Hinkle has recently enjoyed returning to campus to tour the new ABE building. Its renovation and expansion, dedicated in 2021, consolidated the department — by then scattered across numerous locations — into a single building on the site of the 1929 structure Hinkle knew as the Agricultural Engineering Building.

Grain handling and processing facilities in the U.S. have experienced a 10-year average of 8.4 incidents annually, said Kingsly Ambrose, professor of agricultural and biological engineering. During the last decade these incidents have led to dozens of injuries and fatalities, millions of dollars in damage, and operational downtime.

Raturi, an assistant professor in agricultural and biological engineering who runs the Agricultural Informatics Lab, specializes in an area that was once slightly obscure – the junction of open access technology and food systems. But in recent years the area has gained more attention, with Raturi as a community steward. Her current work includes development of open source support tools for farmers, toolkits for local food systems, and landscape assessment methods for biodiversity projects. The award will help her continue her upward trajectory.

Training graduate and undergraduate students how to safely operate equipment and tools in ABE’s shops and labs is a normal part of Tyler Finley’s job. But he recalls one unusual experience in which he shared the cab of a $600,000 tractor with a student who had never been behind the wheel of any vehicle. “I’ll remember that for a while,” he says. “They did great.”

Every time I come into the lab, I know that I’m going to be learning something new, and every day is a step forward towards understanding these novel drug delivery systems.-Sophia Dasaro, PhD student, agricultural and biological engineering

Purdue University’s Institute for Digital and Advanced Agricultural Systems (IDAAS) is at the forefront of integrating data-driven technologies into agriculture, serving as a platform for groundbreaking innovation. By connecting the brightest minds in academia and industry, IDAAS underscores Purdue’s commitment to shaping the future of agricultural systems.

Kayla Hinton has found a new “fit” with the Clorox Company as a supply chain leadership development program associate. She loved many things about her internship with Proctor and Gamble (P&G), and she was curious about other careers within the industry.

Hoagland said there are two kinds of tomato production in Indiana. Ketchup and canning companies like Red Gold form the industrial side, which relies on tomato crops grown in large fields. Fresh-market tomatoes, often grown on a small scale to sell unprocessed, may generate less revenue, but they are a fast-growing, popular option for both consumers and growers.

AgroRenew is simultaneously investing in the education of current Purdue students as well. Amanda Wolf was originally inspired by her eighth grade science teacher to follow the potential of her strong problem-solving skills through agriculture. Now a junior majoring in biological engineering and minoring in biotechnology, Wolf put that passion and talent to use on the AgroRenew team this summer.

From eating a poisonous fly agaric—the iconic red-with-white spots toadstool—as a child and getting his stomach pumped to later making clay versions of the same mushroom on a “Smurfs”-themed Mardi Gras float, Marshall Porterfield has gone from picking mushrooms off his pizza to growing them in the lab.