bae update: spring 2011

Teaching Research Extension

BAE UpdateVolume 58 • Spring 2011 • Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

From soft drink waste to future fuel: Innovating a creative use for the waste stream of America’s mainstay refreshment

Students and professionals at Oklahoma State University’s Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center are exploring an innovative waste alternative for soda bottling facilities.

“Because Americans consume more calories from soft drinks than any other single food, the need for an alternative use for soda bottling waste is evident,” said Danielle Bellmer, FAPC food engineer and biosystems and agricultural engineering associate professor. “Soda wastes contain carbohydrates, which have potential value for the production of ethanol. This represents a significant opportunity to reclaim value and reduce waste.”

In 2009 alone, carbonated soft drinks accounted for nearly $73 billion, according to the National Soft Drink Association.

“Soda bottling plants generate a large amount of liquid waste,” Bellmer said. “Liquid wastes are a result of problems on the production line, improper packaging issues or outdated products. These bottling plants are paying to have their waste taken away.”Developing the plan

In pursuit of innovation, the FAPC began experimentation after Lamco Recycling of Tulsa, Okla., expressed a need for a soda waste alternative.

“This project represents a great opportunity to turn a waste stream into a useful product,” Bellmer said. “This particular waste stream has a lot of easily accessible sugar, so it only makes sense to turn sugar into something useful like ethanol.”Executing the project

In addition to Bellmer, a team of OSU biosystems and agricultural engineering students are working to convert soda waste to ethanol.

“The objective of this project is to determine the ease of fermentation of soda waste into ethanol with the specific goal of determining sugar conversion efficiency for popular sodas,” said Flint Holbrook, biosystems and agricultural engineering sophomore. “Additionally, we want to know whether pH adjustments and added nutrients are necessary.”

The project began by comparing four popular brand-name soft drinks – Pepsi, Coke, Sprite and Mountain Dew.

“A series of tests were conducted to isolate the effects of

By Kylee Willard, FAPC Communications Graduate Assistant

the pH adjustments and nutrients,” Holbrook said. “Before fermentation, each soda was allowed to go flat to simulate its delivery as a waste product.

Superstart, a standard distiller’s yeast, was inoculated at a level of 0.26 grams per liter to each soda variety. Distiller’s nutrients such as ammonium phosphate were used at varying levels based on the experimental design with calcium carbonate serving as the main pH adjustment, Bellmer said.

Each fermentation batch was allowed to ferment for seven days to ensure a complete reaction. At the end of the fermentation period, the products were tested for ethanol content. Identifying initial results

“We have found that a handful of soft drinks have a preservative called sodium benzoate, which inhibits fermentation,” said, Jonathan Lim, biosystems and agricultural engineering sophomore. “Inhibitors in the fermentation process can be a problem. However, it appears that simply adjusting the pH level will counteract the inhibitors.”

With daily limits on the amount of wastes sent to water treatment plants, this alternative for waste could significantly reduce costs at bottling plants.

“Our results show that we can reduce or eliminate costs associated with waste removal,” Bellmer said. “The research at the FAPC can help bottling plants in Oklahoma develop an alternative to their waste disposal. The goal would be to take this information to bottling plants to setup a conversion alternative at their facility and to generate some added value.”

Bellmer and Lim work on the soda bottling waste project.

BAE Update page 2www.biosystems.okstate.edu

From the desk of Randy Taylor

Spring break is over and now the end of the semester is near. Where does the time go? Students and faculty are starting to feel the pressure of completing those semester projects. And even if our promises of starting this semester’s projects earlier were not kept, we know everything will get done on time and with the highest quality, holding true to our departmental standards.

We are expecting another year of high enrollment in the Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering and just awarded almost $50,000 in departmental scholarships for the 2011-12 academic year. Thank you to all of our donors for making this possible. We continue to attract bright, hard-working students and appreciate our alumni and friends who have recommended that students consider a degree in biosystems engineering.

In this issue, you will find articles on how successful our alumni, students, emeriti, faculty, and staff have been. It is always impressive to see and hear of their accomplishments. They always accept the recognition with humility and are quick to credit others for their success.

In a few months the department will have a new leader. Dr. Daniel Thomas will make the move from Baton Rouge, La. to Stillwater. While change can be scary because of the unknown, it also brings a certain level of excitement. The BAE faculty are certainly excited to start this new chapter for the department. I believe that one thing that will never change is the family

atmosphere in the BAE department, and this quality will ensure our continued success as Dr. Thomas leads us into a bright future. Thanks for your support during my time as Interim Department Head, and previous years. I appreciate all the positive comments

I hear about the department and faculty. Stop and see us when you are in town.

Chris Fluty is an instrument technician in the biosystems lab working with Wayne Kiner. He completed general studies at OSU from 1993 to 1995. He earned an Associate of Science Degree from Rogers University in 1997. He plans to finish his business degree at OSU. Fluty worked for MerCruiser for 6 years.

