Applied Biological Systems Technology

(College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences)

Faculty. See under Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering.

Minor Program. The Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering offers a minor in Applied Biological Systems Technology for non-engineering students interested in becoming familiar with engineering terminology and procedures. Course work provides knowledge of material properties, design procedures, fabrication principles, and hardware practices.

Minor Program Requirements:

Minor Advisor. R.H. Piedrahita.

Courses in Applied Biological Systems Technology (ABT)

*Course not offered this academic year.

General Education (GE) credit: ArtHum = Arts and Humanities; SciEng = Science and Engineering; SocSci = Social Sciences; Div = Social-Cultural Diversity; Wrt = Writing Experience. Select this link to information on the General Education requirement.

Lower Division Courses

15. Wood Properties and Fabrication (2) III. Grismer

Lecture--1 hour; laboratory--3 hours. Physical principles and properties of wood as related to strength, design procedures, and selection and use of woodworking equipment. Experience in working with wood. (P/NP grading only.)

16. Metal Properties and Fabrication (2) I. J. Rumsey

Lecture--1 hour; laboratory--3 hours. Study of metal properties and of techniques for fabricating in metal. Physical principles, design considerations, effects of techniques on quality and appearance, and evaluation procedures. Experience in working with metal. (P/NP grading only.)

17. Plastic Properties and Fabrication (2) III. Jenkins

Lecture--1 hour; laboratory--3 hours. Study of the properties of plastic materials and the fundamentals of fabrication techniques. Experience in working with common plastics, with applications to biological systems. (P/NP grading only.)

49. Field Equipment Operation (2) I, III. J. Rumsey

Lecture--1 hour; laboratory--3 hours. Operation, adjustment, and troubleshooting of farm tractors and field equipment. Principles of operation, equipment terminology and uses of tilling, cultivating, thinning, and planting equipment. Typical sequences in cropping practices. (P/NP grading only.)

52. Field Equipment Welding (2) II. Rumsey

Lecture--1 hour; laboratory--3 hours. Prerequisite: course 16 or consent of instructor. Intermediate welding to include hardfacing and inert gas welding. Class projects on repair and fabrication by welding. Troubleshooting and major repair of field equipment. (P/NP grading only.)

98. Directed Group Study (1-5) I, II, III. The Staff (Hills in charge)

Prerequisite: consent of instructor. (P/NP grading only.)

99. Special Study for Lower Division Students (1-5) I, II, III. The Staff (Hills in charge)

(P/NP grading only.)

Upper Division Courses

101. Engine Technology (3) II. Rumsey

Lecture--2 hours; laboratory--3 hours. Prerequisite: upper division standing or consent of instructor. Principles of 2-stroke cycle, 4-stroke cycle gasoline and 4-stroke cycle diesel engine construction and operation. Engine systems, performance, troubleshooting, and overhaul.

103. Electric Power Applications (3) III. The Staff

Lecture--2 hours; laboratory--3 hours. Prerequisite: Physics 1B or 5B. Principles of electric power involved in common home and light industrial applications; experience in techniques of wiring, motor and appliance selection, energy conservation and safety.

110L. Experiments in Food Engineering (2) II. Singh

Laboratory--6 hours. Prerequisite: Food Science and Technology 110B (may be taken concurrently). Use of temperature sensors; measurement of thermal conductivity and heat transfer in foods; refrigeration, freezing, concentration and dehydration of foods.

121. Animal Housing and Environment Management (2) II. Zhang

Lecture--2 hours. Prerequisite: Animal Science 1 or 2. Optimal structures and environments for animal growth and comfort; heat and moisture transfer principles; heating, cooling, ventilating principles and equipment; animal housing design; environmental regulations and waste management practices. Offered in alternate years.

134. Pest Control Practices (2) II. Giles

Lecture--2 hours. Prerequisite: Botany 120 or Entomology 100 or Environmental Toxicology 101 or Plant Pathology 125 or the equivalent. Physical aspects of agricultural pest control. Mechanical systems for safe and effective application of pest control materials. Biological, legal and environmental considerations of pest control and pesticide application.

142. Equipment and Technology for Small Farms (2) III. J. Rumsey, Plant

Lecture--1 hour; laboratory--3 hours. Types and characteristics of agricultural equipment and technologies appropriate for small commercial farming. Adjustment and calibration of equipment. Selection of and budgeting for equipment. (Same course as International Agricultural Development 142.)

145. Field Equipment Technology (2) III. J. Rumsey

Lecture--1 hour; laboratory--3 hours. Prerequisite: upper division standing and Physics 1A or 5A. Function, construction, and operating principles of field equipment for harvesting fruit, nut, vegetable, and field crops. Principles of operation and construction of hydraulic systems. Function and application of pumps, motors, and valves for controlling field equipment.

147. Field Equipment Management (2) I, II, III. J. Rumsey

Lecture--2 hours. Prerequisite: course 49 (may be taken concurrently) or consent of instructor. Fundamentals of field machinery management to include machinery capacity, selection from capacity and economic standpoints, scheduling, acquisition options,
and trade-in considerations. Estimation of operating costs of field machinery.

*161. Water Quality Management for Aquaculture (3) II. Piedrahita

Lecture--3 hours. Prerequisite: Biological Sciences 1B, Mathematics 16B, Chemistry 2B. Basic principles of water chemistry and water treatment processes as they relate to aquacultural systems. Offered in alternate years.

*163. Aquaculture Systems Engineering (3) III. Piedrahita

Lecture--3 hours. Prerequisite: course 161. Design of aquacultural systems: design methodology, principles of fluid mechanics, site selection and facility planning, management operations, computer modeling. Offered in alternate years.

