University of Wisconsin-River Falls
IN-25: Innovation B

A new Agricultural Engineering program was developed at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls with the first students admitted to the program Fall 2016. This program is new to campus and is becoming an asset for our students, community, and region. The Agricultural Engineering curriculum focuses on applying engineering principles to agricultural and environmental systems and preparing students for employment in the production and processing of food, fiber and energy. The curriculum was developed using a student-centered learning environment with a problem-solving approach in the classroom. Students strive to solve problems to meet various constraints such as economics, time, available resources, and sustainability. For example, students in the Introduction to Engineering course were challenged to design a small scale wind turbine using Computer Aided Design software, printing their models with a 3D printer, and testing and evaluating the Power output of the turbine. In another course, student teams competed to design, 3D print, and test a beam with constraints of designing the strongest beam while minimizing materials and cost. Through projects in this program, students are evaluating issues with energy, grounds, purchasing, transportation, waste, water, and more. It truly is a sustainability focused program that is giving students hands on experience that was previously not available to them. This is innovative because it pulls together numerous aspects of sustainability. Other courses and programs focus more on one aspect of sustainability. This program really pulls together all aspects of sustainability (social, economic, and environment) to give students a real world holistic sustainability experience.