Ali Rownaghi is a postdoctoral fellow in biofuels research group supporting Dr. Ajay Kumar’s research program. His recent and previous projects are based on global warming, clean energy, renewable fuels and catalytic solutions for industry. He earned his Ph.D. in heterogeneous catalysis at UPM University in 2008. He earned a postdoctoral research fellow and senior research fellow at Monash University-Australia and Lulea University of Technoloy-Sweden in 2008 and 2010, respectively.

Vince Schielack is a research engineer pursuing his Ph.D. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s of science degrees in agricultural engineering at Texas A&M University in 2006 and 2010, respectively. He conducted his thesis on seed-cotton fiber-quality sensing using NIR spectroscopy. Schielack supports the research of Drs. Michael Buser and Carol Jones.

New staffThis summer, OSU and

BAE will welcome Dr. Daniel L. Thomas as our new department leader.

He currently serves as professor and head of Louisiana State University’s Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, with similar responsibilities within the LSU Agricultural Center.

“Dr. Thomas’ extensive and outstanding record of leadership and educational, Extension and research accomplishments makes him highly qualified for the position of department head,” said Robert E. Whitson, vice president, dean and director of OSU’s Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources.

Thomas will provide leadership for planning, developing, integrating and implementing departmental teaching, research, extension and international programs; diversity efforts of the department in recruiting and retaining outstanding faculty, staff and students; and the pursuit of competitive grants, research contracts, gifts and other special funding to include endowments for scholarships, fellowships, chairs and professorships. He will also be a professor in water resource engineering.

We say goodbye to:Maggie Hoey, AgWeather Extension AssistantRobert Ingraham, Lab CoordinatorDimple Kundiyana, Research Engineer

New Department Head announced

Ray Jordan is retiring from his longtime post of county engineer, leaving behind a legacy that includes the Tulsa Jail and Vision 2025.

For the past 10 years, Ray Jordan has used a large circular asphalt sample from a north Tulsa road to prop open his office door.

Strewn over the floor near the door are other goodies: huge wing nuts and bolts off a 1920s bridge, an asphalt sample from a Chandler Park tennis court, and an anchor tie from the Haikey Creek levee.

It looks like junk. But Jordan, the county’s engineer for the past 35 years, plans on taking it all home at the end of the month.

When he does, the office door will close behind him, and his 40-year career in Tulsa County will be over.

“I would hope that people would remember me as doing the very best job I could in a professional manner and trying to assist people with problems instead of making problems,” Jordan said.

That day will surely come, but for now county officials and others who have worked with Jordan are just trying to figure out what they will do without him.

“I am going to miss Ray both professionally and personally,” said Linda Dorrell, county purchasing director.

Dorrell has worked with Jordan for 28 years on projects ranging from the construction of the Tulsa Jail to the Vision 2025 program.

“Ray is the consummate professional, and his technical knowledge is unsurpassed,” Dorrell said.

Jordan didn’t grow up dreaming about building roads and bridges. A farm boy from Nowata, his real interest — when not playing baseball and football — was in what was falling from the sky.

“I just liked the fact that you could learn to predict the runoff from a rainfall and you could build farm ponds and


Engineer wraps up 40-year ‘project’

More about Ray JordanRay Jordan earned his bachelor’s

degree in agricultural engineering in January 1971. He earned his master’s degree in civil engineering in July 1980, with a major in hydrology and hydraulics.

“I wanted to work in storm water and erosion control type of projects and it appeared to me that agricultural engineering would be the best program to prepare for this type of work,” Jordan said.

One of the agricultural engineering design classes Jordan credits is machine design, “The students were required to research, design, draw, construct, and test the machine,” Jordan said. “This class made them work together to complete the project, it also made the designer think about the design in the area of constructability and maintenance.”

Jordan has worked on several research projects for the BAE department during the past years such as evaporation control, irrigation, machine design, and many others.

Jordan and his wife, Sue, have three sons, all OSU graduates, and 12 grandchildren.

Jordan believes that a degree in biosystems and agricultural engineering will “prepare you to be confident in yourself to accomplish anything that you undertake.”

Photo courtesy of Tulsa World

Alumni spotlight: Ray JordanArticle written by Kevin Canfield, Tulsa World Staff Writer

Sidebar written by Amanda Erichsen, BAE Extension Assistant

small watersheds,” Jordan said.

So he went to school to learn how to do just that, graduating from Oklahoma State University with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering and a master’s degree in civil engineering.

“Agricultural engineering — it prepared you for this kind of work,” Jordan said.

“The basic principles are all the same.” He joined the county as a design

engineer in March 1971. Four years later, at the age of 31, he was named county engineer.

At the time, at least one county commissioner thought he was too young for the job.

