Purdue Agricultural Biological Engineering Program Ranked #1

Story by Maureen Manier

September 13, 2021

urdue University’s Agricultural Biological Engineering (ABE) undergraduate program has earned the number one ranking in its category in the annual U.S. News & World Report undergraduate program rankings for the eleventh consecutive year. U.S. News also ranked Purdue’s ABE graduate program number one earlier this year. The department includes 382 undergraduate and 191 graduate students.

“The College of Agriculture community is extremely proud of the number one ranking our undergraduate agricultural and biological engineering program has earned. I thank the dedicated faculty and staff members, led by Nate Mosier, for their commitment to undergraduate education and for their advancement of innovative and globally renowned research. Most of all, we are proud to provide students the opportunity to learn and grow in this incredible department,” said Karen Plaut, Glenn W. Sample Dean of Agriculture.

The John A. Edwardson Dean of the College of Engineering and executive vice president for strategic initiatives Mung Chiang also applauded the department’s continued success.

“Purdue ABE’s No. 1 ranking for undergraduate programs, complementing its top graduate ranking, recognizes our continued pursuit of the College of Engineering’s goal of Pinnacle of Excellence at Scale. Agricultural and biological engineering is also driving Purdue’s strategic direction for digital innovation in agri-food systems, with national visibility such as the National Science Foundation’s Engineering Research Center for the Internet of Things for Precision Agriculture (IoT4Ag).”

Department head and professor of agricultural and biological engineering Nate Mosier asserted what he believes produces the department’s success.

“The longevity of our ranking can really only be attributed to one thing: our people. The impact that our faculty members make in food and agriculture and on our students is extremely important. Our ABE alumni make an enormous difference around the globe. Our talented staff members are dedicated to the success of our students and to supporting our research and extensions programs. Purdue ABE is what we are because of all these people,” Mosier said.

This year also marked the opening of the new ABE building, which Mosier explained is also having a positive impact on the department

“We have new research, teaching, and collaboration spaces that will make the work we do easier to do together. These spaces will enable more collaboration across engineering and agriculture, food and pharmaceuticals, and spanning the physical to the cyber.”

In addition to a formal building dedication later this month, the department will also be celebrating its centennial throughout the academic year.

You can download a photo of students from ABE's Soil and Water Resource Engineering class in front of the department’s new building here. Photo credit: Tom Campbell

Writer: Maureen Manier, mmanier@purdue.edu, 317-366-5550

Source: Nate Mosier, mosiern@purdue.edu, 765-494-1162

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