene Haugh, Otto Loewer, Melcy Curth Pond, John Rettinger
2003 Outstanding Alumni - Joseph K. Boddiford, Jr., Yael Edan, Mauri Fortes, Levon L. Mathews, David W. Smith, William C. Werner
2002 Outstanding Alumni - Kevin L. Eikenberry, Jane L. Lavey, Evandro C. Mantovani, Michael E. Massone, Lyle F. Stephens
2001 Outstanding Alumni - David B. Beasley, Donald M. Edwards, Ted S. Macy, Kurt Waananen, Philip J. Wegh
2000 Outstanding Alumni - John C. Nye, Gerald A. Powell, Dale D. Reed, Katherine P. Wettschurack, Larry R. Wettschurack
1999 Outstanding Alumni - Marvin Joray, Bruce McKenzie, Matthew Reynolds, Harold Schramm, Larry Segerlind, Harmon Towne
1998 Outstanding Alumni - William Carteaux, John Greiner, W. David Shoup