Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering Centennial Celebration

Kevin Janni, Professor and Extension Engineer

February 28, 2009

The Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering is celebrating 100 years of innovative engineering education, research and extension programs at the University of Minnesota. The centennial celebration will culminate with an open house, seminars and a historic commemoration on Thursday, March 26, 2009.

Over the past century, faculty, staff and students of the department have contributed to a storied history and made many contributions to agriculture and the dairy industry. Agricultural Engineering was first introduced into Minnesota’s Agricultural College by W. M. Hayes, Professor of Agriculture, in the 1890’s. Course topics included selecting and planning farms, farm buildings, fences, roads, tillage, irrigation, implements and machinery.

Carpentry class in the early 1900’s.

The Division of Agricultural Engineering was officially established on July 1, 1909, bringing together curricula in farm structures, farm mechanics and agricultural physics that had existed since the late 1800s. In 1953, the "Division" became a "Department" in keeping with other St. Paul Campus administrative changes. In 1995, the Department of Agricultural Engineering became the Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering. In 2006 the Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering was formed by merging the Departments of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering and Bio-based Products.

William Boss had an important role in the creation of agricultural engineering at the University of Minnesota. He came to the School of Agriculture in 1890 and taught students engineering concepts needed to run a creamery. In 1893, he was appointed head carpenter and began teaching steam engineering. In 1896, he became chief engineer for the new St. Paul campus power plant and taught steam engineering, carpentry and power machinery. He became professor of farm structures and farm mechanics in 1905, left the university in 1909 to run his Specialty Manufacturing Company and returned in 1919 to become department head. William Boss attended the initial organizational meeting of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers in 1907 and later was national president in 1928-1929.

Early research and curricula focused on farm machinery, irrigation and drainage, rural electrification and farm structures. Division faculty taught practical engineering and farm structures as part of four week long Dairy Schools and numerous short courses for farmers in the early 1900’s. There were courses on carpentry, blacksmithing, land clearing and drafting. Today the department has courses in process control and instrumentation, renewable energy, biological process engineering, ecological engineering, waste management engineering and water management engineering.

Division of Agricultural Engineering faculty research on electrification led to the “The Red Wing Project” in the 1920’s. The project built a power line to provide electricity to farms in the Burnside community near Red Wing. The electricity was turned on for the first time December 24, 1923. It is believed that this was the first experimental rural electric line in the world built for research. This historical project will be commemorated with a ceremony and dedication by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers on March 26, 2009. Go to www.bbe.umn.edu for more information about the centennial celebration.

The first Agricultural Engineering Extension Specialist appointed within the Division of Agricultural Extension was Norton C. Ives. Mr. Ives was located in the Agricultural Engineering Building with the Division of Agricultural Engineering faculty.

Dairy housing systems were an important area of research and extension programs. Professor Don Bates joined the department as an Extension Engineer in 1951. In the late 1960’s Professor Bates and Dr. John Anderson of Veterinary Medicine developed a unique collaboration between engineering and veterinary medicine that continued for over 20 years. They were known around the world for their dairy housing work and how environmental stress impacted calf, young stock and dairy cow health and productivity. 

In the early 1980’s, Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering faculty were in the forefront of the stray voltage problem in the dairy industry. In 1980, Dr. Harold Cloud and Dr. Robert Gustafson of Agricultural Engineering and Dr. Robert Appleman of Animal Science co-authored an extension publication on stray voltage problems with dairy cows. The team also published numerous research articles about diagnosing and solving stray voltage problems in livestock facilities.

Algae to energy research in the early 2000’s.

More recently, Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering faculty have conducted research and developed extension programs related to odor and gas emissions, odor control using biofilters and covers, odor dispersion and its impact on neighbors, milk house wastewater treatment, energy conservation, renewable energy and anaerobic digestion of dairy manure to produce heat, electricity, pipeline quality natural gas or hydrogen. The department strives to be a global leader in the discovery, development and use of renewable resources and sustainable technologies to meet society's needs while enhancing the environment.

The public is invited to the Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering Centennial celebration on Thursday, March 26 at the St. Paul Student Center at the University of Minnesota. For more information about the Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering Centennial go to http://www.bbe.umn.edu/Department_Centennial