Now, all three would do anything to keep him around.

“I joke with him that I am going to hold his ankles” when he tries to leave, said County Commission Chairwoman Karen Keith.

That won’t happen, of course. Jordan, who turned 66 on Friday, has things he wants to do. He’ll fish and play golf. He’ll attend even more OSU sporting events with his wife of 47 years, Sue Jordan. And the couple will go to places they haven’t been before — such as Maine and northern California.

Jordan says he feels good enough to keep working. But there are at least two important reasons he’s packing up his nuts and bolts and heading home.

His father, Woodrow Jordan, 92, and his mother, Dorles Jordan, 85, are still alive.

“I feel good enough I could work another 10 years if I wanted to,” Jordan said, “but I am going to miss something” if he does.


Faculty and alumni honors

Teaching Research Extension

The Spears School of Business and the School of Entrepreneurship at Oklahoma State University are proud to announce the appointment of the inaugural group of Riata Faculty Fellows. The Riata Faculty Fellows program is a core component of the university-wide entrepreneurship initiative, where the entrepreneurial mindset and core entrepreneurship concepts are applied to disciplines across the OSU

campus. The Riata Faculty Fellows program offers a unique

opportunity for faculty from any OSU discipline or academic area to be jointly appointed in the School of Entrepreneurship. Fellows are typically appointed for 2-3 years to work on

research, curriculum development or outreach initiatives that link their home discipline to entrepreneurship. The fellows come together for a major forum each year to share progress and outcomes from the project on which they are working. They also contribute to ongoing discussions regarding cross-disciplinary applications of entrepreneurship, and the development of OSU as an entrepreneurial university.

The inaugural group of Riata Faculty Fellows includes six outstanding OSU faculty members: Nathan Richardson, Liz Roth, Jason Vogel, James Hess, Lin Liu and Melanie Page.

Jason Vogel serves as an extension storm water specialist and as an associate professor in the OSU Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering. Vogel is involved in the Green Entrepreneurship Initiative of the School of Entrepreneurship and currently is engaged in program development in the area as well as research aimed at developing environmentally friendly and sustainable storm water management systems.

To read more about this inaugural group, please view our news page at http://biosystems.okstate.edu/BAENews.html.

Vogel honored in Inaugural group of Riata Faculty Fellows at OSU

Nurhan Dunford to receive national research honorOklahoma State University’s Nurhan Dunford, an oilseed

scientist with the Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center, will receive the Timothy L. Mounts Award at the 2011 American Oil Chemists’ Society (AOCS) Annual Meeting and Expo in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Dunford, an OSU biosystems and agricultural engineering associate professor, will be recognized for her work in edible oils research on behalf of the AOCS Edible Applications Technology Division at the AOCS Expo in May.

“It is a great honor to receive this award,” she said. “This award distinguishes excellence in research relating to the science and technology of edible oils.”

“This is a great opportunity to network and share my work conducted at the FAPC,” Dunford said. “I will be surrounded by my colleagues from across the world.”

The award is named for Mounts, who was a well-known scientist and leader in the field of oil research.

“When I was working on my Ph.D., Mounts was the research leader at the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Labs in Peoria, Ill.,” Dunford said. “He led my dream lab.”

To be eligible for the award, scientists must be in mid-career and engaged in edible oil research. Research accomplishments, current Curriculum Vitae, publications and patents were evaluated for award selection.

Dunford’s research interests include functional foods, nutraceuticals, food processing, biomass-to-biofuel conversion, process development for recovery of beneficial health compounds from wheat milling industry byproduct, recovery of antioxidants from pomegranate and process development for the stabilization and shelf-life extension of specialty oils.

“The objective of my research at OSU is the enhancement of nutritional and economic value of plant-based materials and oils/oilseeds through innovative processing,” she said. “My research mainly focuses on green processing, value-added product development, waste minimization and recovery of biologically active, high-value components from the agricultural material processing industry waste streams and byproducts.”

To read more about this prestigious award, please view our news page at http://biosystems.okstate.edu/BAENews.html.


The National Agricultural Aviation Association (NAAA) and the National Agricultural Aviation Research & Education Foundation (NAAREF) are pleased to announce that retired Oklahoma State University faculty member Larry Roth has been awarded the inaugural Evans-Christopher Operation S.A.F.E. Award in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the Operation S.A.F.E. program. Roth was honored at NAAA’s national convention in Savannah, Ga., on Dec. 9.

Roth is one of the men directly responsible for developing the equipment and procedures that led to Operation S.A.F.E., a comprehensive program of education and professional analysis of application. The backbone of Operation S.A.F.E. is the Professional Application Analysis Clinic, or as it is more simply known, the Operation S.A.F.E. Fly-In. Since its inception in 1981, thousands of S.A.F.E. Fly-In Clinics have been performed around the country.

