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Head of the Department: Loren E. Bode
338 Agricultural Engineering Sciences Building
1304 West Pennsylvania Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801
(217) 333-3570
E-mail: ageng@sugar.age.uiuc.edu
Graduate Degree Programs
The Department of Agricultural Engineering offers the master of science
and doctor of philosophy degrees.
Admission
Admission requirements for the master’s program include completion
of an undergraduate program equivalent to the agricultural engineering
curriculum with at least a 3.0 grade point average (A = 4.0) for the
last 60 semester hours of coursework. Applicants whose native language
is not English must present a Test of English as a Foreign Language
(TOEFL) score of 570 or more on the paper-based test (230 or higher
on the computer-based version).
Admission to the Ph.D. program is limited to individuals who have
demonstrated exceptional ability through outstanding performance in
obtaining the master of science degree and/or through a high degree
of technical and professional accomplishment. Candidates must also
satisfy entrance requirements for the M.S. degree program.
Graduate Teaching Experience
Experience in teaching is considered a vital part of the graduate
program and is recommended as part of the academic work of all Ph.D.
candidates in this program.
Master of Science
The completion of 34 graduate hours and the preparation and defense
of a thesis involving an analytical or experimental investigation
(which satisfies two units of credit) are required of M.S. candidates
unless a waiver of thesis is granted. At least 12 of the graduate
hours for the M.S. degree must be in 500-level courses and 8 of these
graduate hours must be in agricultural engineering. Candidates who
are permitted to pursue a nonthesis degree must complete a minimum
of 36 graduate hours. Students may concentrate study in one of the
areas of research specialization listed below. Supporting coursework
includes: mathematics; computer science; statistics; engineering mechanics;
civil, electrical, and mechanical engineering; agronomy; food science;
and other appropriate fields.
Doctor of Philosophy
Opportunities for study are found in all of the areas of specialization
listed below. Candidates will be required to include coursework and
staff consultation from the various disciplines within the University
to build strong technical programs and to fulfill the standard requirements
of the Graduate College. There are no foreign language requirements;
however, a high degree of competence may be required in areas associated
with thesis research, such as statistics, simulation, and computer
programming.
Research Interests
Students may specialize in off-road equipment engineering (tillage
and soil dynamics, site specific crop management, pesticide application
technology, machine vision applications, machinery management, and
engines and alternative fuels); soil and water resources (hydrology,
erosion and sediment transport, water management, wetlands, and water
quality); bioenvironmental engineering (structural analysis and design,
building materials evaluation, bioprocessing of agricultural wastes
and byproducts, and environmental control for plant, animal, and human
biological systems); food and bioprocess engineering (engineering
properties of foods, physical properties of biological products, crop
conditioning, grain drying, milling, grain quality evaluation, transport
phenomenon in biological materials, fermentation, nonfood uses of
cereal grains, and alternative energy systems); or electronic and
electrical systems (biosensors and controls, nuclear magnetic resonance
imaging, machine vision, near-infrared reflectance applications, energy
systems, and microprocessor control applications).
Financial Aid
Fellowships, supported both by University and by College of Agricultural,
Consumer and Environmental Sciences funds, are available on a competitive
basis. A limited number of assistantships, providing both teaching
and research experience, are usually available on a half-time basis.
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