There are three optional streams offered within the Bioresource Engineering Major. Via the appropriate choice of complementary set D courses, a particular area of study may be emphasized.
In the Bio-process Engineering stream, students apply engineering to transform agricultural commodities and biomass into products such as food, fiber, fuel, and biochemicals. Topics include the engineering of foods and food processes, physical properties of biological materials, post-harvest technology, fermentation and bio-processing, the management of organic wastes, biotechnology, the design of machinery for bioprocessing, etc.
Students wishing to specialize in this stream should take the following five complementary set D courses.
-
BREE 314
Agri-Food Buildings
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: Analysis and design of structures to house animals and plants and to process and store animal and plant products. Introduction to environmental control systems and animal waste management.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- Three lectures and 2-hour lab per week.
- This course carries an additional course charge for field trips.
- Analysis and design of structures to house animals and plants and to process and store animal and plant products. Introduction to environmental control systems and animal waste management.
- his course carries an additional course charge of $130.00 to cover transportation costs for field trips which may include an agri-centre, sugar shack and winery.
-
BREE 315
Course not available
-
BREE 322
Organic Waste Management
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: An introduction to engineering aspects of handling, storage and treatment of all biological and food industry wastes. Design criteria will be elaborated and related to characteristics of wastes. Physical, chemical and biological treatment systems.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- 2 lectures and one 2-hour lab
- Restriction: Not open to students who have taken ABEN 322.
- A fee of $24.34 is charged to support a field trip to local waste management facilities for guided tour and information-gathering for a course assignment as well as some laboratory supplies for hands-on composting and/or anaerobic digestion lab.
-
BREE 325
Food Process Engineering
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: Heat and mass transfer, enthalpy and mass balances, sterilizing, freezing, fluid flow, pipes, steam, refrigeration, pumps and valves.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- Three lectures and one 3-hour lab per week.
- Restriction: Not open to students who have taken BREE 324
-
BREE 423
Course not available
The six remaining complementary set D courses should be chosen from the following list.
-
BREE 501
Simulation and Modelling
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: Philosophical and mathematical principles of computational modelling and simulation: Concepts of verification, parameterization, validation, and sensitivity analysis. Introduction to basic concepts of finite element modelling: Direct stiffness and weighted residual methods. Introduction to software packages for general systems and multiphysics, finite-element-based modeling. Emphasis on biosystems engineering applications, e.g., ecosystem dynamics, material properties, solid and structural mechanics, heat transfer, fluid dynamics, electrical and machinery systems.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- Prerequisite: BREE 252; AEMA 305; or permission of instructor.
- Restrictions: U3 students and above
- Terms
- Instructors
- Jaskaran Dhiman, Shangpeng Sun
-
BREE 504
Instrumentation and Controls
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: An overview of instrumentation and control systems used in bioresource engineering. Hands-on development of data acquisition systems and learning strategies to process and interpret the signal obtained constitute the majority of the course.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- 3 lecture hours and one 2-hour lab per week during Fall term every year
- Prerequisites: BREE 252 and BREE 312 or equivalents.
- Terms
- Instructors
- Viacheslav Adamchuk, Shangpeng Sun
-
BREE 519
Advanced Food Engineering
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: Advanced topics in food engineering. Concepts of mathematical modelling and research methodologies in food engineering. Topics include heat and mass transfer in food systems, packaging and distribution of food products, thermal and non-thermal processing, rheology and kinetics of food transformations.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- Three lectures and one 2-hour lab per week.
- Prerequisites: BREE 325, or permission of instructor.
-
BREE 520
Food, Fibre and Fuel Elements
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: Analysis and design incorporating the four elements required by organisms and biomass for food, fibre and fuel production (air, earth, energy, and water). Special emphasis will be placed on the demands and requirements of engineering systems to control these elements and allow optimal growth in semi-controlled and completely controlled environments.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2024 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year
-
BREE 522
Bio-Based Polymers
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: The structure and properties of selected biomass (e.g. vegetable oils and starches) will be reviewed. The synthesis of bio-based polymers through chemical modification, casting, compression and extrusion among other methods will be studied. The physical properties of the resulting matrices will then be reviewed. Commercial applications will be examined.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
-
BREE 530
Fermentation Engineering
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: Advanced topics in food and fermentation engineering are covered, including brewing, bioreactor design and control and microbial kinetics.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- 3 lectures and one 3-hour lab
- Prerequisite (Undergraduate): BREE 305 or equivalent
- Graduate courses available to senior undergraduates with permission of the instructor
- A fee of $121.94 covers the cost of the fermentation laboratory consumables and transportation costs for field trips which may include a brewery, winery and other fermentation operations
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2024 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year
-
BREE 531
Post-Harvest Drying
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: Heat and moisture transfer with respect to drying of agricultural commodities; techniques of enhancement of heat and mass transfer; drying efficiency and scale-up problems.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- Restriction: Open to U3 students or above.