Roth is a Wisconsin farm boy who earned a doctorate in agricultural engineering at Oklahoma State University in 1965. He remained on the faculty of OSU for 35 years, until he retired in 1986. His main research involved pesticide application technology with a special focus on aerial application. Through a NASA Grant, he and his colleagues developed the equipment and procedures that led to the NAAA Operation S.A.F.E. Program and participated in the inaugural event in 1981.

The NASA proposal was a joint effort

Larry Roth honored in agricultural aviation

Richard Whitney receives honorary membershipRichard Whitney, BAE Professor Emeritus,

was awarded an honorary membership at the OAAA annual meeting in Oklahoma City. Whitney worked with OAAA for many years while at OSU and in retirement. His work involved calibrating and pattern analysis of spray planes and helped to make these applicators more efficient.

Picture at left: Larry Roth receives the inaugural Evans-

Christopher Operation S.A.F.E. Award.

Picture at right: Roth awaits a spray pass over the original OSU

bin collectors. (Chandler, AZ, 1980)

by Richard Whitney and Larry Roth. The primary purpose of the grant was to develop a technique to sample and measure spray deposition. Although he was not an official member of the NASA project, Dennis Kuhlman became an essential third member of the team. The three men continued to collaborate and by 1984, they had officially joined forces by forming the company WRK Inc.

Whitney, Roth and Kuhlman started holding fly-ins around the country in 1980, which enabled them to fine-tune the pattern measuring equipment and streamline the fly-in procedures after each fly-in. Two of their higher-profile fly-ins took place in Chandler, Ariz., and Easton, Md. Those fly-ins demonstrated the importance of pattern testing to a national audience and the National Agricultural Aviation Association began thinking about how this activity could be developed into a national education program.

At some point the “ground rules” were formalized and the inaugural Operation S.A.F.E. fly-in was scheduled for October 1981. Roth and Whitney conducted the fly-in using one set of the NAAA paper

tape pattern measuring equipment. Sometime after that, Farrell Higbee, NAAA’s Executive Director, contacted Roth and Whitney about conducting a workshop to “train” people on how to conduct fly-ins using the equipment and procedures they were using at each of their fly-ins. However, Operation SA.F.E. was not destined to grow significantly until WRK Inc. was created in 1984 and sets of the WRK String System were manufactured and sold to a number of state entities and other organizations.

Considering his vital contributions, it seemed only fitting that Roth receive the first Evans-Christopher Operation S.A.F.E. Award. NAAREF’s Operation S.A.F.E. Committee established the Evans-Christopher Operation S.A.F.E. Award to recognize individuals or entities that have made outstanding contributions to the Operation S.A.F.E. program. The award is named after two pioneers in the design and development of spray nozzles, Bob Evans and Chris Christopher. Roth now enjoys retirement on his 40-acre tract known as “Larry’s Paradise.”


OSU’s Flint Holbrook named Udall Scholar

Oklahoma State University junior Flint Holbrook has been named one of 80 students nationally to win the coveted Morris K. Udall Foundation Scholarship. Holbrook is joined on the Udall list by fellow OSU junior Blake Jackson, who also was named a winner of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship.

“We are extremely proud of the tremendous accomplishments of these two tremendous young men,” said OSU President Burns Hargis. “OSU has become a regular winner of prestigious national scholarships and Blake and Flint are the latest examples of how OSU students rank among the best in the country academically.”

The Udall scholarship was created in 1992 to honor Congressman Morris K. Udall of Arizona. For three decades, the congressman fought for Native American rights and worked to preserve and protect the nation’s environment, public lands and natural resources.

The Udall scholarship provides $5,000 for educational expenses to outstanding sophomores and juniors who are studying environment-related fields or who are of Native American decent and pursuing fields related to health care or tribal public policy. The application process includes an 800-word essay on one of Udall’s significant public speeches, legislative acts or public policy statements and its relationship to the applicant’s interests or coursework.

“We have a strong student base and outstanding academic programs that suit the Udall requirements perfectly,” said Dr. Bob Graalman, director of the OSU Office of Scholar Development and Recognition. “Of the major awards we oversee on campus, Udall has lately enjoyed the largest number of applications to become OSU nominees. We can nominate six every year, and the other four who weren’t chosen – Evan

Booher, Melissa Booher, Jamie Andrews and Rachel Branch – worked just as hard and made a very strong showing. Just being named a nominee is a great accomplishment, considering all the local competition. All of these students were exceptional.”

Holbrook, a biosystems engineering major from Clover, South Carolina, said winning the Udall Scholarship was a huge success, and he said he is passionate about

what this award represents.“It is encouraging to be recognized for my work in

undergraduate research and environmental stewardship,” Holbrook said. “I’d like to thank the faculty in biosystems and agricultural engineering for providing me with the opportunities to be involved in undergraduate research. Their advice and encouragement played a major role in pushing me to pursue this national scholarship.”

