Alumni News - Biological and Agricultural Engineering

Summer 2016
“We Bring Engineering to Life”
Dr. Wayne
Yuan and team
members (Drs.
Duo Wang,
Donghai Wang,
and Ajay Kumar)
received the 2016
Wayne Yuan
American Society
of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE)Rain Bird Engineering Concept of the Year Award.
This prestigious award from
ASABE honors and recognizes an
engineer or engineering team for a
unique contribution to developing
or advancing a new engineering
concept. A “concept” is defined as
“a thought or opinion that has been
clearly defined and has resulted
in either some form of hardware,
standard of practice, trend in
design, educational practice, or has
otherwise manifested itself in some
practical usable scheme or plan
related to agricultural engineering
or the industries it serves.” It may
represent an entirely new invention
or concept or it may represent a
major reevaluation or an important
innovation of a known concept.
Herbert N. Stapleton, who in
1974 was the first of the Engineering Concept of the Year Award,
funded the award from 1985 to
1993. The award is now endowed
by Rain Bird International.
Dr Yuan’s concept is directed
toward a catalyst that is particularly
continued page 3
A
LUMNI
and friends
James Hipps is Named 2015
Outstanding Alumnus
On October 2, 2015 the NCSU Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering held a reception for
James Hipps, P.E. who was named this year’s outstanding
alumnus. Hipps also attended the College of Agriculture
and Life Sciences’ annual Alumni Awards Banquet as an
Outstanding Alumni of the College.
Mr. Hipps graduated with a degree in Biological and
Agricultural Engineering in 1973 and received a professional degree in Sanitary Engineering from the DepartJames Hipps
ment of Civil Engineering in 1975. He began his
career with Moore Gardner & Associates, Asheboro, NC, in 1976, and the company was acquired in 1982 by Black & Veatch, Kansas City, MO. In 2009 Mr.
Hipps retired having spent 35 years with Moore Gardner and Black & Veatch.
Mr. Hipps’ primary technical expertise is in water, wastewater, and civil
infrastructure. Projects of note include the largest water treatment plant in Asia
and the largest desalination plant in the southern hemisphere (Kota Tingi and
Tuas plants, respectively, in Singapore), the largest roller-compacted concrete
dam in the world and second largest dam in China
(Long Tan Dam), and the
largest World Bank-funded
environmental project at the
time, the Shanghai Sewerage project.
While at Black & Veatch,
Mr. Hipps initially served
in technical roles as project
engineer and project manager and then moved on to
managerial and leadership
James Hipps was presented with the department award by Dr.
positions in the company.
Grabow. Hipps was also honored at the CALS Outstanding
He was regional office
Alumni event.
manager in the Asheboro,
continued page 3
BAE Alumni & Friends – 1
In this issue
Summer 2016
Outstanding Alumnus
Award..................................1
Faculty News.........................1
Dept. Head’s Comments......2
Two New Faculty..................4
Green Infastructure...............4
Alumni News.........................4
Advisory Board......................6
Student Banquet...................6
NFS Scholarship...................7
ASABE Student Rally...........7
In and Around Weaver...... 8-9
Green Brick Award..............10
Emissions Research.............10
Giving Request....................11
Department Head Dr. Garry Grabow
Writer/Graphics Carolyn Mitkowski
Public Relations Advisor Dr. Bill Hunt
Bio&Ag Alumni & Friends is an annual publication of the Department of
Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department, North Carolina State
University, Box 7625, Raleigh, NC
27695-7625.

Alumni contributions to the next issue of
Bio&Ag Alumni&Friends are always
welcome. Please send your contributions
to Dr. Garry Grabow at the
address above or email:
[email protected] or
[email protected].
Visit Bio&Ag on the web at:
www.bae.ncsu.edu
Fax comments & questions to:
Bio&Ag News at 919-515-6772
2 – BAE Alumni & Friends
Department Head’s Comments
Greetings from Raleigh! This year has been a season of change,
and while we celebrate our achievements and acknowledge those
who are leaving BAE, we are very excited at what lies ahead. First,
I would like to congratulate our graduates – we conferred 79
Baccalaureate degrees (53 BE and 26 AET), and 21 Graduate degrees (13 PhD, 7 MS, and 1 MBAE). Congratulations, graduates!
Mr. James Hipps was named our BAE Outstanding alumnus
Garry Grabow
for 2015. Jim and his wife Cathy have also committed to endowing a scholarship “Henry D. Bowen Endowed Undergraduate Scholarship in
Biological & Agricultural Engineering” in honor of former BAE faculty member
Henry Bowen. Jim also serves on the BAE advisory board. I would like to personally thank BAE Advisory Board members who have fulfilled their terms of service:
Rebecca Silverstein (Grifols, Inc.), and JoAnn Price (Naval Facilities Engineering
Command). They, along with other board members, have provided valuable advice
and insight from their wealth of experience and background. Dr. Michael Dukes
and Devin Carrol have agreed to a second term.
