EXPERIENCE ·   Groundbreaking research that challenges the way our food, water, public health and energy needs are met ·   Newly renovated facilities -- including our new North Wing BEE Laboratories and NYS-funded Biofuels Research Laboratory ·   Real world applications

COLLABORATE ·   With renowned faculty, innovative industries, and international colleagues ·   Across disciplines in Cornell's unique research landscape ·   With some of the world's most elite students

DISTINGUISH YOURSELF ·   As a leader and innovator ·   With the Cornell name, network, and reputation

 

Professor Antje Baeumner Director of BEE Graduate Studies

This vital, rapidly growing field is where engineering practice meets quantitative biology, where engineers work toward practical, sustainable solutions to a wide variety of human health and environmental challenges.  Whether you study biofuels development, environmental agriculture, soil and water systems, or applied molecular bioengineering, as a BEE graduate student you will be part of a complex and fulfilling program, and highly sought after by employers, both in the public and private sectors.

BEE focuses on the challenges facing humanity:

·   Protecting the world’s natural resources, including water, soil, air, biodiversity, and  energy;

·   Developing engineering systems that monitor, replace, or intervene in the mechanisms of living organisms;

·   Ensuring an adequate and safe food supply in an era of expanding world population;

·   Focusing on sustainable systems.

Mike Walsh, BEE PhD Candidate, Ahner Lab, is featured in a the Cornell EZRA Magazine Article, Mike Walsh: Creating the new, transformed information exchange, a sidebar to the cover article, Aspirations, ambitions, ideas: Historic plan charts university's path to 2015 and beyond. [Summer 2010]

Jason Kahn, BEE PhD Candidate, Luo Lab, has been offered two prestigious fellowships, the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, and the US Department of Energy New Graduate Fellowship in Science, Mathematics and Engineering.  This is a great honor, and now he will have the difficult decision regarding which fellowship to accept.  Congratulations, Jason! [Spring 2010]

Christian Guzman, BEE PhD Candidate, Soil and Water Lab, has received an NSF Graduate Fellowship Award, an EPA STAR grant, and was also awarded a Fellowship with Cornell's CIIFAD IGERT, Food Systems and Poverty Reduction.  Congratulations, Christian! [Spring 2010]

Josephine Archibald, BEE PhD Candidate, Soil and Water Lab, has received a Council of Women World Leaders fellowship and will spend 10 weeks abroad working with the Ministry of the Environment in Helsinki, Finland.  Congratulations, Josephine! [Spring 2010]

Jiajie Yu, BEE PhD Candidate, March Lab, has co-authored a paper featured in Chemical & Engineering News, "Intestine replicas could breed smart gut bacteria". [March 2010]

Our graduate field applies engineering to living systems on a range of scales from molecules to whole organisms. 

Our discipline has progressed from the interface of engineering and living systems to the development of biological components and the design of systems with these biological components.

·   Using cells as sensors.

·   Engineering DNA to make nanobarcodes codes that identify specific biological and chemical elements.

·   Detoxifying metals in the environment with phytochelatins from plants and algae.

·   Designing microbial films to biodegrade man-made and toxic organics.

·   Using metabolic pathways in target organisms to enable novel biological function.

·   Converting plant material to bio-based products using complex “designer” enzymatic systems.

·   Redesigning biological systems for novel medical devices and drug delivery.

·   Using engineering analysis to develop predictive tools for design of biological, environmental and food products that provide improved efficiency, quality and safety.

The Cornell system of graduate education is unique in many respects.  The concepts of academic freedom and responsibility for one’s own program provide the foundation of the graduate experience.

The graduate program at Cornell permits an unusual degree of accommodation to the needs and interests of each student.

·    A close working relationship between the student and faculty members is essential to the graduate program at Cornell.

·    Under the Special Committee system, the student is guided by, and works with, at least two or three faculty members chosen by the student to represent his or her major and minor subjects.

·    The major subject representative is the chair of the Special Committee who usually has the primary responsibility for directing the student’s thesis or dissertation research.

Degree requirements are kept to a minimum. There are no specific course or credit requirements for the advanced degrees of Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy. The Master of Engineering and Master of Professional Studies have specific credit requirements determined by the faculty.

Thesis research can range from entirely theoretical to primarily experimental. The emphasis of graduate study at Cornell is a challenging and rewarding educational experience tailored to the needs and interests of each individual student. Biological and Environmental engineering researchers are actively incorporating cutting edge technology and science into their own research programs.

The number of graduate students in Biological and Environmental Engineering averages between fifty and sixty. Students come from a variety of undergraduate and graduate programs, including other fields of engineering, physics, applied mathematics, biological sciences and the physical sciences. Approximately half are enrolled in doctoral study, a third in the Master of Science program and the remaining in the Master of Engineering and Masters of Professional Studies programs.