- This course carries an additional course charge for field trips.
- This course carries an additional course charge of $47.34 to cover transportation costs for two field trips which may include at least two visits to distinctly different drying facilities in the field.
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2024 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year
-
BREE 532
Post-Harvest Storage
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: Active, semi-passive and passive storage systems; environmental control systems; post-harvest physiology and pathogenicity; quality assessment and control methodology; economic aspects of long-term storage.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- This course carries an additional course charge for field trips.
- Restriction: Open to U3 students or above.
- This course carries an additional charge of $49.87 to cover the cost of transportation (bus rental) for local field trips. The fee is refundable only during the withdrawal with full refund period.
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2024 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year
-
BREE 535
Food Safety Engineering
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: The application of engineering principles to address microbial and chemical safety challenges in food processing, including intervention technologies (traditional and novel non-thermal intervention technologies, chemical interventions, and hurdle approach); control, monitoring and identification techniques (biosensors); packaging applications in food safety (active packaging, intelligent or smart packaging); and tracking and traceability systems.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
2. Bio-production Engineering Stream
Students who follow the Bio-production Engineering Stream use science and technology to create systems and machines for the production of crops, livestock, and biomass. Students learn about machine design, robotics, artificial intelligence, geomatics and GIS, remote sensing, buildings and structures, and complex systems.
Students wishing to specialize in this stream should take the following five complementary set D courses.
-
BREE 217
Hydrology and Water Resources
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: Introduction to water resources and hydrologic cycle. Precipitation and hydrologic frequency analysis. Soil water processes, infiltration theory and modeling. Evapotranspiration estimation methods and crop water requirements. Surface runoff estimation as a function of land use modifications. Estimation of peak runoff rates. Unit hydrograph. Design of open channels and vegetated waterways.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- Three lectures, one 2-hour lab per week.
- This course carries an additional course charge for field trips.
- This course carries an additional course charge of $19.43 to cover transportation costs for two field trips, which may include a visit to a national weather station and a trip to gain hands-on experience on monitoring water flow in streams.
-
BREE 314
Agri-Food Buildings
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: Analysis and design of structures to house animals and plants and to process and store animal and plant products. Introduction to environmental control systems and animal waste management.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- Three lectures and 2-hour lab per week.
- This course carries an additional course charge for field trips.
- Analysis and design of structures to house animals and plants and to process and store animal and plant products. Introduction to environmental control systems and animal waste management.
- his course carries an additional course charge of $130.00 to cover transportation costs for field trips which may include an agri-centre, sugar shack and winery.
-
BREE 315
Course not available
-
BREE 412
Machinery Systems Engineering
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: Study and analysis of machines for tillage, harvesting, crop processing and handling. Field tests, load studies, design requirements; design of machines and components for agricultural applications.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- Three lectures and one 3-hour lab per week
- Prerequisite: BREE 341
- Terms
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year
-
BREE 423
Course not available
The six remaining complementary set D courses should be chosen from the following list.
-
BREE 501
Simulation and Modelling
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: Philosophical and mathematical principles of computational modelling and simulation: Concepts of verification, parameterization, validation, and sensitivity analysis. Introduction to basic concepts of finite element modelling: Direct stiffness and weighted residual methods. Introduction to software packages for general systems and multiphysics, finite-element-based modeling. Emphasis on biosystems engineering applications, e.g., ecosystem dynamics, material properties, solid and structural mechanics, heat transfer, fluid dynamics, electrical and machinery systems.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- Prerequisite: BREE 252; AEMA 305; or permission of instructor.
- Restrictions: U3 students and above
- Terms
- Instructors
- Jaskaran Dhiman, Shangpeng Sun
-
BREE 504
Instrumentation and Controls
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: An overview of instrumentation and control systems used in bioresource engineering. Hands-on development of data acquisition systems and learning strategies to process and interpret the signal obtained constitute the majority of the course.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- 3 lecture hours and one 2-hour lab per week during Fall term every year
- Prerequisites: BREE 252 and BREE 312 or equivalents.