I am pleased to announce that Dr. Lingjuan Wang Li was named a University
Faculty Scholar, joining Dr. William Hunt in that distinction. Dr. Li was also
promoted to Professor. Congratulations are also extended to Dr. Wayne Yuan,
who, along with team members, received the American Society of Agricultural and
Biological Engineers (ASABE) Rain Bird Engineering Concept of the Year award.
Another ASABE award, the John Deere Gold Medal Award, was bestowed on BAE
alumnus and Advisory Board member Dr. Michael Dukes. Alumnus Dr. Kenneth
Swartzel was elected to the National Academy of Engineering, joining Dr. Wayne
Skaggs, Distinguished University Emeritus Professor, in that select Academy. Dr.
John Classen received a College of Engineering Outstanding Faculty Mentoring
Citation, and Dr. Barbara Doll received the Sea Grant mid-Atlantic region
Outstanding Outreach Award.
I am very excited to announce that two new faculty members will be joining us
this fall: Dr. Steven Hall, who comes to us from LSU, will be focusing on Aquacultural Systems Engineering, and Dr. Celso Castro-Bolinaga, who is completing
his PhD from Virginia Tech, will be working in the area of river mechanics and
hydraulic modeling. We are also conducting a search for Department Head, and
anticipate other faculty position searches in the coming year.
Our new Business Services Coordinator, Ms. Lacy Parrish, joined us in May,
and we also welcome aboard Dr. Cong Tu, who is overseeing our Environmental
Analysis Lab. Both have previous experience at NC State and have hit the ground
running. Mr. Robert Hickman has joined the BAE research shop, and Mr. Neil
Bain has assumed the position of Research Shop Supervisor.
We also extend our sincere appreciation of service to BAE and the University
to those who have retired this past year. David Buffaloe retired after 39 years of
service, most recently as research shop supervisor. Rachel Huie, Environmental
Analysis Lab Supervisor, retired after 29 years of service, and Hiroshi Tajiri, lab
techinician, retired after 10 years of service. We wish them all the best in their
retirement and new ventures.
Please do not hesitate to drop by for a visit anytime. We have been upgrading
classrooms and labs and would be glad to give you a tour. 
Hipps Outstanding Alumnus
continued from page 1
NC office, then regional
manager of nine east coast
offices from Boston to Tampa. Later in his career with
Black & Veatch he became
General Partner, Executive
Partner, and Managing Director of operations spanning
Europe, Africa, the Middle
East, and Asia, including 40
offices and 2,500 employees.
In 1995 he moved to London to oversee mergers and James Hipps talking with (left to right) Drs. Hunt, Burchell,
Cheng, and Shah.
acquisitions and returned to
the U.S. in 1998 as assistant
manager of the infrastructure business, responsible for operations in Europe,
Africa, and Asia. In 2000 he took on leadership as Executive Vice President
and then President of BV Water Asia, and in 2006 became Chief Development
Officer for B&V Water’s growth initiative. As head of Water Asia, Mr. Hipps
guided 18 offices in Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, China, and South Korea.
Mr. Hipps has served as a board member and/or chairman for a number of
B&V corporate subsidiaries (Black & Veatch Inc., Black & Veatch International,
Black & Veatch Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Africa, and Germany), B&V Power Development Corp, B&V Infrastructure Development, and
Paterson Candy, LTD. He also served as a member of the B&V Executive Committee dealing with strategy, operations, governance, internal audit, HR policies,
risk management, and business systems.
Mr. Hipps has participated in numerous professional, technical, and management training and development activities both internal and external to Black
& Veatch as an instructor and a presenter. He also served as guest lecturer for
the University of Kansas School of Business, lecturing on international business, and the University of Missouri - Kansas City, where he lectured on strategic planning and entrepreneurship.
The department would like to thank Mr. & Mrs. Hipps, who have committed to funding a scholarship through an endowment with the North Carolina
Agricultural Foundation in honor of Dr. Henry D. Bowen. The scholarship
will be named the “Henry D. Bowen Endowed Undergraduate Scholarship in
Biological & Agricultural Engineering.” 
Nominations for Outstanding Alumnus Award are being accepted. The
nominees must have received a degree from NCSU and should have a record of service to the profession, community, industry, and/or to NC State,
and the BAE department. The nomination form can be downloaded from
www.bae.ncsu.edu/news/achieve/achieve-alumni.
Faculty News
continued from page 1
useful in preventing the reforming of tars present in syngas
generated through biomass gasification.
Dr. Yuan will be presented the
award this summer at the ASABE
Annual International Meeting in
Orlando, FL.
Congratulations
to Dr. Lingjuan
Wang Li who was
named a University Faculty Scholar. She is among
20 tenure-track
faculty at NC State Ling Wang Li
to receive this title
this year. Scholars are awarded
$10,000 annually for 5 years.
