Agricultural and Biological Engineering
Head of Department: K. C. Ting
Department Office: 338 Agricultural Engineering Sciences Building, 1304 West Pennsylvania Avenue
Urbana, (217) 333-3570
The Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering offers two academic majors through the College of ACES: the five-year combined program in Agricultural and Biological Engineering Sciences and the major in Technical Systems Management. The Department also offers a four-year major in Agricultural and Biological Engineering through the College of Engineering.
Dual Major in Agricultural and Biological Engineering Sciences
Major in Technical Systems Management
Major in Agricultural and Biological Engineering
Minor in Technical Systems Management
Dual Major in Agricultural and Biological Engineering Sciences
Students who successfully complete this five-year academic program receive the Bachelor of Science with a major in Agricultural and Biological Engineering from the College of Engineering as well as Agricultural and Biological Engineering Sciences from the College of ACES. Students first enroll in the College of ACES and then transfer to the College of Engineering after two years. The suggested program of study that follows fulfills graduation requirements for both the College of Engineering and the College of ACES. Graduates are employed by industry, consulting firms, and government for research, education, and manufacturing. Departmental advisors ensure that national engineering accreditation (ABET) requirements are met by advisees.
Prescribed Courses Including Campus General Education
| Hours | Composition I and Speech |
| 4 | RHET 105 - Principles of Composition or equivalent (see college Composition I requirement) |
| 3 | CMN 101 - Public Speaking |
| Hours | Advanced Composition |
| | One elective course must satisfy the Advanced Composition requirement. |
| Hours | Cultural Studies |
| | One Western culture and one non-Western/US minority culture course must be completed as part of the Social and Behavioral Sciences and/or Humanities and the Arts General Education coursework |
| Hours | Foreign Language: Coursework at or above the third level is required for graduation. |
| Hours | Quantitative Reasoning I |
| 4 | MATH 221 - Calculus I |
| Hours | Quantitative Reasoning II |
| 3 | MATH 231 - Calculus II |
| Hours | Natural Sciences and Technology |
| 3 | CHEM 102 - General Chemistry I |
| 1 | CHEM 103 - General Chemistry Lab I |
| 3 | CHEM 104 - General Chemistry II |
| 1 | CHEM 105 - General Chemistry Lab II |
| 4 | PHYS 211 - Univ Physics Mechanics |
| 4 | PHYS 212 - Univ Physics Elec and Mag |
| 2 | PHYS 213 - Univ Physics, Thermal Physics |
| Hours | General Education Coursework |
| 6 | Six hours of Social and Behavioral Science courses that must include ACE 100 or ECON 102 or ECON 103 and that satisfy the campus general education requirements. |
| 6 | Six hours of Humanities and the Arts courses that satisfy the campus general education requirements. |
| 6 | Six hours of either Social and Behavioral Science or Humanities and the Arts courses that satisfy the requirements of approved lists for the College of Engineering and the campus general education requirements. |
| Hours | Biological Sciences Coursework |
| 10 | Ten hours of biological sciences are required from biology, entomology, microbiology, plant biology, physiology, and zoology. Select at least seven of the ten hours from the following: |
| | ANSC 362 - Princ of Animal Physiology |
| | ANSCI 467 - Applied Animal Ecology |
| | CHEM 232 - Elementary Organic Chemistry I |
| | CHEM 233 - Elementary Organic Chemistry Lab I |
| | CPSC 112 - Introduction to Crop Sciences |
| | CPSC 270 - Applied Entomology |
| | CPSC 414 - Forage Crops and Pasture Eco |
| | GEOL 101 - Introductory Physical Geology |
| | GEOL 250 - Geology for Engineers |
| | IB 101–Biological Sciences or 103*–Introduction to Plant Biology or 104*–Animal Biology |
| | MCB 100* - Introductory Microbiology |
| | MCB 101* - Intro Microbiology Laboratory |
| | MCB 103–Intro to Human Physiology |
| | MCB 312 - Applied Microbiology Methods |
| | MCB 434 - Food & Industrial Microbiology |
| | NRES 201 - Introductory Soils |
* Students must take at least one of these courses.
