Spokane Report Back: ASABE AIM 2017

Last month I attended ASABE’s Annual International Meeting in Spokane, WA. Along with hundreds of students, researchers, and experts, I had the opportunity to catch up with colleagues from around the country and see some of the latest research in ag & bio engineering topics.

ABE and the Future

One of the themes of AIM was what role engineers might play in ensuring a sustainable future for an ever-expanding population and its food, water and energy requirements. World Food Prize Foundation President, and keynote speaker, Dr. Kenneth M. Quinn addressed the concern at length. 

Infrastructure is critical to reducing suffering. "Where the road ends,
poverty and malnutrition begins" --Amb Kenneth Quinn #ASABEaim17 pic.twitter.com/Tte2wGt3vy

— ASABE.org (@ASABEorg) July 17, 2017

And later a distinguished panel on Opportunities in the Food/Water/Energy Nexus got into specifics about research, policy and collaboration. 

Food-Energy-Water Nexus panel talking food security to a packed house #ASABEaim17 pic.twitter.com/WUqpG9dMM6

— Miles Medina (@MilesDMedina) July 17, 2017

There were hundreds of additional presentations at AIM. Peruse the library of technical papers presented at AIM here.

Accolades for UF

UF ABE was a presence at both the student awards breakfast and the awards luncheon at AIM. Dr. Michael Dukes was formally inducted as an ASABE Fellow. In addition, Dr. Kati Migliaccio was named the G.B. Gunlogson Countryside Engineering Award recipient for 2017. 

Congratulations again to the 2017 Class of ASABE Fellows! #ASABEaim17 pic.twitter.com/Vppj1FSXpr

— UF/IFAS IrriGator (@IrriGatorUF) July 18, 2017

Among the students, Biomass Conversion PhD candidate Joe Sagues took first place in the Boyd-Scott Graduate Research Competition. And in the robotics design competition the AggreGators surprised everyone with a 4^th place finish among 13 teams.

Stay Tuned

Speaking of robotics, my role at AIM involved both social media and digital media work. Watch for short videos summarizing the student robotics and fountain wars design competitions in the months ahead. 

Back on the boards for some post-competition stick pummeling @ #ASABEaim17! pic.twitter.com/73g0HGij0j

— UF/IFAS IrriGator (@IrriGatorUF) July 18, 2017