Dr. John Classen
received a College of
Engineering Outstanding Faculty
Mentoring Citation.
Congratulations
to Dr. Ken Swartzel,
P.E. on his election John Classen
into the National
Academy of Engineering (NAE).
He was elected to
honor his advances in thermal
processes of food
preservation. Dr.
Swartzel is a Bio &
Ag associate faculty
member and the
Ken Swartzel
department’s 2014
Outstanding Alumnus. Dr. Ken
Swartzel joins Dr. Wayne Skaggs
as a member of this prestigious
institution.
Dr. Barbara Doll, P.E., was
honored with the Sea Grant MidAtlantic region’s Outstanding
continued page 4
BAE Alumni & Friends – 3
Faculty News
continued from page 3
Outreach Award.
Tom Murray, chair
of the national Assembly of Sea Grant
Extension Program
Leaders, presented
Doll with the award
Barbara Doll
on April 27 at the
regional meeting in
Red Bank, New Jersey.
Dr. Grant Ellington, P. E.,
was selected by BAE students to
receive the 2015-16 Outstanding
BAE Professor Award. 
Alumni News
Dr. Michael Dukes, University of Florida and 2000 Bio&Ag
PhD graduate, received the
prestigious 2016 John Deere
Gold Medal award given by the
American Society of Biological and Agricultural Engineers
(ASABE). The award recognizes
distinguished achievement in the
application of science and art to
the soil.
James Lamb, Environmental
Specialist for Prestage Farms and
a graduate of the Agriculture
and Environmental Technology
program in 1996, was honored
by the NC Pork Council (www.
ncpork.org) as the state’s Outstanding Pork Producer. He received his award at their annual
conference February 12. The
award recognizes industry leaders for exceptional management
and outstanding contributions to
the state’s pork industry.
Backwater Environmental of
Pittsboro is implementing a plan
developed by Kris Bass, Kris Bass
Engineering of Raleigh. His lastContinued page 5
4 – BAE Alumni & Friends
2 New Faculty Join Bio & Ag Dept.
In August, the department will have two new faculty members. We would
like to welcome Drs. Steven Hall and Celso Castro-Bolinaga.
Dr. Steven Hall, P. E., Aquaculture Systems Engineer, will join the faculty
as an aquaculture extension specialist. He comes to us from Louisiana State
University with considerable experience in aquacultural systems research and
teaching.
Hall received his PhD from Cornell University with a focus in instrumentation and control in biological systems and sustainable agriculture, an
M.S. from UC Davis, focusing on energy and biosystems, and a B.S. from
SUNY Buffalo in mechanical engineering. He has industrial experience with
DLTech (energy technologies); Moog Controls and Moog Inc. (Servohydraulics); and a variety of consulting experience in coastal, aquacultural, energy,
and biomass technologies.
Dr. Celso Castro-Bolinaga is a recent PhD graduate of the Department of
Civil Engineering at Virginia Tech University. Castro-Bolinaga’s thesis was
“Hydraulic Modeling of a River Network for Predicting Flood Inundation using HEC-RAS and GIS Models - A Case Study in Southern Virginia” and his
PhD dissertation was “Hydraulic Modeling of Extreme Hydrologic Events:
Case Study in Southern Virginia.” Dr. Bolinaga will continue his work on
river models tracking sediment transport, and modeling extreme hydrologic
events, and he will also work with other faculty on stream restoration. 
Green Infastructure Summit
The national summit
on stormwater and greeen
infastructure was held
April 6th in Raleigh and
hosted by BAE. Experts
from Europe and across
North America presented
a variety of topics that
holistically examined the
benefits of stormwater
control measures (aka
BMPs). Over 100 people
attended and many were
graduates of this department.
The premier sponsor
of the summit was Tetra
Tech Inc., along with
sponsors ACF Environmental, Belgard Hardscapes, and Opti.
Back row, left to right - Dr. Jonathan Chenoweth, University
of Surrey, Guildford, England; Dr. Jon Hathaway, University
of Tenneese, Knoxville, TN; Carol Hufnagel, TetraTech Inc.;
Marcus Quigley, OptiRTC Inc.; Dr. Trisha Moore, Kansas State
University; Dr. Prashant Kumar, University of Surrey. Front row
- Dr. Scott Struck, Geosyntec Consultants; and Drs. Bill Hunt
and François Birgand, NC State University, Bio&Ag Engineering.
continued
Green Infastructure Summit (cont.)
Topics explored were wide-ranging and included climate resiliency, air
quality benefits, carbon sequestration, green job creation, maintenance of
base flow, public perceptions and acceptance of innovative measures, realtime control to improve SCM function while preserving stream health, and
a discussion on employing green stormwater infrastructure across the US
and Canada.