- Terms
- Instructors
- Viacheslav Adamchuk, Shangpeng Sun
-
BREE 518
Ecological Engineering
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: Concepts and practice of ecological engineering: the planned creation or management of a community of organisms, their nonliving surroundings, and technological components to provide services. Survey of applications such as constructed wetlands, aquatic production systems, green infrastructure for urban storm water management, environmental restoration. Taught cooperatively with a parallel course at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Online collaboration with an interdisciplinary, international team is an important component of the course.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- One 3-hour lecture per week.
-
BREE 520
Food, Fibre and Fuel Elements
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: Analysis and design incorporating the four elements required by organisms and biomass for food, fibre and fuel production (air, earth, energy, and water). Special emphasis will be placed on the demands and requirements of engineering systems to control these elements and allow optimal growth in semi-controlled and completely controlled environments.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2024 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year
-
BREE 529
GIS for Natural Resource Mgmt
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: Applications of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and spatial analysis techniques to the presentation and analysis of ecological information, including sources and capture of spatial data; characterizing, transforming, displaying spatial data; and spatial analysis to solve resource management problems.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- Prerequisite(s): At least one environmental science course and one ecology course or permission of instructor
- Restriction(s): U2 students and above. Not open to students who have taken GEOG 201, GEOG 306, GEOG 307, ENVB/BREE 430, or ENVB 529. Limited to 32 students.
- Fall
- Terms
- Instructors
- Viacheslav Adamchuk, Jeffrey A Cardille
-
BREE 531
Post-Harvest Drying
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: Heat and moisture transfer with respect to drying of agricultural commodities; techniques of enhancement of heat and mass transfer; drying efficiency and scale-up problems.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- Restriction: Open to U3 students or above.
- This course carries an additional course charge for field trips.
- This course carries an additional course charge of $47.34 to cover transportation costs for two field trips which may include at least two visits to distinctly different drying facilities in the field.
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2024 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year
-
BREE 532
Post-Harvest Storage
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: Active, semi-passive and passive storage systems; environmental control systems; post-harvest physiology and pathogenicity; quality assessment and control methodology; economic aspects of long-term storage.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- This course carries an additional course charge for field trips.
- Restriction: Open to U3 students or above.
- This course carries an additional charge of $49.87 to cover the cost of transportation (bus rental) for local field trips. The fee is refundable only during the withdrawal with full refund period.
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2024 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year
3. Bio-Environmental Engineering Stream
Students who specialize in the Bio-Environmental Engineering Stream will learn to be responsible stewards of the environment and natural resources. This stream includes the study of soil and water quality management and conservation, organic waste treatment, urban and rural ecology, sustainability engineering, biodiversity preservation, climate change adaptation, and many other related topics.
Students wishing to specialize in this stream should take the following five complementary set D courses.
-
BREE 214
Geomatics
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: The communicative skills of surveying. The fundamentals of surveying through the application of reasoning, tools, techniques, and instruments. Practices in use of basic surveying equipment including steel tape, level, and theodolite. The use and operation of Total Stations. The procedures and methods for the measurement of distances, elevations, angles and positions. Basic surveying calculations, including traverse adjustments.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- Two lectures and one 3-hour lab per week.
- Terms
- Instructors
- Zhiming Qi, Jaskaran Dhiman
-
BREE 217
Hydrology and Water Resources
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: Introduction to water resources and hydrologic cycle. Precipitation and hydrologic frequency analysis. Soil water processes, infiltration theory and modeling. Evapotranspiration estimation methods and crop water requirements. Surface runoff estimation as a function of land use modifications. Estimation of peak runoff rates. Unit hydrograph. Design of open channels and vegetated waterways.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- Three lectures, one 2-hour lab per week.
- This course carries an additional course charge for field trips.
- This course carries an additional course charge of $19.43 to cover transportation costs for two field trips, which may include a visit to a national weather station and a trip to gain hands-on experience on monitoring water flow in streams.
-
BREE 315
Course not available
-
BREE 322
Organic Waste Management
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: An introduction to engineering aspects of handling, storage and treatment of all biological and food industry wastes. Design criteria will be elaborated and related to characteristics of wastes. Physical, chemical and biological treatment systems.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- 2 lectures and one 2-hour lab
- Restriction: Not open to students who have taken ABEN 322.
- A fee of $24.34 is charged to support a field trip to local waste management facilities for guided tour and information-gathering for a course assignment as well as some laboratory supplies for hands-on composting and/or anaerobic digestion lab.
-
BREE 416
Eng for Land Development
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: Engineering aspects of land stewardship and water resource conservation, including: introduction to the hydrologic cycle and agricultural water use; computation of soil loss by water erosion; conservation farming practices; reservoirs and embankments; water and sediment control structures; stream restoration and water supply; wetlands and wetland design; irrigation principles and design; pumps and pumping; introduction to drainage and water table management.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- Prerequisite: BREE 217
- 3 lectures and one 2-hour lab per week or design problems.
