Biological Systems Engineering
Programs of Study
Bioenvironmental Engineering
Apply biology and engineering principles to improve and protect soil, water, and air quality. Employment opportunities include consulting firms, government agencies such as the Natural Resource Conservation Service, and larger companies that employ engineers to manage and improve environmental systems.
Biorenewable Resources Engineering
Improve the economic and environmental sustainability of biorenewable resource production systems. Employment opportunities include firms that design or operate industrial-scale bioconversion systems, including biodiesel and ethanol plants.
Food Engineering
Utilize science and engineering to design and operate modern food-processing systems. Employment opportunities include food processing industry, a multi-billion dollar enterprise.
Pre-Professional
Prepare for a professional degree program outside of engineering.
The Biological Systems Engineering Profession
Biological systems engineering involves the sustainable production, storage, and conversion of biobased materials into useful products. Examples range from breakfast cereals to biologically derived fuels like today’s ethanol and biodiesel.
What will the second- and third-generation biofuels look like? How can we convert low-cost biomass into a liquid fuel? How do we make biomass production systems more sustainable? What are the best opportunities for improving them? Biological systems engineers at Iowa State learn to innovate, to communicate, and to work as team members to address these sorts of critical questions.
Biological systems engineers have high-impact careers. Maintaining air quality, a secure food supply, and clean water is important to everyone. In today’s global marketplace, grains, produce, and livestock are transported from country to country, and food security is increasingly of concern. Biological systems engineers help safeguard our air, water, and food supply by developing sensors to detect problem compounds and by developing management plans to track materials and to minimize the chances of contamination.
Biological Systems Engineering Courses and Degree Planning
- Courses in Biological Systems Engineering (coming in March)
- Curricula (required coursework) and four-year plans (BS degree)
- List of approved Social Science courses 07-09
- List of approved Humanities courses 07-09
- Approved List of International Perspectives Courses 07-09
More information
This degree will be offered starting the Fall Semester 2009. More information will be available soon on this website.
For more information now, please contact Dr. LeQuetia Ancar, academic adviser for the Biological Systems Engineering degree program.
Iowa State University Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, 100 Davidson Hall , Ames, Iowa 50011, 515-294-1434, abe
iastate.edu
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