Biological & Agricultural Engineering (Graduate Program)

For information regarding the UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM, click here.   

Program Overview

Established in 1921, Biological & agricultural engineering integrates applied biology into the fundamental principles of engineering for the purpose of designing processes and systems that influence, control, or utilize biological materials and organisms for the benefit of society. The discipline applies the principles of analysis, synthesis, and design to physical problems and processing systems associated with plants, animals, and humans, and their environments.

Biological and agricultural engineering is based on the basic sciences of mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology. These are integrated with the engineering sciences of statics, dynamics, strength of materials, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, and electricity. Students can pursue more specialized interests through technical electives in biomedical, biomechanical, bioenvironmental, and bioprocess engineering.

Current areas of research include molecular and cellular engineering, nano-bioengineering, bio-mechanics, by-products utilization and value added processing, biological waste management, environmental resources protection and reclamation, bioenergy, food processing and preservation, simulation of biological and agricultural systems, drainage, irrigation, erosion control systems, climatology, biomechanics, remote sensing applied to precision agriculture.

Administration

Admission

Applications and supporting materials for all graduate study must be submitted through the online application site for the LSU Graduate School. Official transcripts, official test scores, and other materials that come from third-party sources must be mailed to: Graduate Student Services, 114 West David Boyd Hall, Baton Rouge, LA 70803. These paper documents are stored electronically and departments have access to all materials submitted by and/or on behalf of a student applying to graduate study.

Applications for admission are received and evaluated by the department (with March 1 being the normal deadline for fall admissions). Applicants must adhere to the application deadlines established by the Graduate School.

Students seeking admission must submit satisfactory credentials from previous study, acceptable GRE scores, and three letters of recommendation. International students whose native language is not English must also submit an acceptable TOEFL, IELTS, or PTE score.

Financial Assistance

Financial assistance is available to some students. Support may be available through the department or other units in the form of research or teaching assistantships. A student should contact the department for more information on available assistantship positions. To ensure consideration for financial aid, all application materials should be submitted in accordance with deadlines, normally by March 1 for fall and by October 1 for spring and the deadlines established by the LSU Graduate School.

Graduate Faculty

(check current faculty listings by department here)

Daira Aragon Mena (6A) • Sugar process and biomass engineering
Carlos Ernesto Astete (3F) • Nanotechnology; bioactivities delivery systems and bioprocessing
Richard L. Bengtson (EM) • Water pollution, soil erosion, hydrologic modeling
Dorin Boldor (M) • Food process engineering and bioenergy
David Constant (M) • Transport and fate of hazardous substances, environmental engineering; bioremediation 
Stacia L. Davis (3F)• Irrigation water management
Franz Stefan Ehrenhauser (6A) • Sugar technology, novel materials; biofuels; biobased chemicals 
Steven G. Hall (M) • Aquacultural, ecological and coastal bioengineering, environmental bioethics
Daniel Hayes (M) • Nanomaterial and nanoscale influence
Jangwook Jung (6A) • Engineering biomaterials for tissue regeneration, stem cell bioengineering
Thomas B. Lawson (EM) • Aquaculture systems, bioenvironmental engineering
Marybeth Lima (M) • Bioprocessing engineering, value-added processing
Elizabeth Carol Martin (6A) • Biomedical Research
W. Todd Monroe (M) • Molecular and cellular engineering
Randy R. Price (3F) • Developing innovative programs in precision application technologies and mitigating off-target pesticide drift
Cristina M. Sabliov (M) • Bioprocessing, separation methods, FEA modeling
Chandra S. Theegala (M) • By-product utilization, bioenergy, wastewater treatment, biosensing

Faculty in other departments:

Giovanna Aita (M) • Biomass conversion, antimicrobials for food, characterization of antimicrobial resistant bacteria
Subramaniam Sathivel (M) • Food engineering with emphasis on design and development of food processing unit operations; preservation and packaging of foods (coatings, edible films, microencapsulation); thermal, rheological, and functional properties of ingredients and foods; development of nonfood materials from biological wastes including biodiesel
Louis Thibodeaux (M) • Chemodynamics, hazardous waste transport

(See departmental website for latest listing.)

Programs

• Biological Engineering, PhD
• Engineering Science, Ph.D.

• Biological & Agricultural Engineering, M.S.BAE