165. Irrigation Practices for an Urban Environment (2) III. Hills

Lecture--2 hours. Prerequisite: Physics 1A or 5A. Basic design, installation, and operation principles of irrigation systems for turf and landscape: golf courses, parks, highways, public buildings, etc. Emphasis on hardware association with sprinkler and drip/trickle systems.

170. Design in Biological Systems Technology (3) II. Miles, Steinke

Lecture--2 hours; laboratory--3 hours. Prerequisite: Physics 1A or 5A and course 15, 16, or 17. Introduction and application of design procedures and tools. Techniques are presented for solving design problems and selecting appropriate materials. Catalog and handbook utilization, government safety regulations, and environmental considerations are discussed.

175. Introduction to Precision Agriculture (3) I. Upadhyaya

Lecture--2 hours; laboratory/discussion--3 hours. Prerequisite: Agricultural Systems and Environment 21 or the equivalent computer experience. Concepts of precision agriculture. Variability in yield, yield monitors and mapping, remote sensing, variability in plant and soil conditions, global positioning system (GPS), geographic information system (GIS), sensors and actuators, map controlled variable rate application (VRT), socio-economic aspects of precision agriculture.

180. Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (5) I. Plant, Wallender

Lecture--2 hours; laboratory/discussion--6 hours. Prerequisite: Agricultural Systems and Environment 21; Mathematics 16A-16B, and Statistics 13, or the equivalents. Management and analysis of georeferenced data. Spatial database management and modeling. Applications of agriculture and biological resource management. Cartographic modeling. Vector-based geographic information system.

181. Geographic Information Systems Modeling (5) II. Wallender

Lecture--2 hours; laboratory--9 hours. Prerequisite: course 180. Advanced topics in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), such as raster-based GIS (GRID), triangular irregular network (TIN), and networks. Use of GIS ARC/INFO for remote sensing and modeling of environmental terrain, transportation, hydrology, and site specific crop management.

182. Environmental Analysis with Geographical Information Systems (GIS) (5) III. M. Zhang

Lecture--2 hours; laboratory/discussion--6 hours. Prerequisite: course 180; course 181 recommended. Ecosystem and landscape modeling with emphasis on hydrology and solute transport. Spatial analysis of environmental risk analysis including ecological risk assessment. Precision farming. Natural resource management. Spatial database structures. Remote sensing applications. Data quality and error analysis in GIS. (Same course as Hydrologic Science 182.)

190C. Research Conference for Advanced Undergraduates (1) I, II, III. The Staff

Discussion--1 hour. Prerequisite: consent of instructor. Research conferences for specialized study in applied biological systems technology. May be repeated for credit. (P/NP grading only.)

192. Internship in Applied Biological Systems Technology (1-5) I, II, III. The Staff (Hills in charge)

Internship--3-15 hours. Prerequisite: upper division standing; approval of project prior to period of internship. Supervised internship in applied biological systems technology. May be repeated for credit. (P/NP grading only.)

197T. Tutoring in Applied Biological Systems Technology (1-5) I, II, III. The Staff

Tutorial--1-5 hours. Prerequisite: upper division standing and consent of instructor. To provide teaching experience to upper division undergraduate students. Activities will vary depending on the nature of the course. May include (but not limited to) assistance in laboratory sessions, advising on projects, tutoring on course material, and grading of homework assignments. (P/NP grading only.)

198. Directed Group Study (1-5) I, II, III. The Staff (Hills in charge)

Prerequisite: consent of instructor. (P/NP grading only.)

199. Special Study for Advanced Undergraduates (1-5) I, II, III. The Staff (Hills in charge)

(P/NP grading only.)

Graduate Courses

233. Advanced Pest Control Practices (3) II. Giles

Lecture--2 hours; laboratory--3 hours. Prerequisite: introductory class in entomology, plant pathology, weed science or similar discipline. Practical and theoretical considerations of pest control systems and techniques. Design, selection and use of mechanical systems for field, orchard, greenhouse and vector control use. Biological, legal and environmental considerations in pest control and pesticide application.

280. Introduction to Scientific Visualization (2) I. Wallender, Joy, Hamann, Max

Lecture--1 hour; laboratory--3 hour. Prerequisite: one year of calculus; graduate standing. Visualization of scalar fields, isosurfaces, vector fields, terrain, and animations. Applications to chemistry, geology, physics, and environmental sciences. IBM's Visualization Data Explorer (DX) is the general purpose software package for data visualization and analysis.

290C. Graduate Research Conference

(1) I, II, III. The Staff

Discussion--1 hour. Prerequisite: consent of instructor. Research problems, progress, and techniques in applied biological systems technology. May be repeated for credit. (S/U grading only.)

298. Group Study (1-5) I, II, III. The Staff (Hills in charge)

299. Research (1-12) I, II, III. The Staff (Hills in charge)

(S/U grading only.)

Professional Course

317. Teaching Agricultural Mechanics (2) II. J. Rumsey

Lecture--1 hour; laboratory--3 hours. Prerequisite: a course in physics; 6 units related to agricultural mechanics; enrolled in Agricultural Education Teacher Credential Program. Preparation of the teacher to plan, organize, and conduct an agricultural mechanics program in secondary schools. Development of and presentation of lesson plans and teaching aids. Review of subject matter in metal fabrication, power and machinery and agricultural structures areas.

UC Davis 1999-2000 Online General Catalog. Posted July 30, 1999.
catalog-comment@ucdavis.edu
Molly Theodossy, Keitha Hunter and Barbara Anderson, Editors

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