The department has been running events like summits, conferences,
workshops, and technical training since 2000. They are are all run inhouse by workshop and training coordinators Julia Fiore and Christina
Shepard. The current list of workshops and conferences can be found at:
http://www.bae.ncsu.edu/training_and_credit/workshops.php 
Alumni News
continued
est project converts two ponds into
into an innovative, tidal marsh
stormwater management system.
Bass said, it is a first-of-its-kind
project in NC. The Coastal Review is running an article about
it at http://www.coastalreview.
org/2016/06/14611/
Do you know about the
Bio&Ag Facebook Group? Currently there are 300 Bio&Ag
Alumni in the group and people
can post jobs available in their
companies and events of interest
to alumni. Join the conversation:
use NCSU_BAE_Alum 
Personnel Changes
Dr. Scott Struck, Geosyntec Consultants gave a talk titled, how regulatory context drives green
infrastructure planning, design, & implementation.
Left to right are Row 1: Dr. Birgand, Dr. Hunt; Row 2: Josh Baird, Kevin Koryto, Rebecca Purvis, Katy
Conroy, Stefani Barlow, Dr. Alessa Smolek, Jessica Batten, Dr. Trisha Moore; Row 3: Shawn Kennedy,
Bree Tillet, Jessie Fears, Erin Carey, Alysondria Campos, Laura Lord, Sarah Waickowski, Natalie
Carmen, Will Rogers; Row 4: Charlie Stillwell, Andrew Anderson, Dr. Jon Hathaway, Dr. Matthew
Jones, Ryan Smith, Jason Wright.
Recently retired: David Buffaloe, Machine Shop supervisor with 39 years, Rachel Huie,
Environmental Analysis Lab
supervisor with 29 years, and
Hiroshi Tajiri, lab technician
with 10 years of service.
The department welcomes
new staff member Lacy Parrish,
business service coordinator,
Cong Tu, research specialist, and
Robert Hickman, shop trades
technician.
Dr. Ratna Sharma-Shivappa
has moved with her family to
Pennsylvania where her husband is employed. Ratna has
served the department since
2003 She will be greatly missed
but is working to obtain Adjunct Faculty status with the
department so she can continue
working relationships with BAE
and be able to serve on graduate
committees. We wish Ratna and
family all the best in their new
home. 
BAE Alumni & Friends – 5
Advisory Board
Many thanks to four advisory
board members who have concluded
their terms: Ms. Rebecca Silverstein
and Ms. JoAnn Price, P.E., CEM.
We welcome our new advisory
members. Mr. James Hipps, P.E., is
retired from Black & Veatch, Kansas
City, MO where he had been Executive Vice President, and President
of BV Water Asia. He and his wife
are funding the Henry D. Bowen
Endowed Undergraduate Scholarship in Biological & Agricultural
Engineering. Hipps is also 2015
BAE Outstanding alumnus.
Mr. Gus Simmons, P.E., Director
of Bioenergy, Cavanaugh & Associates, P.A., a consulting firm that
cultivates stewardship of our natural
resources through innovation.
Agreeing to second terms are:
Mr. J. Devin Carroll, P.E., Vice
President, Custom Controls Unlimited Inc., Raleigh NC. The
company specializes in controls,
automation and information systems
for municipal, industrial, energy,
pharmaceutical and agricultural
customers. He currently employs 10
Bio&Ag graduates.
Dr. Michael D. Dukes, P.E.,
C.I.D., UF Research Foundation
Professor and Irrigation Specialist at
the University of Florida in the Agricultural and Biological Engineering
Department. Their terms expire in
2019. 
Student Spring Awards Banquet
On April 21, 2016 the Department of
Biological and Agricultural Engineering
held its annual Student Awards Banquet
at the NC State J. C. Raulston Arboretum,
in Raleigh, NC. Always a highlight of the
spring semester, this annual event celebrates
the achievements and contributions of our
undergraduate and graduate students.
In attendance were students, parents,
faculty, staff, several advisory board members
and department scholarship and fellowship donors Charles Suggs, Ron and Shelba The keynote address was given by Mr. Paul
Sneed, and Bill and Glenda Johnson.
Sherman, P.E., NC Farm Bureau AssociaAfter dinner, Dr. Garry Grabow, Interim tion State Legislative Director.
Department Head, welcomed all to
the banquet, and ASABE student club
president Suzanne Leonard introduced
the evening’s guest speaker, Mr. Paul
Sherman, P.E., State Legislative Director
for the NC Farm Bureau Association.
Sherman spoke about the importance
of legislative policy and how it drives
the direction and focus of what kinds of
projects engineers will be working on in Dr. Johnson and his wife Glenda award the
the future.
William H. and Glenda N. Johnson Graduate
Engineering Fellowship stipend to Jack Kurki
Dr. John Classen recognized 18
Fox and Brianna Hess.
graduate fellowship and award recipients and 15 graduate students who authored publications. Dr. Andrew Hale
recognized 29 undergraduates receiving scholarships and awards. 63 students
were on the Dean’s List this year.