- The passing grade for the prerequisite (BREE 217) is B-.
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2024 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year
The six remaining complementary set D courses should be chosen from the following list.
-
BREE 501
Simulation and Modelling
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: Philosophical and mathematical principles of computational modelling and simulation: Concepts of verification, parameterization, validation, and sensitivity analysis. Introduction to basic concepts of finite element modelling: Direct stiffness and weighted residual methods. Introduction to software packages for general systems and multiphysics, finite-element-based modeling. Emphasis on biosystems engineering applications, e.g., ecosystem dynamics, material properties, solid and structural mechanics, heat transfer, fluid dynamics, electrical and machinery systems.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- Prerequisite: BREE 252; AEMA 305; or permission of instructor.
- Restrictions: U3 students and above
- Terms
- Instructors
- Jaskaran Dhiman, Shangpeng Sun
-
BREE 504
Instrumentation and Controls
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: An overview of instrumentation and control systems used in bioresource engineering. Hands-on development of data acquisition systems and learning strategies to process and interpret the signal obtained constitute the majority of the course.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- 3 lecture hours and one 2-hour lab per week during Fall term every year
- Prerequisites: BREE 252 and BREE 312 or equivalents.
- Terms
- Instructors
- Viacheslav Adamchuk, Shangpeng Sun
-
BREE 509
Hydrologic Systems & Modelling
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: Hydrologic cycle in the nature and how to quantitatively describe those processes using models. The fundamentals of hydrology including basic concepts, precipitation, snow and snowmelt, evapotranspiration, subsurface flow, infiltration and soil water movement, and runoff and streamflow. Equivalent attention to theories and hands-on practices on model application. How to set up and execute weather data driven physical based models, both at a point-scale and a watershed scale, to predict snowmelt, evapotranspiration, infiltration, soil water redistribution, subsurface drainage, runoff, and stream flow in hydrologic systems.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- 3 hour lectures
- Prerequisite: BREE 217 or equivalent.
-
BREE 510
Watershed Systems Management
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: A holistic examination of methods in watershed management with a focus on integrated water resources management (IWRM). Topics include: integration, participatory management, water resources assessment, modeling, planning, adaptive management, transboundary management, and transition management.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- (3-2-4)
- Restrictions: U3 students or above.
- Note: Case studies and a project.
-
BREE 518
Ecological Engineering
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: Concepts and practice of ecological engineering: the planned creation or management of a community of organisms, their nonliving surroundings, and technological components to provide services. Survey of applications such as constructed wetlands, aquatic production systems, green infrastructure for urban storm water management, environmental restoration. Taught cooperatively with a parallel course at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Online collaboration with an interdisciplinary, international team is an important component of the course.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- One 3-hour lecture per week.
-
BREE 529
GIS for Natural Resource Mgmt
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: Applications of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and spatial analysis techniques to the presentation and analysis of ecological information, including sources and capture of spatial data; characterizing, transforming, displaying spatial data; and spatial analysis to solve resource management problems.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- Prerequisite(s): At least one environmental science course and one ecology course or permission of instructor
- Restriction(s): U2 students and above. Not open to students who have taken GEOG 201, GEOG 306, GEOG 307, ENVB/BREE 430, or ENVB 529. Limited to 32 students.
- Fall
- Terms
- Instructors
- Viacheslav Adamchuk, Jeffrey A Cardille
-
BREE 533
Water Quality Management
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioresource Engineering: The water phases of terrestrial ecological systems and the processes that link them. Physical, chemical, and biological properties of water, and water quality standards. The fate and transport of pollutants in rivers and streams, lakes, and wetlands. Methods to quantify soil carbon and nitrogen cycle to predict nutrient leaching. Impacts of human activities (e.g., agricultural drainage) on water quality and measures to improve drainage water quality. Assess the effectiveness of proposed engineering measures or management practices in improving or maintaining water quality of a real site/water body using numerical methods or a computer modelling approach.
Offered by: Bioresource Engineering
- Restriction: Not open to students who have taken BREE 625 (formerly ABEN 625).
- Management of water quality for sustainability. Cause of soil degradation, surface and groundwater contamination by agricultural chemicals and toxic pollutants. Screening and mechanistic models. Human health and safety concerns. Water table management. Soil and water conservation techniques will be examined with an emphasis on methods of prediction and best management practices.
- This course carries an additional charge of $37.68 to cover the cost of transportation with respect to a field trip. The fee is refundable only during the withdrawal with full refund period.
Minors