Holbrook’s essay focused on the need for alternative energy sources to stand alone in the marketplace without backing from taxpayer dollars. After graduation, he said he plans to work in the energy industry and wants to play an active role in bringing new environmental technologies to the market.

Holbrook and Jackson will officially receive their awards at the Udall Scholar Orientation Weekend in Tucson, Ariz., this August. For more information about the Udall scholarship, call Graalman at 405-744-7313 or send him an email at [email protected].

Pictured above (left to right) are Karl Reid, Dean of the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology; Burns Hargis, OSU President; Holbrook; and Robert Whitson, Vice President, Dean and Director of the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources.

OSU Student ASABE FundraiserPint Glass: $10 | T-shirts: $12

Visit 111 Agricultural Hall or call the department at 405.744.5431.

Congrats to the new professional engineers of the BAE family!

View the full award articles in this newsletter from our news page at http://biosystems.okstate.edu/BAENews.html.

May we email you?Interested in receiving this newsletter via email? Let us know and we will create a newsletter email list so you can receive your next issue via email in full color. You can also view this and previous newsletters online at http://biosystems.okstate.edu/news/BAEnewsletters.html.

Principles & Practice of Engineering Exam: Mary Elizabeth Mach, P.E. | Ronald Tejral, P.E. | Jason Vogel, P.E. | Rebecca Ward, P.E. | Richard Willoughby, P.E.

Fundamentals of Engineering Exam: Chase Vencl


Alumna Laura Christianson nominated as one of ASABE’s New Faces of Engineering for 2011

Alumnus returns as Distinguished Visitor

He was enlightened to observe first-hand the quality and depth of thought expressed by OSU students.

“It was an honor to be selected for this honor and to be given the chance to return to the OSU campus,” Kuhlman said. “Many things have changed, but the warm and outgoing faculty and staff remains an extremely strong attribute of the department.”

Kuhlman’s research focus at OSU involved the mathematical modeling of spray particles released from an agricultural aircraft and determining the travel path from the release point

to impact with the ground. He worked with Larry Roth and Richard Whitney

to develop a mathematical model that was released by NASA as AGDISP and has been extensively utilized to predict off target drift by USDA, the Spray Drift Task Force, and others.

As CEO and Dean, Kuhlman has responsibility for all aspects and operations of the campus. Kuhlman has been part of the K-State faculty since 1977. Kuhlman received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Kansas State University, and his doctorate from OSU in 1985, all in agricultural engineering.

ASABE salutes all those who have newly entered the profession, and especially the ten ASABE members nominated to be ASABE’s New Faces of Engineering for 2011. These individuals have distinguished themselves with outstanding achievements that serve as inspiration to their peers and to the future engineers who will follow in their footsteps.

Five of these honorees will be recognized by National Engineers Week in the 2011 New Faces of Engineering campaign. One will be chosen to represent the profession in an salute to engineering that will be featured in an issue of USA Today to be published during Engineers Week 2011.

Laura Christianson, OSU BAE alumna, has an energy and passion for water resources that has led her around the world to better understand the interactions of water and agriculture. Providing access to clean and adequate water supplies is one of our top challenges in the 21st century, and balancing human and agricultural water needs with maintaining a healthy environment is key. Laura’s professional interests revolve around the way agriculture uses water and how natural processes can be enhanced through engineering to mitigate water pollution. Her latest work, using woodchip-consuming bacteria to clean up nitrate in agricultural drainage, has allowed her to design a number of “woodchip bioreactors” for Midwestern clientele

and to contribute to design standards development for this new technology. Most recently, as a Fulbright fellow, she has taken this idea abroad to investigate these bioreactors for agricultural waters in New Zealand. Her past projects include the use of poplar trees to clean groundwater and the study of water-efficient drip irrigation. Laura has shared her work with professionals in Ukraine, Israel, and Germany and has learned that although water concerns can be site specific, there can also be significant global overlap in improvement strategies.

Laura holds a bachelor’s degree from OSU and a master’s degree from Kansas State University. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at Iowa State University. She has been a member of ASABE since 2000.

To read more about this nomination and the other nominees, please view our news page.

Dennis Kuhlman, CEO and Dean of the College of Technology and Aviation for K-State at Salina, served as a speaker for the 2010 – 2011 Distinguished Visitor Lecture Series for the department Feb. 28 and March 1, 2011.

His visit to Stillwater included meeting with the BAE capstone class, presenting a seminar, tours of our departmental facilities, and roundtable discussions with the ASABE student branch and BAE faculty. He also had the opportunity to meet with departmental students, staff, and administration.

“One of the most important responsibilities of a university is that of making contributions to the body of knowledge,” Kuhlman said. “These contributions cannot be done without extensive collaboration with colleagues.”

