Influential Agricultural Engineers Set to Retire This Month

At the end of June, five members of the Iowa State agricultural and biosystems engineering faculty are retiring. The five have served a combined 127 years. They are Stu Melvin, 34 years; Dwaine Bundy, 31 years; Jim Baker, 31 years; Jeff Lorimor, 22 years; and Graeme Quick, nine years. They are experts in water and air quality, manure management, sustainable agriculture systems and machinery. Besides their teaching and research duties, they have given their time to advise policy makers. That work will continue with the same team approach, said Ramesh Kanwar, chair of the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering. "The issues are so complex that we need to work with other disciplines, such as agronomy and animal science," he said. Kanwar added the department will maintain the focus of research established by the retiring faculty but also will move towards biological engineering, or using biology for engineering applications New faculty have been hired. Jacek Koziel, an assistant professor at Texas A and M University and adjunct professor at West Texas A and M University, will be involved in air quality. Lie Tang, assistant professor in the Department of Agrotechnology and Food Sciences at Wageningen University, The Netherlands, will work in the advanced machinery engineering area. Robert Burns, associate professor in the biosystems engineering and environmental science department at the University of Tennessee, will focus on the environmental stewardship engineering area such as the design of manure management systems and nutrient management planning for livestock and poultry operations. A farewell open house for the retiring faculty will be held from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. June 25 at Reiman Gardens. Profiles highlighting the careers of four of the retiring professors, who have been valuable resources to the state of Iowa for research, extension and education on water quality and air quality, are on the College of Agriculture website.