| Hours | Agricultural Engineering Required |
| 1 | ABE 100 - Intro to Agr Engineering |
| 4 | ABE 221 - Agr & Bio Engineering I |
| 4 | ABE 222 - Agr & Bio Engineering II |
| 2 | ABE 430-- Project Management |
| 4 | ABE 469 - Industry-Linked Design Project |
| 3 | CS 101- Intro to Computing, Eng & Sci |
| 0 | ENG 100 - Engineering Lecture |
| 3 | ECE 205 - Intro Elec & Electr Circuits |
| 1 | ECE 206 - Intro Elec & Electr Ckts Lab |
| 3 | GE 101 - Engineering Graphics & Design |
| 3-4 | ME 300 - Thermodynamics or CHBE 321 - Thermodynamics |
| 2 | MATH 225 - Introductory Matrix Theory |
| 4 | MATH 241 - Calculus III |
| 3 | MATH 285 - Intro Differential Equations |
| 3-4 | ABE 440-Applied Statistical Methods I, or STAT 400 - Statistics and Probability I, or CEE 202 - Engineering Risk & Uncertainty, or IE 300 - Analysis of Data |
| 2-3 | TAM 210 - Intro to Statics or TAM 211 - Statics |
| 3 | TAM 212 - Introductory Dynamics |
| 3 | TAM 251 - Introductory Solid Mechanics |
| 4 | TAM 335 - Introductory Fluid Mechanics, or CHBE 421 - Momentum and Heat Transfer, or ME 310 - Introductory Gas Dynamics |
| Hours | Agricultural Sciences Coursework |
| 15 | Fifteen hours of agricultural sciences with courses from at least two departments other than Agricultural and Biological Engineering and approval of advisers are required. |
| Hours | Technical Coursework |
| 16 | A total of 16 hours of technical electives are required. At least 8 hours must be from the following list of Agricultural and Biological Engineering Technical Electives and at least eight hours selected from the list of "Other Technical Electives" in the next section. |
| | Agricultural Engineering Technical Electives |
| | At least 12 hours from: |
| | ABE 361 - Princ of Off-road Machines |
| | ABE 374 - Env Control for Bio Buildings |
| | ABE 397–Independent Study |
| | ABE 420–Kinem & Dynamics of Mech Syst |
| | ABE 425# - Eng Measurement Systems |
| | ABE 426 - Applied Machine Vision |
| | ABE 436–Renewable Energy Systems |
| | ABE 455–Erosion and Sediment Control |
| | ABE 456 - Land and Water Resources Eng |
| | ABE 459 - Drainage and Water Management |
| | ABE 463–Electrohydraulic Systems |
| | ABE 466 - Engineering Off-Road Vehicles |
| | ABE 476 - Indoor Air Quality Engineering |
| | ABE 479* - Design of Agr & Bio Structures |
| | ABE 482 - Package Engineering |
| | ABE 483 - Eng Properties of Food Mat |
| | ABE 485 - Food and Process Eng Design |
| | ABE 487 - Grain Drying and Conditioning |
| | ABE 488 - Bioprocessing Grains for Fuels |
| | ABE 489 - Process Des for Corn Milling |
| | ABE 497–Independent Study |
| Hours | Other Technical Electives |
| | Choose at least eight hours from: |
| | CEE 311- Engineering Surveying or CEE 312- Route Surveying |
| | CEE 330- Environmental Engineering |
| | CEE 350- Water Resources Engineering |
| | CEE 360- Structural Engineering |
| | CEE 380- Geotechnical Engineering |
| | CEE 450- Surface Hydrology |
| | CEE 460- Steel Structures, I |
| | CEE 461- Reinforces Concrete Design, I |
| | CHBE 221- Principles of CHE |
| | CHBE 421- Momentum and Heat Transfer |
| | CHBE 422- Mass Transfer Operations |
| | GE 330- OR Methods for Profit & Value Eng |
| | ME330- Engineering Materials |
| | ME 350- Design for Manufacturability |
| | ME 370- Mechanical Design, I |
| | ME 461- Computer Ctrl of Mechanl Sys |
| | MFGE 310- Intro to MFG Systems |
| | MFGE 450- Info Mgmt for MFG Systems |
| | PHYS 214 - Univ Physics, Quantum Physics |
| | TAM 324–Behavior of Materials |
| | or any 300 or 400 level engineering course approved by advisor |
| Hours | Open Electives |
| | Sufficient open electives selected to total minimum curriculum requirement of 158 hours. All requirements of the combined curriculum must be completed to satisfy the requirements for both degrees. |
| 158 | Total hours required to receive a B.S. in Agricultural Engineering and a B.S. in Agricultural Sciences. |
Major in Technical Systems Management
For the Degree of Bachelor of Science with a Major in Technical Systems Management
This major in Technical Systems Management is designed to prepare students as problem solvers for systems involving the application, management, and/or marketing of agricultural engineering technologies. Students are instructed in engineering and business principles in preparation as technically competent business persons for professional careers as entrepreneurs, marketing representatives, or plant managers working with service organizations, manufacturers, corporate farms, retail dealers, power suppliers, contractors, or management companies from production through processing and distribution.