Kuhlman hopes that the students he interacted with gained a deeper understanding of the need for critical thinking and analysis. “I personally gained so much from my discussions and interactions with my OSU colleagues,” Kuhlman said.

Pictured above are Kuhlman and Randy Taylor in the BAE lab on campus.


2010-2011 ASABE student scholarship banquet

2011 scholarship recipients

2011 graduates, left to right: Braden Warcup, Chase Vencl, Gary Gray, Brittany Looke, Steve Jacob Huff, Thomas Hyde, Jared Kinder, and Jace Reed. Not shown are Elizabeth Dekinder, Evan Foster, Mark Marshall, Laura Merriman, and Nathan Moyer.

2011 - 2012 ASABE officers, front row, left to right: Scott Clark, Ryan Johnson, George Tietz, Tanisha Hamm, and Aaron Bartel. Back row, left to right: Collin Craige, Kylea Boyd, and Heath Hendricks. Not shown are Blake Smith, Austin Rodgers, Sean Mallory, Molly Vich, Lucky Airehrour, and Mikayla Marvin.

Outgoing ASABE officers, left to right: Dr. Carol Jones, Collin Craige, Tanisha Hamm, Heath Hendricks, Brittany Looke, Scott Clark, Sean Mallory, Kylea Boyd, Justin Ludwig, Aaron Bartel, Mikayla Marvin, Ryan Johnson, Jared Kinder, Molly Vich, and Dr. Jason Vogel. Not shown are Laura Merriman and Grant Graves.

Jared Kinder presents Carol Jones with the Alpha Epsilon Distinguished Service Award.

Jared Kinder presents Collin Craige with the Alpha Epsilon

Top Sophomore Award.

Smiles were evident during the ASABE Student Scholarship Banquet held March 26 in Stillwater, Okla. More than 170 students, family members, staff and faculty were in attendance.

Brittany Looke, student club president, emceed the banquet that included a video highlighting the year’s activities; awards and recognitions of students and faculty; and the announcement of new officers. Dr. Randy Taylor announced the scholarship awards. Fifty-two students, including twelve incoming freshmen, were the recipients of more than $50,000 in scholarship money.

The ASABE Student Club recognized Laura Merriman, senior from Holdenville, Okla., as their Top Senior and Collin Craige, of Bokchito, Okla., as the Top Sophomore. The honor society Alpha Epsilon presented Dr. Carol Jones with their Distinguished Service Award.


Congratulations to ...

B.S. GraduatesElizabeth Dekinder | Bethany, OklahomaEvan Foster | Edmond, OklahomaGary Gray | Dustin, OklahomaSteve Jacob Huff | Wellston, OklahomaThomas Hyde | Marshfield, MissouriBrittany Looke | Edmond, OklahomaMark Marshall | Lawton, OklahomaLaura Merriman | Holdenville, OklahomaNathan Moyer | Tulsa, OklahomaChase Vencl | Garber, OklahomaBraden Warcup | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

M.S. Graduates Celso Tamele | Maputo, MozambiqueLuis Serrano | Chihauhua, MexicoNaveen Pessani | Madanapalli, Chittor, India

Ph.D. GraduatesGeetika Dilawari | Ludhiana, Punjab, IndiaBhavna Sharma | Solan, IndiaJennine Terrill | Jersey Shore, PennsylvaniaXiaoxue Li | Riverside, California

... our graduates!

... the 2011-2012 ASABE officersPresident | Scott ClarkVice-President | Ryan JohnsonSecretary | George TietzTreasurer | Tanisha HammHistorians | Kylea Boyd, Blake Smith, Austin RodgersParliamentarian | Aaron Bartel, Collin CraigeCEAT Student Council Rep | Heath HendricksCASNR Student Council Rep | Sean Mallory, Molly VichSocial Directors | Lucky Airehrour, Mikayla MarvinAdvisor | Jason VogelJunior Advisor | Hasan Atiyeh

(student name | name of scholarship)

Incoming StudentsWilliam Dobbins | Ervin W. Schroeder Taylor Cook | James & Ruby Garton Elizabeth Hickman | Dudley Barefoot Memorial Jeff Biggerstaff | Jay G. Porterfield Jonathan Overton & Peter Storm | Don & Kim Yarbrough Taylor Cole & Nicholas Jacobsen | Greg & Kristen Hart Andrew Dockery, Danielle Mailloux, Jake Terrell

