2023-24 Academic Catalog

Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering

This is an archived copy of the 2023-24 catalog. To access the most recent version of the catalog, please visit http://catalog.msstate.edu.

Department Head: Dr. Alex Thomasson
Office: 150 J. Charles Lee Agricultural and Biological Engineering Building

Biosystems Engineering (BSE)

Biosystems Engineering is the branch of the engineering profession that deals with problems encountered in biological systems including ecology, the rural environment, and agriculture. The responsibilities of the Biosystems Engineer often include designing solutions to problems in the following applications:

  1. water issues in the rural environment such as infiltration, runoff, and evapotranspiration in crops.
  2. biomass for energy and bio-based products
  3. autonomous systems including sensors, artificial intelligence, and robotics and for agriculture and food-production systems.

The curriculum in Biosystems Engineering is designed to give the student a thorough grounding in the basic sciences of biological systems, mathematics, physics, and chemistry, followed by a series of fundamental and applied courses in engineering.  Apart from preparing students to work in natural resources and agriculture, the B.S. in Biosystems Engineering is an excellent foundation for graduate study in biosystems engineering and other engineering disciplines, and preparation for entry into certain professional schools including law school. Biosystems Engineering students can choose to focus their course sequence on one of two emphasis areas:

Natural Resources and Environment.  Agricultural activities and climatic changes affect the rural environment.  Engineers are needed to design solutions to problems in this area, which can involve improving sustainable land-use practices, developing efficient water-usage strategies, improving water quality, and protecting and conserving soil and water resources.  Students in this emphasis will take courses on soil and water management, nonpoint-source pollution, remote sensing, and geospatial computing. This emphasis prepares students for careers in land-use permitting, natural resource management, and conservation. 

Autonomous Agricultural Systems.  Worldwide trends demand that significantly more food be produced per acre, with less environmental risk, and with significantly less labor.  This requirement can be met only with autonomous agricultural systems, which involve sensors, analytical tools like artificial intelligence, and mechatronic and robotic systems.  Examples of such technologies include self-driving tractors, agricultural drones, and robotic harvesters.  Students in this emphasis will take courses on sensors, imaging, machinery, and robotics.  This emphasis prepares students for careers in design of agricultural machinery and systems as well as precision agriculture.

The B. S. program in Biosystems Engineering program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, https://www.abet.org, under the commission’s General Criteria and Program Criteria for Biological and Similarly Named Engineering Programs.

Biomedical Engineering (BME)

Biomedical Engineering (BME)

Biomedical Engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering that integrates engineering and life sciences to solve problems associated with the human body and human health.  Biomedical engineers combine engineering principles with medical and biological sciences to design and create materials and devices, computer systems, software and equipment for use in healthcare.  Examples include orthopaedic implants, drug pumps, cardiac assist devices, and bio-engineered skin. 

The curriculum in Biomedical Engineering is designed to give the student a thorough grounding in the basic sciences of biological and medical sciences, mathematics, physics, and chemistry, followed by a series of fundamental and applied courses in engineering. Apart from preparing students to work in the biomedical industry, the B.S. in Biomedical Engineering is an excellent foundation for graduate study in many fields, including the further study of biomedical engineering, and preparation for entry into professional schools, including medical school, dental school, veterinary school, and law school. Biomedical engineering students can choose to focus their course sequence on one of three emphasis areas:

Biomaterials.  Biomaterials play an integral role in medicine today – restoring function and facilitating healing for people after injury or disease. Biomaterials may be natural or synthetic and are used in medical applications to support, enhance, or replace damaged tissue or a biological function. The modern field of biomaterials combines medicine, biology, physics, and chemistry.  Students in this emphasis will take courses in mechanics of materials, biomedical materials, and immunology.  This emphasis prepares students for careers in the biomedical device industry.

Sensors and Instrumentation.  In medicine and biotechnology, biomedical sensors are used to detect specific biological, chemical, or physical processes, which then transmit or report the monitored data. These sensors can also be components in systems that process clinical samples, such as increasingly common lab-on-a-chip devices.  This emphasis also encompasses medical imaging technologies that are used to view the human body in order to diagnose, monitor, or treat medical conditions.  Students in this emphasis will take courses in digital devices, machine control, artificial intelligence (e.g. machine learning), and biological imaging.  This emphasis prepares students for careers in the biomedical instrumentation and medical imaging industries.

Premedical. The Biomedical Engineering curriculum prepares students for acceptance into most medical, dental, and veterinary schools. Students completing this program have demonstrated their ability to tackle tough subjects, perform well under stressful conditions, work together in teams, learn new material, and achieve ambitious goals – characteristics desired by the best medical, dental, and veterinary schools.

The B. S. program in Biomedical Engineering program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, https://www.abet.org, under the commission’s General Criteria and Program Criteria for Bioengineering and Biomedical and similarly named engineering programs.

The Biosystems Engineering and the Biomedical Engineering curricula are offered by the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering which is jointly administered by the College of Engineering and the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.