Curriculum Change for the B.S. Degrees in ABE

Engineering Faculty Document No. 31-06

March 23, 2007

TO:         Engineering Faculty

FROM:    The Faculty of Agricultural and Biological Engineering

RE:         Curriculum Change for the B.S. Degrees in Agricultural & Biological Engineering

The faculty of the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering has approved the curriculum for the B.S. degrees in Agricultural & Biological Engineering effective for students entering the School after the Spring Semester 2007.  This action is now submitted to the Engineering Faculty with a recommendation for approval.

Revised Plans of Study for the Agricultural and Biological Engineering Environmental & Natural Resources and Machinery Systems Engineering options (the first POS) and for the Biological and Food Process Engineering (BFPE) option are attached. New courses or changes in required courses are shown in bold.

The proposed changes during the first year are in accord with recent changes to the First Year Engineering (FYE) curriculum. As of the fall semester of 2006:

1. ENGR 106, a 2 credit hour course, was replaced with ENGR 126, a 3 credit hour course that places a greater emphasis on teaching computing concepts using MATLAB as the vehicle. Engineering departments were given the option of requiring a second chemistry course or a 3 hour computer science course, or both courses, during the second semester of the first year. When FYE proposed these changes, they noted that national trends across engineering programs include first-year engineering curricula with a single semester of chemistry.

2. In addition, the Department of Physics recently began offering PHYS 172 Modern Mechanics and that has replaced PHYS 152 as the preferred introductory physics course for engineering students.

3. During the fall of 2006 the Computer Science Department began offering CS 159, a course that includes both C programming and MATLAB programming. This course is a preferred alternative to the C programming course listed in the current  plan of study, CS 156, (2 credit hours) or the alternative CS 158 (3 credit hours).

4.  The ABE faculty would like to require students in the Biological and Food Processing (BFPE) and Environmental Resources (ENRE) options to take CHM 116. However, they are willing to allow students in the Machinery Systems Engineering (MSE) option to take either CHM 116 or CS 159. Either a second semester of chemistry or a computer science course would benefit the MSE students and the two courses are considered to be of equal importance.

5. A general elective was added to both the ABE and BFPE plans of study during the second semester of the first year to make ABE’s first year engineering plan of study consistent with those of other engineering departments.

6. The second curriculum change involves the sophomore (ABE 290) and senior (ABE 490) seminars. At the present time, only ABE 490 is required for all students. However, the content of ABE 290 was recently updated to include instruction in ethics, globalization, preparation for summer internships, and similar topics. Instruction in these areas is considered important by the Department faculty and also by reviewers during periodic accreditation visits by representatives of ABET, Inc., the international organization that accredits engineering programs. Therefore, the ABE faculty proposes that students be required to take both ABE 290 and ABE 490.

7. The final change involves CE 273 Mechanics of Materials, which is no longer offered.  It is being replaced in the ABE Plan of Study by NU 273 Mechanics of Materials. Responsibility for providing a mechanics of materials course was recently transferred from Civil Engineering to Nuclear Engineering.

Bernard A. Engel

Professor and Head

Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department

Agricultural and Biological Engineering [Current] Plan of Study

(Students entering Fall 2001 and after)

(Credit Hours Required for Graduation: 131)

^** A total of eighteen credit hours of general education electives must be taken in accordance with the requirements of the Schools of Agriculture and Engineering.

Six credits within the plan of study must meet School of Agriculture International Understanding requirements.

Agricultural and Biological Engineering [Proposed] Plan of Study

(Effective January 2007 – changes from 2001 POS shown in bold type)

(Credit Hours Required for Graduation: 131)

^{**  A} total of eighteen credit hours of general education electives must be taken in accordance with the requirements of the Colleges of Agriculture and Engineering. Six credits within the plan of study must meet School of Agriculture International Understanding requirements.

Biological and Food Process Engineering [Current] Plan of Study

(Students entering Fall 2001 and after)

(Credit Hours Required for Graduation: 133)

^{**  Eighteen} credit hours of general education electives must be chosen in accordance with the general education document (available in the Student Academic Center, ABE 201).  Of the 18 credit hours, 3 must be Economics (ECON 251 or 252), and 3 must be an additional Communication elective.

†† Restricted elective.  See list of approved courses in the ABE Student Handbook.

Biological and Food Process Engineering [Proposed] Plan of Study

(Effective January 2007 – changes from 2001 POS shown in bold type)

(Credit Hours Required for Graduation: 133)

^{**  Eighteen} credit hours of general education electives must be chosen in accordance with the general education document (available in the Student Academic Center, ABE 201).  Of the 18 credit hours, 3 must be Economics (ECON 251 or 252), and 3 must be an additional Communication elective.

^†† Restricted elective.  See list of approved courses in the ABE Student Handbook.