Recapping the student clubs, events, and activities of the year were Zachary Lentz, president of the Graduate Student Association, and Suzanne
Leonard, president of the student branch of ASABE. Leonard also announced
this year’s Bio & Ag Outstanding Teacher Award, given to Dr. Grant Ellington. Kenny Atkins and Helen Peel spoke about the 1/4 Scale Tractor Team. 
Student Class Gift
The graduating class of 2016
in appreciation and rememberance of their time at Weaver have
purchased a set of enginering
books for senior design class use.
6 – BAE Alumni & Friends
Sakshi Handa was the recepient
of the E.J. Tyson Scholarship
presented by Dr. Andrew Hale.
Mallory Goan was the recipient
of the Barbara and George Blum
Scholarship presented by Charles
Blum, Advisory Board member
and the son of George Blum.
ASABE Student Honor Awards
went to Alex DiGeronimo and
Suzanne Leonard, shown above
with Dr. Sanjay Shah.
Undergraduate Receives NSF
Graduate Fellowship
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has
named 2,000 individuals as award recipients of the 2016
Graduate Research Fellowship Program.
Vinicius Taguchi, a Bio & Ag student, was chosen
from 17,000 applicants from many scientific disciplines
to receive an award. This is a highly prestigious graduate fellowship most often awarded to current graduate
students, however Taguchi was among a minority of
undergraduate students to receive one. Our departVini Taguchi
ment is honored to have a Bio & Ag student receive
this fellowship.
Taguchi worked on an extension stormwater project guided by Dr. Bill
Hunt and Erin Carey, Extension Associate. The project involved researching downspout disconnections in Wilmington, NC for the North Carolina
Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) BMP Manual. A poster
about the project was displayed at the Water Resource Research Institute
(WRRI) conference, and it won 2nd place. He also received 2nd place in a
statistics undergraduate project competition sponsored by the Consortium
for the Advancement of Undergraduate Statistics Education.
His statistical skills made him fortunate enough to be involved in a
NSF-funded water sustainability and climate project in the NC State Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, where he
developed skills in data analysis using R and UNIX scripting. In his senior
design class, which is a capstone engineering course, his group designed
a bio-retention cell BMP at a shopping center in Wilmington, NC. The
design will be presented soon with construction to begin shortly.
Taguchi, who was in the University Honors program also received the
Ronald E. Sneed NC Irrigation Society scholarship the past 2 years. He is
a member of the NC State student chapter of Engineers Without Borders
where he worked on a well water project to supply fresh drinking water to
a school in Sierra Leone. He belongs to two professional organizations, the
North Carolina Water Resources Association (NCWRA) and Professional
Engineers of North Carolina (PENC). In addition, he mentors in the NC
State Peer Mentor Program.
Taguchi will pursue his graduate studies in Civil Engineering
at the University of Minnesota.
His research studies there will
continue to build upon his interest in stormwater engineering. He
will study under Dr. John Gulliver
with a goal to improve current
stormwater BMPs and increase
their usage. His future plans are
to receive a PhD and teach. 
Taguchi and his poster at the UNC-WRI event.
2016 ASABE Southeastern Regional
Student Rally
The Southeast Regional ASABE Rally was held at Virginia
Tech, Blacksburg, VA, April 1-3.
Eleven students attended the
event, along with club advisor Dr.
Mike Burchell. 
From left to right (front row): Advisor Dr.
Mike Burchell, Kendall Driver, Helen Peel,
Suzanne Leonard, Kristen Navaroli, Taylor
Williams; From left to right (back row): Amber
Fields, Megan Porter, Mallory Goan, Alex
DiGeronimo, Alex May, Kenny Atkins
Students toured Virginia Tech’s lab facilities
learning about their current research.
Students participated in teambuilding and
networking events with ASABE members from
universities in the southeast region.
BAE Alumni & Friends – 7
Graduate Fellowships & Awards
u
Shannon Banner—College of Engineering Graduate Merit Award, Henry D. Bowen Fellowship
In & Around Weaver Labs
Undergraduate Student Activities
Zachary Lentz—College of Engineering Graduate Merit Award, F.J. Hassler Fellowship
Jack Kurki-Fox—William H. and Glenda N.
Johnson Graduate Engineering Fellowship
Stipend Endowment
Brianna Hess—William H. and Glenda N. Johnson Graduate Engineering Fellowship Stipend
Endowment
Bryan Maxwell—College of Engineering Graduate Merit Award, University Graduate Fellowship
Kathryn Conroy—Provost Fellowship, University
Graduate Fellowship, College of Engineering
Graduate Merit Award
The ASABE Student Club “Welcome Back Cookout” gives students a chance to mingle while eating
hamburgers and hot dogs and playing lawn games.
