Placing in the top three of any competition is quite a feat to boast; doing it year after year in a national competition is unheard of! Students in the Department of Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science have made excellence commonplace by continuously placing first, second, or third almost every year since 2009 at an American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) undergraduate design competition.
Two teams of students represented Herbert at the competition. One team, made up of students Margie Peeler, Jim Roebuck, and Lewis Webber and advised by associate professor John Buchanan, placed first with their project “Gradual Rotary Adjustment for Sloped Surfaces.” The second team, composed of students Benjamin Cruz and Colby Gillman, placed third with their project “Solid-State Microwave Control and Data Collection System.” Their team was advised by both Department of Food Science assistant professor JiaJia Chan and Department of Engineering and Soil Science assistant professor Hao Gan.
Julie Carrier, professor and head of the Department of Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science, speaks to the program’s roaring success. “Our senior design program is special because each year the projects are very open-ended and unique, forcing students to use and build on their science and engineering knowledge to develop, prototype and test their design,” says Carrier. “The curriculum is arranged such that seniors work not only on their design but also on peripheral real-world aspects such as safety, environmental impact, human and societal factors, and presenting the design verbally and in written form. This could be one of the reasons why, year after year, we do so well on the national scene.”
Students also have opportunities to work closely with their faculty and advisors like Lori Duncan, assistant professor in the department. Duncan is the faculty advisor for the ASABE student chapter and leads a student mentorship program which pairs new students with upperclassmen, creating a community to promote student success.
Between the determination of the students and the intentionality from faculty and advisors, the Department of Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science has produced fantastic outcomes for its graduates. With a job placement rate of 100 percent, students can expect the program to set up their future careers in a big way. According to some leaders in the industry, the design opportunities for students set them apart from other applicants.
“I have been part of several hiring and interview boards, and one clear observation is that University of Tennessee applicants who have experienced the senior design course in biosystems engineering stand out,” says Joseph C. Zimmerman, a senior construction engineer based in Texas and a UT alumnus (’89, ’96). “The design projects are valuable and unique, and they help bridge the gap between routine coursework and internship experience. The design experience expanded the gap between UT applicants and other candidates with applicable real-world experience.”
To learn more about the resounding success of biosystems and soil science students, visit the program’s website.