Students can specialize in Mechanization, Marketing, and Technical Systems; Production Systems; or Environmental Systems by selection of specific electives.
Prescribed Courses Including Campus General Education
| Hours | Composition I and Speech |
| 4 | RHET 105 - Principles of Composition or equivalent (see college Composition I requirement) AND |
| 3 | CMN 101 - Public Speaking |
3 | OR
CMN 111 - Oral and Written Communication I AND |
| 3 | CMN 112 - Oral and Written Communication II |
| Hours | Advanced Composition |
| 3-4 | Select from campus approved list. |
| Hours | Cultural Studies: Two courses; one Western culture and one non-Western/US minority culture course. |
| Hours | Foreign Language: Coursework at or above the third level is required for graduation. |
| Hours | Quantitative Reasoning I |
| 4 | MATH 234 - Calculus for Business I, or equivalent |
| Hours | Quantitative Reasoning II |
| 3-4 | Introductory statistics. See department for approved list. |
| Hours | Natural Sciences and Technology |
| 4 | CHEM 102 - General Chemistry I, and CHEM 103 - General Chemistry Lab I |
| 5 | PHYS 101 - College Physics Mech & Heat |
| 4-5 | PHYS 102 - College Physics, E & M & Modern, or CHEM 104 - General Chemistry II and CHEM 105 - General Chemistry Lab II |
| 3-5 | Biological sciences (see campus approved list) |
| Hours | Humanities and the Arts |
| 6 | Select from campus approved list. |
| Hours | Social and Behavioral Sciences |
| 4 | ACE 100 - Agr Cons and Resource Econ |
| 3 | ECON 103 - Macroeconomic Principles |
| 3-4 | Social and behavioral sciences elective. Select from campus approved list. |
| Hours | ACES Prescribed |
| 2 | ACES 101 - Contemporary Issues in ACES |
| Hours | TSM Required |
| 3 | ACE 161 - Microcomputer Applications or equivalent |
| 3 | ACCY 200 - Fundamentals of Accounting or ACCY 201 - Accounting and Accountancy, I |
| 4 | CPSC 112 - Introduction to Crop Science |
| 4 | NRES 201 - Introductory Soils |
| 3 | TSM 100 - Technical Systems in Agr |
| 2 | TSM 430 - Project Management |
| 18 | TSM elective courses. A total of 18 hours selected from the following courses. A minimum of six hours must be selected from TSM 295 or 396, or at the 300- or 400-level. |
| | TSM 199 - Undergraduate Open Seminar |
| | TSM 232 - Materials and Construction Sys |
| | TSM 233 - Metallurgy, & Welding Processes |
| | TSM 234 - Wiring, Motors, and Controls Sys |
| | TSM 262 - Off-Road Equipment Management |
| | TSM 295 - Undergrad Research or Thesis |
| | TSM 352 - Land & Water Mgt Systems |
| | TSM 363 - Fluid Power Systems |
| | TSM 371 - Residential Housing Design |
| | TSM 372 - Structures and Env Systems |
| | TSM 381 - Grain Drying, & Storage Systems |
| | TSM 396-UG Honors Research Or Thesis |
| | TSM 435 - Elec Microcomputer Ctrl Sys |
| | TSM 464 - Engine and Tractor Power |
| | TSM 465 - Chemical Applications Systems |
| | TSM 496 - Independent Study |
| | TSM 499--Seminar |
| Hours | Specialization Electives |
