Stan Harlow is the ECN Site Specialist for the Agricultural and Biological Engineering department. As a Purdue graduate with both a Bachelors and Masters in Agricultural Engineering, he is quite familiar with his discipline's needs and priorities. Before assuming his current position, Stan applied his skills in a creative innovation at the International Harvester Company where he earned a patent on a progressive piece of farming equipment. This kind of up-to-date thinking along with an initial interest in UNIX (the ABE department had the second UNIX computer on campus) is why the ABE department has been a strong UNIX shop ever since.

An average morning begins with answering and resolving user questions and concerns. He works closely with Drs. Engel and Jones in areas of research and pedagogy. Stan manages and tracks ABE's computing resources and uses patience as a tool for cost-effective purchasing decisions. By communicating with the various vendors, he is able to make a buying decision that will be the most beneficial and efficient use of School resources. Because Stan supports a combining of resources, his efforts as a leader have resulted in the establishment of a computing network for the School of Agriculture. This technical committee addresses needs by working together to solve common problems and achieve common goals. Part of Stan's official duties involves being an Oracle database administrator. This program is used daily by Agricultural Communication Service staff for the tracking of publications produced by faculty and staff of the School of Agriculture. Stan estimates that at least 5,000 different publications have been entered in the last decade. This kind of service requires a major investment of time and resources.

Stan loves interacting with undergraduates and his class, ASM 211 - Technical Graphic Communication, reflects that. This class is geared towards students majoring in Agriculture, Engineering, and/or Landscape Architecture. Another course Stan instructs is entitled ABE 435 - Hydraulic Control Systems for Mobile Equipment. It offers students the chance to work with a computer simulation of mobile hydraulics, allowing them to construct hydraulic circuits from the keyboard. In his spare time, Stan enjoys family camping trips and working on his parent's farm. He still exercises his inventive skills by working on the improvement of a process that could extract protein from alfalfa that could provide a supplemental food source for both animals and humans.