& Charles Welch | BAE Development Fund

Continuing StudentsDavid Criswell, Morgan Garrison, Jiselle Green, Lisa Kriegh,

Eric Lam, John Locklear, Molly Vich & Kaden Wanger | Si & Kay Grider

Kristi Harkrider | Kennedy Family Collin Craige | Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives Scott Clark & Heath Hendricks | Wendell Bowers Kevin Roehm | Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority Molly Vich | Oklahoma Grain & Feed Association Mikayla Marvin | Annette & Bill Barfield Kyle Mueggenborg | W.B. Johnston Grain Company Jared Kinder & Jace Reed | David McKay Brian Biggerstaff | Samuel Alton Clayton Memorial Rebecca Purvis | Marvin Stone Kelsey Turner | Tom & Jan Haan David Criswell | Leon Crain Memorial Ryan Johnson | Glen Morgan Memorial Brice Abbott | Jodie Whitney Meredith Shiflet | Gerald Brusewitz Emily Matlock | Ronald T. Noyes Whitney Lisenbee | Lawrence O. Roth Flint Holbrook & Jeremiah Pine | Greg & Kristen Hart Justin Ludwig, Kylea Boyd, Drew Sutterfield

& Kaden Wanger | Don & Kim Yarbrough Aaron Bartel, John Locklear & Marshall Oldham |

AGCO Engineering Sydney Herlocker | ConocoPhillips Dalton Hamilton, Reese Hundley & Jake Krieger |

Jay G. Porterfield

... this year’s scholarship recipients!


Join us at the ASABE Alumni Friends Social

Staff Spotlight: Sharla Lovern

We want to know about you... Your news is good news!

We would like to include you in our alumni success stories. If you want to participate, please contact us with your contact information, any professional and personal information you would like to share. If you have recently participated in the success story feature, we would still like to hear from you and about any changes you have had in your life. Please contact us at 111 Agricultural Hall, Stillwater, OK, 74078; fax 405.744.6059; or [email protected].

New additions!Greyson Lee Moore, son of Austin and Melissa

Moore. Melissa has been a Sr. Administrative Support Assistant in the main BAE office since 2008. Greyson was born March 1, 2011.

Article written by Michelle Charles, The Journal Staff Writer

summer break.As the

children crowd around Lovern, they talk about what they want to do.

“We’re going to grow garden stuff in here,” a serious looking, little blonde girl with glasses says. Her name is Teegin. She says she is in second grade.

Teegin becomes animated at she talks about finding the greenhouse smashed when school started.

“We did this really hard last year,” she says of her classmates’ efforts on the greenhouse. “It was a lot of work. The first day of school I came over and looked and it was all broken up.

“I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, they are NOT going to come back and help us.”

Lovern smiles at her.“We were coming back,” she said. “It just took a while to

figure out how to fix it.”Then she goes back to threading bottles as the students run

back inside at the end of recess.

Sharla Lovern, talks to the children who gather around her during recess as she threads two liter soda bottles onto a metal pipe.

The bottles, which could have easily gone to a landfill, will instead become walls for a small greenhouse.

It’s part of a garden project students and teachers at Skyline elementary have been developing with the help of volunteers like Lovern, who has been serving as the de facto volunteer coordinator for several years. She and others have also worked to secure donated supplies.

She says it fits with her job as a staff member in Oklahoma State University’s Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering and her previous work with County Extension.

Master Gardeners from the Payne County Extension office have also volunteered their time, working with the children on a Junior Master Gardener program, installing a cistern and working on the greenhouse.

Skyline teachers have received several grants to pay for additions to the garden, which is used by all grade levels for supplemental learning activities.

It consists of several raised beds, a cistern to collect rain water from the school’s roof for irrigation and now, the greenhouse for starting plants.

The greenhouse was partially built last spring with the help of Oklahoma State University students, using bamboo stalks to support the nested bottles. The stalks were then attached to a wooden frame.

The design was sustainable but it wasn’t strong enough to stand up to the vandals who smashed the original walls over

Sharla Lovern helps rebuild greenhouses at Skyline Elementary School

Photo courtesy of The Journal

Mark your calendars! The BAE Alumni and Friends Social will be held Sunday, Aug. 7, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. at the Bristol Bar & Grille in downtown Louisville.

For more information, please check the BAE website this summer or email Rachel Carson at [email protected].


Thank you to our BAE Donors

The scholarship program of the Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering is entirely dependent on contributions to the OSU Foundation and designated for Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering. The department and its scholarship recipients are sincerely grateful to all donors. The following is a list of donors contributing $50 or more to the BAE department since last year’s banquet:

If we have inadvertently omitted anyone from this list, please accept our apology and gently remind us of that fact. We realize some friends gave less than $50 and we also appreciate those gifts.

