The Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering’s undergraduate Agricultural Engineering program ranked first in the nation in the 2008 America's Best Colleges edition of U.S. News and World Report (published in August 2007). Departmental excellence is also reflected in the range of research being conducted by our scholars. Project development in 2007 included: innovative equipment such as a solar robot that hunts weeds and applies herbicide; a filtration system to recycle water in ethanol production; and a 24/7 camera to monitor the environment and health of livestock.
University of Illinois researchers are embarking on a major new study in which they videotape sows around the clock to find out how elements of their "microenvironment" create stress. Although this may sound like an animal science version of the "Big Brother" reality show, the ultimate goal is to find out how the microenvironment can affect the reproductive health and well-being of sows.
Ethanol plants use about four gallons of water for every gallon of ethanol they make, using the dry-grind process. But investigators at the University of Illinois are trying to determine if the amount of water that is recycled during ethanol production can be increased ─ significantly.
A solar-powered robot with 20/20 vision, on a search-and-destroy quest for weeds, soon will be moving up anddown the crop rows at the experimental fields at the University of Illinois. What'smore, this robot has the potential to control weeds while significantlyreducing herbicide use.