Rebecca Purvis—NFS Graduate Research Fellow,
University Graduate Fellowship
Rachel Taylor—College of Engineering Dean’s
Doctoral Fellowship, University Graduate Fellowship, College of Engr. Graduate Merit Award
Joshua Rudd—Provost Fellowship
Veronica Mbaneme—National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, UNC Campus
Enhancement Scholarship, Augustus M. Witherspoon Graduate Scholarship, Doctoral Dissertation Completion Grant
Elizabeth Allen—Doctoral Dissertation Completion Grant
Robert Vick—Doctoral Dissertation Completion
Grant
ASABE Student Club set up a company mixer and 10 companies and 40 students participated.
Laura Merriman—National Science Foundation
Graduate Research Fellow
Tiffany Messer—EPA STAR Fellow
Breanna Tillett—National Science Foundation
Graduate Research Fellow
Ana Zuleta Correa—Fulbright Scholar
Yu Liu—China Scholar
Meng Wang—China Scholar
Graduate Achievements
Veronica Mbaneme—Ebony Harlem Award of
Outstanding Dedication, Future Faculty Development Program at Virginia Polytechnic Institute
Robert Vick—CALS Stewards of the Future,
1st Place Winner Outstanding Student Research
Award, Bayer CropScience Research Symposium
Participant, Outstanding 4-H Livestock Program
Alumni, Wilson County Livestock Association
Charlie Stillwell—2015 CALS/COS Graduate
Student Professional Development Workshop
Participant
Graduate Student Publications
Yane Ansanay—4, Lalitendu Das—5, Arthur
James—4, Yiying Zhu—1, Hao Lu—1, Meng
Wang—2 and Ryan Winston—2
8 – BAE Alumni & Friends
Last year the grad students took on flag football to become
the champs. This year the undergraduates decided to try out
intramural soccer. They were not champs but did have lots of
fun. Front row, left to right - Kayla Stephens, Kendall Brinker,
Meghan Porter Middle row, - Suzanne Leonard, Helen Peel,
Rebecca Faulkner Back row, left to right - Ben Tyner, Kenny
Atkins, Justin Traenkle, Landon Whitaker
ASABE club members Helen Peel (left)
and Kendall Brinker hit the pavement
of the campus brickyard hawking boxes
of sweet potatoes for sale. The sweet
potato sale is the main fundraiser for
the club.
In & Around Weaver Labs
Grad Student Activities
Undergraduate Scholarships
u
Mallory Goan—Barbara and George Blum
The GSA club focused on service this year. They helped out at the NC
Special Olympics, volunteered for the food bank, and participated in trail
clean-ups of a section of the Rocky Branch greenway they adopted.
The grads take on agriculture’s
big mission to feed the world by
doing what they can locally.
Left, Maria Balcazar Tellez and
Yuhao Yin glean food from a local
farm.
Below, GSA members at the
Raleigh food bank where they
packed gleaned potatoes. From left
to right are Charles Stillwell, Kevin
Koryto, Zack Lentz, Shannon
Banner, Rebecca Purvis, Bree
Tillett, Maria Balcazar Tellez and
in front Tia Zheng.
Vinicius Taguchi—Ronald E. Sneed NC Irrigation Society
Christopher Halford—Jane P. and Charles W. Suggs
James Homiller—Jane P. and Charles W. Suggs
Meghan Porter—J. C. and Nancy Ferguson
Sakshi Handa—E.J. Tyson
Jessica Mattingly—Dorothy S. & Eustace O. Beasley,
Pack Promise Scholarship
Suzanne Leonard—NC Section of ASABE, Alfred
Edwards Jenkins Scholarship
Macon Boyce—NC Section of ASABE, J. Daniels
Scholarship
Michael Barzaghi—NC Section of ASABE
Nicholas Williams—Dumaine Farms Production
Agriculture Scholarship
Andrew Brown—Dumaine Farms Production
Agriculture Scholarship
Megan Fruchte—Campaign for NC State Students
Scholarship
Lauryn Kabrich—Engineering Foundation Merit
Award
Lauren Kingston—Philip B. Jackson Memorial
Scholarship
Matthew Parker—Engineering Foundation Transfer Award
Thomas Price—Ruby B. Smith Scholarship
Ann Lopez—Park Scholar
Undergraduate Achievements
Iman Fisher—College of Engineering
Ambassador
Jessica Mattingly—University Scholar
Above: Dr. Cheng demonstrates
how to stuff and fold chineese
dumplings while research associate
Shiying Tian stirs the pot.
Right: The department has a
good number of Chinese graduate
students and Chinese American
faculty and staff so the GSA Club
thought a department Chinese
New Year luncheon would be
a good way of sharing cultures
and easing holiday blues. The
group cooked some typical foods
which were then set out among
traditional paper lanterns and red
decorations.
