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INVESTIGATOR: Worku, M.; Schimmel, K.

PERFORMING INSTITUTION:
NORTH CAROLINA A&T STATE UNIV
1601 EAST MARKET STREET
GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA 27411

AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS ENGINEERING - FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: The demand for Agricultural Systems Engineers with training in biotechnology is projected to increase dramatically in the next 10 years. This is especially true in NC. For example, the new NC Research Campus is projected to attract between 100-200 biotech companies resulting in up to 35,000 new jobs. The master's students completing this program will be pipelined into the interdisciplinary Energy and Environmental Systems PhD program at NCA&T. The PhD graduates will be pipelined into careers in Agricultural Systems Engineering and related fields. The fellowships are used to encourage and support outstanding underrepresented students to pursue and complete a rigorous training program in Agricultural Systems Engineering to meet the national need. The anticipated impact of the NNF Program is that it will help address several of CSREES' strategic goals by increasing the number of minority students graduating in areas of agricultural science and increasing the pool of well trained individuals in areas of bio-energy and biomass conversion, development of commercially viable alternative crops, and furthering our understanding of the role of gene sequencing in plant crops and livestock. These impacts and results of the graduate training program management and student achievement will be widely disseminated through publications, seminars, and professional presentations by the Fellows, faculty mentors, and administrators.

OBJECTIVES: The goal of the NCA&T USDA National Needs Fellows Program will be to train and graduate Master's and Doctoral students in the area of Agricultural Systems Engineering - specifically biobased products, bioenergy and food products engineering, Discipline G. The specific project objectives are to A: recruit one outstanding Masters and one PhD student from the agricultural and biological sciences, B: provide students interdisciplinary training in Agricultural Systems Engineering, C: provide research opportunities in biobased products, bioenergy and food products engineering to solve problems in agriculture and environmental sciences and D: provide career planning and pipelining. The proposed effort is a model multidisciplinary program devoted to providing core training in Agricultural Systems Engineering, coupled with an intensive research experience that will focus on biotechnology, productivity and sustainability with an emphasis on critical thinking ethics and communication available especially to USDA Fellows. Through interdisciplinary coursework in agricultural biotechnology and energy and environmental sciences fellows will have the opportunity to obtain a certificate in agricultural biotechnology. Professional meetings, presentations, and networking opportunities with stakeholders will be provided. Thesis and dissertation research of the Fellows will focus on problems related to agricultural systems engineering: producing health promoting food products, generating biomass sources to meet renewable energy needs, developing new and diversified crop platforms for industrial bio-products, and establishing efficient and environmentally friendly sustainable agriculture. This will result in publication of discoveries and innovation relating to biobased products, bioenergy and food products engineering. The program will increase the number of underrepresented students graduating in areas of agricultural systems engineering and increasing the pool of well trained individuals in areas of bioenergy and biomass conversion, commercially viable alternative crop development, and innovative applications of biobased products, bioenergy and food products engineering contributing to national economic security, agricultural development. and sustainability.