MS
MS
Agricultural & Biological Systems Engineering,
The graduate program leading to the Master of Science in agricultural and biological systems engineering and agricultural systems technology.
Description
Graduate study may be directed toward agricultural power and machinery systems, animal waste management, animal well-being, biomedical engineering, bioprocessing, computer applications, control systems, decision support systems, environmental engineering, food process engineering, geographic information systems, global positioning systems, ground and surface water management, irrigation system design, materials handling and processing systems, monitoring and controlling biological systems, plant environment, risk assessment, soil and water conservation, solid and hazardous waste management, water quality, and other areas of engineering science and design.
Students have access to state-of-the-art research facilities and equipment. These facilities include 15 laboratories in L. W. Chase Hall, Splinter Laboratories Building, and IAPC Pilot Plant. Field research sites in Nebraska include the Rogers Memorial Farm and Agricultural Research and Development Center in Lincoln; Haskell Agricultural Laboratory near Concord, Nebraska; and Research and Extension Centers at North Platte and Scottsbluff, Nebraska. Together these facilities capture the wide range of climate, soil, and cropping systems that exist in the state.
Specializations
Applying for Admission
Standard requirements for all graduate programs
- Application for Admission with $50 non-refundable application fee.
- Transcripts (unofficial): Uploaded as part of application form.
If International: Uploads must include all college- or university-level transcripts or mark sheets (records of courses and marks earned), with certificates, diplomas, and degrees plus certified English translations.
After admission: Official documents are required from all students who are admitted and enroll. Photocopies of certified records are not acceptable. International students enrolled in other U.S. institutions may have certified copies of all foreign records sent directly to the Office of Graduate Studies by their current school’s registrar office.
- If applicant’s native language is not English, verification of English proficiency
is required.
When sending TOEFL scores, our institution code is 6877 and a department code is not needed.
- If applicant is not a US citizen and expects an F or J visa: financial information.
- Applicants must also fulfill any additional requirements the department specifies at the time of application.
Additional requirements specific to this program
- Academic eligibility: Applicants should have completed a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in an engineering field. Applicants who have not completed a BS degree in an engineering field will be required to take undergraduate science, math, and engineering courses as selected by the BSE Graduate Committee.
- Minimum English proficiency: Internet TOEFL 80, IELTS 6.5
- GRE (optional)
- Resume/CV
- Personal Statement: Include a description of your 1) motivation and goals for pursuing a graduate degree; 2) relevant research and communication skills; 3) persistence or ability to overcome obstacles; and 4) examples of leadership and outreach. Also list any specific faculty members you are interested in working with.
- Three letters of recommendation
- Faculty: Applicants must be accepted by a faculty advisor to be admitted.
Admission Application Deadlines
For full financial consideration, students must apply by January 15 for Fall, September 1 for Spring.
Program Faculty
Greg Bashford (bio)
Cerebral Hemodynamics and Emboli Detection during Pediatric Cardiac Surgery, Ultrasound Micromorphology Analysis of Achilles Tendon
Tami Brown-Brandl (bio)
Managerial Accounting
Heidi Diefes-Dux (bio)
Engineering Education, Development, Implementation, and Assessment of Authentic Engineering Activities in Undergraduate Settings, Translation of Current Technical Research Outputs to K-16 Classrooms
Bruce Dvorak (bio)
Small System Drinking Water Issues, Applied Pollution Prevention
Dean Eisenhauer (bio)
Hydrologic and Irrigation Engineering, Infiltration, Overland and Vadose Zone Flow
