Course Descriptions

    M.S. and Ph.D. in Biological and Agricultural Engineering
M.S. in Engineering and Ph.D. in Engineering Science

Faculty:
Professor and Department Chair, C. O. Stöckle; Professors, G. V. Barbosa-Cánovas, R. Cavalieri, S. Chen, M. Garcia-Pérez, L. James, F. Pierce, J. Tang; Associate Professors, M. Pitts, J. Wu; Assistant Professor, P. Ndegwa, T. Peters, S. Sablani, J. L. Ullman; Affiliate Faculty, D. Bender, M. Flury; Adjunct Facutly, W. Elliott, D. McCool, P. Robichaud, B. Sharratt.

Although both thesis and non-thesis options are available to students interested in the Master of Science in Engineering, the Department prefers the thesis option. For entering students with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering, two years of study is usually required for the master's degree. Three years beyond the master's degree is normally required to complete a PhD program. In addition, a special program is available to allow qualified students with undergraduate degrees in other fields to pursue a Master of Science in Engineering with a minimal number of remedial courses.

Students and faculty work closely to develop programs of graduate study and research that prepare students for challenging and rewarding careers in ‘Bio-products and Bioengineering’, Environmental Engineering’, ‘Food Engineering’, and ‘Land and Water Engineering’.

The Department has several major facilities with modern analytical equipment available to graduate students including a state-certified Water Quality and Waste Analysis Laboratory, a computerized GIS and Environmental Modeling Laboratory, a food processing pilot plant and other food processing laboratory equipment, a controlled atmosphere facility, and extensive equipment fabrication facilities. Graduate students have used facilities at the USDA's Conservation Research Farm in Pullman and at WSU's Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center in Prosser, Washington. Faculty members who have substantial collaborative arrangements with food processing companies or government laboratories send students to off-campus laboratories to use highly specialized equipment or to learn advanced techniques.

The Department cooperates with other departments in the College of Engineering and Architecture and the College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences to create a variety of courses and research opportunities for graduate students in biological systems engineering. Many graduate students benefit from cooperative research programs with U.S. Department of Agriculture researchers stationed in Pullman, Prosser and Wenatchee. Additionally, students are able to earn WSU credit for many courses taken at nearby University of Idaho.

The following courses are taught through our department:

BSysE
510 Fundamentals of Research 3 Prereq graduate standing. The research process and the graduate research project; objectives, techniques, and challenges; scientific method and the design process; use of literature; creativity; writing and speaking about research; preparation of a research proposal. Cooperative course taught by UI (For 510), open to WSU students.

512 Research and Teaching Methods 2 (1-3) Prereq graduate standing. Analysis and scienctific communication.

541 Instrumentation and Measurements 3 (2-3) Prereq Math 172; Phys 102 or 202. Instrumentation systems and measurement concepts, electronic signal-conditioning components and circuitry, digital electronics and microprocessor basics. Cooperative course taught by UI (AgE 541), open to WSU students.

551 Advanced Biological Systems Engineering Topics V 1-4 May be repeated for credit; cumulative maximum 6 hours. Directed group study of selected advanced topics in biological systems engineering. Cooperative course taught by WSU, open to UI students (AgE 561)

552 Advanced Biological Systems Engineering Topics V 1-4 May be repeated for credit. Directed group study of selected advanced topics in biological systems engineering. Cooperative course taught by WSU, open to UI students (AgE 561).

555 Natural Systems for Wastewater Treatment 3 Prereq senior or graduate standing. Principles and design procedures of natural systems for wastewater treatment for agricultural and non-agricultural applications.

556 Surface Hydrologic Processes and Modeling 3 (2-3) Graduate-level counterpart of BSysE 456; additional requirements. Credit not granted for both BSysE 456 and 556.

557 Design for Watershed Management 3 (2-3) Prereq junior or graduate standing. Modeling water movement and mass transport; design for balance between animal, plant, soil, water, and air resources in watershed. Cooperative course taught by WSU, open to UI students (BSyE 457).

558 Fluid Mechanics of Porous Materials 3 Statics and dynamics of multi-flow systems in porous materials, properties of porous materials; steady and unsteady flow. Cooperative course taught by UI (AgE 558), open to WSU students.

562 Systems in Integrated Crop Management 3 (2-3) Same as Entom 562. Credit not granted for BSysE 462 and 562.

581 Advanced Physical Properties of Foods 3 Prereq BSysE 481, Math 315. Analysis, modeling, and experimental procedures to measure food physical properties for use in food processing system design.

582 Food Process Engineering Design 3 Prereq BSysE 386 or Ch E 330. Design of food processing systems; design and simulation of sterilization and pasteurization processes in foods. Credit not granted for both BSysE 482 and 582. Cooperative course taught by WSU, open to UI students (AgE and FST 587).

583 Food Separation Processes Design 3 Prereq BSysE 482. Design of food separation unit operations including concentration, dehydration, and membrane processes. Credit not granted for both BSysE 483 and 583. Cooperative course taught by WSU, open to UI students (AgE 583).

584 Thermal Processing of Foods 3 (2-3) Prereq Ch E 332 or M E 404; graduate standing. Principles and practices of food preservation methods based on application of heat.

586 Food Rheology 3 (2-3) Prereq BSysE 386. Principles and applications on the rheology of foods, including fundamental and empirical equations; viscoelasticity; normal forces, time dependency and instrumentation. .Credit not granted for both BSysE 486 and 586. Cooperative course taught by WSU, open to UI students (BSyE 586).

587 Food Plant Design 3 Graduate level counterpart of BSysE 487; additional requirements. Design of food processing systems; food properties; thermal and physical processes. Credit not granted for both BSysE 487 and 587. Cooperative course taught by WSU, open to UI students (FST 587)

588 Food Powders 3 Engineering principles applied to handling and processing of food powders, including particle size distribution, morphology, physical properties, agglomeration, attrition, segregation. Credit not granted for both BSysE 488 and 588. Cooperative course taught by WSU, open to UI students (BSyE 588).

589 Food Quality Instrumentation 3 (2-3) Instrumentation used in food quality assessment; classification of assessment techniques by product properties and evaluation methods. Cooperative course taught by WSU, open to UI students (BSyE 589).

594 Advanced Topics in Bioprocessing and Biotreatment 3 Analysis of bioprocessing and biotreatment processes including energenetics, stoichiometry, species competition, process infiltration, product separation and optimization.

595 Groundwater Flow and Contaminant Transport 4 (3-3) Prereq Math 315; BsysE 351 or C E 351 or Geol 475. Physics of flow and contaminant transport in saturated porous media including governing equations, well hydraulics and computer modeling.

598 Graduate Seminar 1 May be repeated for credit. Required of all graduate students in agricultural engineering. S, F grading.

600 Special Projects or Independent Study Variable credit. S, F grading.

700 Master's Research, Thesis and/or Examination Variable credit. S, F grading.

702 Master's Special Problems, Directed Study, and/or Examination Variable credit. S, F grading.

800 Doctoral Research, Dissertation and/or Examination Variable credit. (for PhD in engineering science only.) S, F grading.