| 15 | Choose from the following: |
| | ACE 210 - Environmental Economics |
| | ACE 222 - Agricultural Marketing |
| | ACE 231 - Food and Agribusiness Mgt |
| | ACE 232 - Management of Farm Enterprises |
| | ACE 303 - Rural Taxation |
| | ACE 310 - Natural Resource Economics |
| | ACE 320 - Commodity Marketing |
| | ACE 332 - Farm Management |
| | ACE 340 - Agricultural Finance |
| | ACE 403 - Agricultural Law |
| | ACE 406 - Environmental Law |
| | ACE 428 - Commodity Futures and Options |
| | ACE 448 - Rural Real Estate Appraisal |
| | ACE 456 - Agr and Food Policies |
| | AGCM 370 - Ag Sales Communications |
| | AGCM 380 - Leadership Development |
| | ANSC 213 - Beef and Swine Management |
| | ANSC 321 - Animal Nutrition |
| | ANSC 467 - Applied Animal Ecology |
| | BADM 300 - Legal Environment of Business |
| | BADM 301 - Summary of Business Law |
| | BADM 310 - Mgt and Organizational Behavior |
| | BADM 311 - Individual Behavior in Orgs |
| | BADM 320 - Principles of Marketing |
| | BADM 322 - Marketing Research |
| | BADM 374 - Management Decision Models |
| | BADM 375 - Business Process Management |
| | BADM 376 - Enterprise Proc Integr & Dymm |
| | BADM 445 - Small Business Consulting |
| | BADM 446 - Entrepreneurship Sm Bus Form |
| | BTW 271 - Persuasive Writing |
| | CEE 330 - Environmental Engineering |
| | CPSC 226 - Introduction to Weed Science |
| | CPSC 414 - Forage Crops and Pastures Eco |
| | CPSC 418 - Crop Growth and Management |
| | CPSC 477 - Biol Control on Insect Pests |
| | ENVS 336 - Tomorrow's Environment |
| | FIN 221 - Corporate Finance |
| | FIN 341 - Fundamentals of Real Estate |
| | HORT 364 - Vegetable Crop Production |
| | NRES 419 - Env and Plant Ecosystems |
| | NRES 474 - Soil and Water Conservation |
| | NRES 488 - Soil Fertility and Fertilizers |
| Hours | Open Electives |
| 17-23 | Additional free elective courses selected to meet the required 126 hours for graduation. |
| 126 | Total credit hours required for the B.S. degree. |
Minor in Technical Systems Management
Note: This minor has prerequisites of a minimum of 60 hours with a 2.5 GPA; completion of Math 234 or equivalent; Physics 101 or equivalent; Chemistry 102 and 103 or equivalent; and Physics 102 or Chemistry 104 and 105 or equivalent.
| Hours | Minor Required |
| 3 | TSM 100--Technical Systems in Agr |
| 15 | Fifteen Hours, at least six of which must be at the 400 level |
| | TSM 232 - Materials and Construction Sys |
| | TSM 233 - Metallurgy, & Welding Processes |
| | TSM 234 - Wiring, Motors, and Controls Sys |
| | TSM 262 - Off-Road Equipment Management |
| | TSM 352 - Land and Water Mgt Systems |
| | TSM 363 - Fluid Power Systems |
| | TSM 371 - Residential Housing Design |
| | TSM 372 - Structures and Env Systems |
| | TSM 381 - Grain Drying, & Storage Systems |
| | TSM 435 - Elec Microcomputer Ctrl Sys |
| | TSM 464 - Engine and Tractor Power |
| | TSM 465 - Chemical Applications Systems |
| | TSM 496 - Independent Study |
| 18 | Total Hours Required |