Thomas Franti (bio)
Surface Water Quality Engineering, Surface Water Management
Yufeng Ge (bio)
Imaging and Spectroscopic Analysis, Agricultural Remote Sensing, Spatial and Geostatistical Analysis, High Throughput Plant Phenotyping
John Gilley (bio)
Soil and Water Conservation Engineering, Land Application of Manure, Surface Hydrology and Water Quality
Troy Gilmore (bio)
Isotope/Tracer Hydrology, Agricultural nutrient and water fluxes, Groundwater-surface water interactions, Groundwater and surface water quantity and quality, Emerging contaminants, Instrumentation and methods development for monitoring groundwater and surface water, Isotopes, Geospatial Applications, Nutrient Cycling, Water Quality, Environmental Restoration
Derek Heeren (bio)
Variable Rate Irrigation, Deficit Irrigation Strategies, Solute Fate and Transport in Soil and Shallow Squifers, Irrigation Engineering and Management, Vadose Zone Hydrology
Nicole Iverson (bio)
Biomedical Engineering, Nanotechnology, Biological Sensors, Disease Development and Resistance, Reactive Oxygen and Nitrogen Species
David Jones
Risk Assessment and Modeling
Deepak Keshwani (bio)
Bioenergy Systems, Bioprocess Modeling and Optimization, Biochemical Conversion of Cellulosic Biomass
Jennifer Keshwani (bio)
Biomedical Engineering, Biomaterials
Forrest Kievit (bio)
Developing nanoparticle-based delivery vehicles for transport into the brain for more effective brain cancer and brain injury treatments, Nanoparticle-mediated delivery of nucleic acids into brain tumors
Michael Kocher (bio)
Testing of Tractor Performance, Hydraulic System Analysis and Design, Testing of Agricultural Equipment Performance, Logistics and Economics of Agricultural Field Operations, Agricultural Equipment Design, Development of Instrumentation Systems for Agricultural Equipment
Richard Koelsch (bio)
Whole Farm Nutrient Management, Odor Control from Livestock Systems
William Kranz (bio)
Irrigation Engineering
Adam Liska (bio)
Biofuels, Life Cycle Assessment, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Soil Carbon Modeling
Derrel Martin (bio)
Irrigation and Water Resources Engineering
George Meyer (bio)
Machine Vision, Electrical Optical Sensors, Thermal and Spectral Analysis for Plant Detection, Identification, Enumeration, Physiological Properties and Stress Applied to Both Field and Greenhouse Site Specific Crop Management
Aaron Mittelstet (bio)
Watershed Modeling, Surface/Ground Water Interaction, Water Quality, Streambank Erosion
Francisco Munoz-Arriola (bio)
Hydroinformatics, Integrated Hydrology, Water Resources, Hydrometeorological and Climate Forecast
Christopher Neale (bio)
Developing Remote Sensing Applications for Irrigated Agriculture, Hydrology and Natural Resources Monitoring
Angela Pannier (bio)
Tissue Engineering of Growth Plate Cartilage, Gene Delivery to hMSCs, Gene Delivery in General, DNA Vaccination Particles
Santosh Pitla (bio)
Agricultural Robotics, Multi-Robot Systems, Machine Automation: Electro-Mechanical and Hydraulic Systems, Controller Area Network (CAN) Based Systems, Machine Data Analytics.
Mark Riley (bio)
Bioprocess Engineering and Biosensors, Detection of Pathogens in Drinking Water, Lung Cell Spectroscopy
Daran Rudnick (bio)
Irrigation Engineering
Amy Schmidt (bio)
Livestock Manure Management, Manure Impacts on Soil Health, Mitigating Contaminant Transfer from Livestock Systems, Livestock Production System Siting and Regulations, Mortality Management, Fate and Transport of Environmental Contaminants
Yeyin Shi (bio)
Data management in precision agriculture, Applications of unmanned aircraft system (UAS) in agriculture, Crop abiotic and biotic stress sensing, High-throughput phenotyping
Richard Stowell (bio)
Animal Housing Systems, Odor and Gas Emissions, Heat Stress Abatement
Yiqi Yang (bio)
Biobased Materials, Chemistry and Engineering of Polymers and Textiles, Biomaterials, Biotextiles and Nanofibers, Polymer and Fiber Sciences, Textile Chemistry and Wet Processing
Aaron Yoder
Agricultural Safety and Health
UNL Graduate Chairs and staff please complete the program update form to provide edits. Updates to graduate program pages are made on an annual basis in conjunction with the Graduate Application for Admission.