Remembering BAE alumni: Max Dominick and Alan Lindsey Ritchey

AGCO CorporationGeorge AbernathyChristine AltendorfHasan Atiyeh & Ruba MuhsenBill & Annette BarfieldEdward BarnesDanielle & Jeff BellmerJoe BiggerstaffBrent & Gina BolayCharles BollingerWendell BowersGlenn & Barbara BrownJerry Brusewitz & Glenna WilliamsJunior R. BryantMichael & Susie BuserJulian CachoRussell & Darla CalvertGlenn CarlsonKenneth CaskeyDingding ChenBobby ClaryConocoPhillips CompanyCara Cowan-WattsBob & Betty DayNurhan DunfordRon & Judith ElliottChad FisherGarey & Amanda FoxScott FrazierT. Austin & Mary FreemanGerald GroszTom & Jan HaanHalliburton FoundationDoug Hamilton & Paloma Cuesta AlonsoGreg & Kristen Hart

Randy HaynesShannon HodgsonDustin & Kristen HoldenRay & Sandy HuhnkeCharles IkardClint & Cheryl ImelRex & Sherrie IshmaelJohn Deere FoundationW.B. Johnston Grain CompanyJor Jan JohnsonCarol JonesZaigham KazmiAjay Kumar & Nitu Kumari Steve & Susan KennedyPat & Earline LewisTieming LiuJim LoftisZhongxlang LuoThomas MaherHarvey & Glenda ManbeckHarry MangesKevin & Jo MankeDavid & Irene McKayElizabeth & Zach MillerRonnie & Sharon MorganWes & Judith MorrisonMyles MungleRon & Zona NoyesOklahoma Association of Electric

CooperativesOklahoma Grain & Feed AssociationOklahoma Municipal Power AuthorityKrushna PatilMarvin & Karen PaulsenJay Porterfield

George & Kristi RainsTharacad RamanaryananCharles & LaDonna RiceKerry & Jennifer RobinsonBeverly & Danny RogersCharles & Nancy RogersLawrence & Josephine RothRussell SchoofSteve SearcyMichael & Linda SmolenGayathri & Venkataramana SridharKyle & Amanda SteinRobin & Mark StinchcombMarvin & Bonnie StoneAl & Regina SutherlandRandy & Cassie TaylorTravis TsunemoriJason & Stephanie VogelJohn WalkerNing WangWarren E. Taylor Family TrustDarrell WattsPaul & Stephanie WecklerNorman WestJodie WhitneyMark & Lana WilkinsRichard WilloughbyWoolpert, Inc.Jiansheng YanDon & Kim YarbroughMing YuPeng YueDavid & Nancy ZavodnyJinhui ZhangXihai Zhang

Max D. Dominick passed away Dec. 7, 2010 in Stillwater, Okla. Dominick earned his bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering in 1958 after which he joined the Soil Conservation Service. He worked in several Oklahoma communities for SCS on flood control construction and municipal water projects. He retired after 35 years of service with the SCS. Dominick was a member of ASABE for more than 50 years.

Alan Lindsey Ritchey, founder of Alan Ritchey, Inc. of Valley View, Texas, passed away Jan. 15, 2011 in Gainesville.

Ritchey earned his bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering in 1960. Soon after graduation, he partnered with his wife, Charlene, and father to launch Ritchey Gin Company in Valley View. He also entered the trucking industry with his brother. Ritchey, Inc. diversified into several companies including grain elevators and mills, oilfield services and environmental waste management, as well as agriculture.

Non-Profit Organization

U.S. POSTAGE PAID

Stillwater, OKPermit No. 191

Address Service Requested

BAE UpdateDepartment of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering111 Agricultural HallStillwater, OK 74078-6016

Oklahoma State University, in compliance with Title VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Executive Order 11246 as amended, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and other federal laws and regulations, does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion, disability or status as a veteran in any of its policies, prac-tices or procedures. This includes but is not limited to admissions, employment, financial aid and educational services. This publication is issued by Oklahoma State University as authorized by the Dean of the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural resources and has been printed at a cost of $750 for 1100 copies. 4/11 AE

The BAE Update is a publication of OSU’s Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering and is published each semester to inform alumni and friends of activities in the department. We invite you to submit comments, story ideas or alumni updates to: BAE Update111 Agricultural HallStillwater, OK [email protected]

Editors: Randy Taylor and Nancy Rogers

Writing and design: Amanda Erichsen

BAE UpdateCalendar

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u 2011May 6-7 | Graduation ceremonies

May 8-22 | ENGR 4060 Study Abroad Courses

France, Brazil & Scandinavia

June 2-5 | ASABE ¼-Scale Tractor Competition, Peoria, IL

August 7-10 | ASABE Annual International Meeting, Louisville, KY

August 7 | BAE Alumni & Friends Social, Bristol Bar & Grille

August 22 | Fall Semester Begins

September 10 | BAE Alumni Tailgate, OSU vs. Tulsa (tentative)

October 29 | Homecoming, OSU vs. Baylor

December 17 | OSU Fall Commencement

2012March 31 | BAE Student Awards Banquet (projected)

April 28-29 | Advisory Committee Meeting (projected)

bae update: spring 2011

Documents

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