Vinicius Taguchi—2nd Place Poster Winner at
the WRRI Conference, National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship
Undergraduate Student Awards
COE Senior Award Nominees
Alex DiGeronimo—BAE Citizenship and Service
Award
Suzanne Leonard—BAE Leadership Award
Jordan Bendl—BAE Scholarly Achievement
Award
Vinicius Taguchi—BAE Humanities Award
Meghan Porter—COE Faculty Senior Award
Suzanne Leonard, Alex DiGeronimo—ASABE
Student Honor Award
BAE Alumni & Friends – 9
Student Earns Green
Brick Award
Annie Lopez, a
Bio & Ag junior,
was the project
lead in the the
removal of plastic
bags from the
atrium food court
Annie Lopez
located in the NC
State Talley Student Center.
The removal of plastic bags
was a two-year effort between the
NC State Stewards and the University Sustainability Office. The
Stewards is a student organization
that Lopez applied to and was
selected to serve on. The Stewards’ waste reduction committee
has been working towards making
the NC State campus bag-free.
They started with the plastic bag
recycling program in the busy
food court to bring awareness to
new changes.
Having participated in additional campus sustainability
activities, Lopez earned a campus Green Brick Award from the
campus Environmental Sustainability Team and Sustainability
Council for her
outstanding contributions to sustainability at NC
State. The award
is sponsored by
Coca-Cola. 
Annie with the new paper bags now being used
for take out in the food court.
10 – BAE Alumni & Friends
Research Aims to Trap Emissions
Ali Ajami has been a graduate student for 1 ½ years under
the supervision of Dr. Sanjay
Shah. He is working on a
project to improve air quality by reducing emissions of
air pollutants from livestock
barns. He hopes that findings
from his research will lead to
development of cost-effective
methods to improve air quality
across the Southeast.
Most modern livestock
Ali Ajami standing next to his windbreak wall design.
barns use tunnel ventilation
which consists of a fans pulling out exhaust air containing pollutants and
odors. Adequate ventilation is required to maintain acceptable environmental conditions and air quality in the barn.
Air exhausted from livestock barns contain ammonia, dust or particulate matter (PM), hydrogen sulfide, greenhouse gases, and volatile organic
compounds (VOC). When released into the atmosphere, some of these pollutants can degrade environmental quality, public health, and visibility. Very
importantly, some of these pollutants can also reduce quality-of-life due to
odor, particularly in the vicinity of livestock farms. Therefore, to increase
the sustainability of livestock production in North Carolina, it is important
to reduce the impact of livestock barn emissions on air quality.
Engineered windbreak walls positioned outside the barns and downstream of the fan exhaust could provide a cost-effective method for reducing
emissions from barns, primarily by
causing the gas-laden dust particles to
settle. However, windbreak walls can
cause increase back pressure on the
fans, reducing ventilation rates. Ali is
using computational fluid dynamics
(CFD) modeling to design windbreak
walls that minimize back-pressure on
fans and maximize pollutant trapping.
To validate his CFD models, Ali
is measuring back pressure and air
velocity in a windbreak wall system.
He uses a smoke machine to visualize
the air flow. After finalizing his windbreak wall design using both modeling
and experimentation, he will build and
monitor two full-scale windbreak walls
on a swine and broiler farm to assess
reduction in pollutant emissions. 
Smoke is being introduced to see air flow
Department Annual Giving Opportunity
I want to give thanks and give back to NC State Biological and Agricultural Engineering
Online Giving
http://harvest.cals.ncsu.edu/advancement/donors/ways-of-giving/
I would like to make a one time mail in gift of:
$1,000
$500
$100
$50
$25
*Name___________________________
Spouse Name _____________________
Employer_________________________
*Address_________________________
_________________________
*City____________________________
*State_______________*Zip_________
*Home Phone _____________________
Cell Phone________________________ o Barbara and George Blum Scholarship Endowment
E-Mail___________________________ o Biological and Agicultural Engr. Enhancement Fund - Extension
Matching Gifts
Many corporations and businesses
sponsor matching gift programs. See
if you are employed by a matching gift
company http://www.matchinggifts.com/
ncsu/ You may also go to or call your human resources department to determine
matching gift policies and procedures.
By check payable to:
N.C. Agricultural Foundation
Box 7645, Raleigh NC 27695-7645
Gifts-In-Kind - These are gifts given
directly to the department such as lab
equipment and material donations
which are of tremendous benefit to
our faculty, staff, and students.
Questions? Contact: Chris Wessel
919-515-7678 [email protected]
o Biological and Agricultural Engr. Enrichment Fund - Research
o Charles W. Suggs Scholarship
o Bio & Ag Engineering Endowment for Excellence
o E. J. Tyson Scholarship Fund
o Eustace O. Beasley Bio & Ag Engineering Endowed Scholarship
o F. J. Hassler Graduate Fellowship Fund
o Henry D. Bowen Endowment
o J. C. and Nancy Ferguson Scholarship
o James A. Deshazer Enhancement Fund
o NC Section ASAE Scholarship Endowment
o NC Section ASAE Student Activities Endowment
o NCSU Pack Pullers Quarter Scale Tractor Fund
o Ronald E Sneed NC Irrigation Society Scholarship
o William and Glenda Johnson Graduate Engineering Fellowship Stipend Endowment
o George J. and Rhoda W. Kriz Distinguished Professorship in
Bio & Ag Engineering
BAE Alumni & Friends – 11
Name
Curriculum
Yane Ansanay...................................................PhD
Tyler Bogert......................................................AET
Cyrus Belenky.................................................BE
Brantley Braswell............................................MS
James G. Brown..............................................MS
Alex Burroughs................................................BE
Andrew Church...............................................AET
Lalitendu Das..................................................PhD
Zachary Delancey...........................................AET
Charles Edmunds...........................................PhD
Jacqueline Erickson........................................MS
Adam Douglas.................................................AET
Bryson Faulkner..............................................AET
Troy Gilmore...................................................PhD
Nickolaus Inman.............................................AET
Arthur James Rivas..........................................PhD
Lauren Kingston.............................................BE
Tianheng Li.....................................................MS
Xin Liu.............................................................MS
Laura Merriman..............................................PhD
Tiffany Messer.................................................PhD
Kathleen Oakes...............................................AET
Daniel Phillips.................................................AET
Chad Poole.......................................................PhD
David Sampson...............................................AET
James Shoobridge............................................AET
Samuel Starnes................................................AET
Rebecca Titus...................................................AET
Sarah Waickowski...........................................MS
Meng Wang......................................................PhD
Spring 2016 Graduates
Joshua Axhoj....................................................BE
Emily Baker.....................................................BE
NONPROFIT ORG.
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
Raleigh, NC
PERMIT No. 2353
12 – BAE Alumni & Friends
Name
Curriculum
Joshua Bell.......................................................AET
Jordan Bendl....................................................BE
Julie Bernstorf..................................................BE
Alexander Biermann.......................................BE
J. Clayton Blackwell........................................BE
Daniel Blue......................................................AET
Tyler Brown.....................................................BE
Kevin Chapman..............................................BE
Tyler Cooper....................................................AET
Stevan Cox.......................................................AET
James Crawford...............................................AET
Alex DiGeronimo............................................BE
Tyler Doolittle..................................................BE
Kendall Driver.................................................BE
Melissa Ferling................................................BE
Zachary Gardner.............................................BE
Kristin Garner.................................................BE
Benjamin Goodes............................................BE
Kyle Greene.....................................................BE
Christopher Halford.......................................AET
Wesley Hall......................................................BE
William Herring .............................................AET
Sakshi Handa..................................................BE
Mathias Haubert.............................................BE
Gage Howell....................................................BE
Jessie Ibarra......................................................BE
Gregory Jackson..............................................BE
Cameron James...............................................BE
Daniel Kang....................................................BE
Calline Kirkman..............................................BE
Tyler Knaup.....................................................BE
Hannah Lanni.................................................BE
Nicholas Lannon.............................................AET
Suzanne Leonard............................................BE
Justin Liles.......................................................BE
Brendon Lynch................................................BE
Name
Curriculum
Andrew Maamari............................................AET
John MacMillan..............................................BE
Jessica Mattingly..............................................BE
Alexandra McGee............................................AET
John McGugan................................................AET
Matthew Michel..............................................BE
Daniel Milam..................................................AET
Jorge Montezuma............................................MBAE
Luke Mowery..................................................BE
David Nguyen.................................................BE
Scott Norville...................................................BE
Steven Nugent.................................................BE
Nichole Palen..................................................BE
Jonathan Parker...............................................BE
Ty Prentice.......................................................BE
Thomas Price...................................................BE
Morjan Bassam Rahhal..................................BE
Jacob Rice.........................................................AET
Douglas Royalty..............................................BE
Adam Rushing.................................................BE
Chance Seegars................................................BE
Conner Smith..................................................BE
Alessandra Smolek..........................................PhD
Jackson Starling...............................................BE
Thomas Stephenson.......................................AET
Paul Stern.........................................................BE
Vinicius Taguchi.............................................BE
Breanna Tillett.................................................MS
K. Luke Turner................................................BE
Nathaniel Wallace...........................................BE
Nicholas Williams...........................................BE
Ryan Winston..................................................PhD
Roy Whitaker...................................................AET
Richard Wicker................................................AET
Miao Zhang.....................................................BE
Yiying Zhu.......................................................PhD
Congratulations Graduates
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering
Campus Box 7625
Raleigh, NC 27695-7625
Fall 2015 Graduates