Approximately a third of our graduate students are female and third are international students.The Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering focuses on four distinct programs:

• Biological Engineering
• Environmental Engineering
• Food and Bioprocessing Engineering
• Industrial Biotechnology

Administrative questions can be addressed to:
Brenda Marchewka, Student Services Coordinator, bls19@cornell.edu

Contact the faculty below if you have questions on a specific specialty:

GRADUATE FIELD FACULTY

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	Beth Ahner, Ph.D.   Associate Professor and   Associate Chair   View Profile and CV	202 Riley Robb   baa7@cornell.edu   607-255-3199
Biological indicators of environmental stresses, the toxicity and nutrition of trace metals, intercellular detoxification mechanisms in algae.
	Lou Albright, Ph.D.   Professor   View Profile and CV	304 Riley Robb   lda1@cornell.edu   607-255-2483   Web site
Greenhouses and agricultural buildings, energy management, simulation and control of aerial environments, air distribution, indoor air quality.
	Lindsay Anderson, Ph.D.   Adjunct Assistant Professor   View Profile and CV	320 Riley Robb   cla28@cornell.edu   607-255-4533
Renewable energy, energy markets, systems modeling, simulation.
	Daniel Aneshansley, Ph.D.   Professor and Chair   View Profile and CV	104 Riley Robb   dja4@cornell.edu   607-255-2270
Electronic instrumentation applied to inspection of agricultural products, improvements in milking systems and to planting and harvesting biomass. Mathematical modeling of cellular transport and biomimetic studies in insects.
	Lars Angenent, Ph.D.   Associate Professor   View Profile and CV	214 Riley Robb   la249@cornell.edu   607-255-2480   Web site
Bioenergy and Biofuels, digesters, microbial fuel cells
	Antje Baeumner, Ph.D.   Professor and   Grad Program Director   View Profile and CV	318 Riley Robb    ajb23@cornell.edu    607-255-5433    Web site
Analytical biotechnology, biosensors, micro Total Analysis Systems, integration of biological and engineering principles in micro-devices, detection of pathogenic organisms, environmental pollutants, bioprocess control.
	James Bartsch, Ph. D.   Associate Professor   View Profile and CV	314 Riley Robb   jab35@cornell.edu    607-255-2800
Postharvest storage systems for horticultural and cereal crops, properties of food and biological materials, international agricultural engineering.
	Wilfried Brutsaert, Ph. D.   Professor   View Profile and CV
Hydrology, hydraulics, fluid mechanics.
	Ashim Datta, Ph.D.   Professor   View Profile and CV	208 Riley Robb   akd1@cornell.edu   607-255-2482   Web site
Heat and mass transfer in food and biological systems, electromagnetics of microwave heating, moisture transport in microwave heating, thermal fracture in rapid freezing.
	Kifle Gebremedhin, Ph.D.   Professor   View Profile and CV	322 Riley Robb   kgg1@cornell.edu   607-255-2499
Structural mechanics, testing and modeling of structural systems, structural materials, animal housing systems, modeling of animal-environment interactions.
	Doug Haith, Ph.D.   Professor   View Profile and CV	308 Riley Robb   dah13@cornell.edu   607-255-2802
Environmental systems analysis, solid waste management, water resources.
	Peter Hess   Associate Professor   View Profile and CV	312 Riley Robb   pgh25@cornell.edu   607-255-2495   Web site
Climate-chemistry, atmospheric modeling
	Jean Hunter, D.Eng.Sci   Associate Professor   View Profile and CV	218 Riley Robb   jbh5@cornell.edu   607-255-2297
Bioprocess engineering, fermentation and enzyme technology, bioseparations, food engineering.
	Lynne Irwin, Ph.D.   Associate Professor   View Profile and CV	422 Riley Robb   lhi1@cornell.edu   607-255-2805   Web site
Highway engineering, highway materials characterization, structural evaluation of pavements, pavement management systems, technical assistance for NYS local highway departments vio Cooperative Extension through the Cornell Local Roads Program.
	Dan Luo, Ph.D.   Associate Professor   View Profile and CV	226 Riley Robb   dl79@cornell.edu   607-255-8193   Web site
Molecular bioengineering, nucleic acid engineering (molecular level), intracellular delivery (cell level), nanofabrication-based delivery devices (micro/nano level), computer simulation (including Monte Carlo and Molecular Dynamics).
	John March, Ph.D.   Assistant Professor   View Profile and CV	220 Riley Robb   jcm224@cornell.edu   607-254-5471   Web site
Signal transduction, metabolic engineering, cellular communication, eukaryotic-prokaryotic interactions and synthetic biology.
	Richard Rand, Ph. D.   Professor   View Profile and CV
Biomechanics, theoretical and applied mechanics, dynamical systems.
	Brian Richards, Ph.D.   Senior Research Associate   View Profile and CV	162 Riley Robb   bkr2@cornell.edu   607-255-2480   Web site
Soil-oriented aspects of soil and water engineering.
	Andy Ruina, Ph. D.   Professor   View Profile and CV
Mechanical models involving motion deformation or slip, applications have included deformation of fruit and vegetable cells and the mechanics of plowing.
	Norm Scott, Ph.D.   Professor   View Profile and CV	216 Riley Robb    nrs5@cornell.edu   607-255-4473   Web site
Sustainable development which combines energy, environmental, industrial, and agricultural knowledge and innovation.
	Xiling Shen, Ph. D.   Assistant Professor   View Profile and CV
	Christine Shoemaker, Ph. D.   Professor   View Profile and CV
Water resources systems, mathematical ecology.
	Roger Spanswick, Ph.D.   Professor   View Profile and CV	316 Riley Robb   rms6@cornell.edu   607-351-2813   Web site
Membrane transport in plants, metabolic engineering of oil accumulation in B. napus seeds as a feedstock for biodiesel, transport of heavy metals, phytoremediation.
	Tammo Steenhuis, Ph.D.   Professor   View Profile and CV	206 Riley Robb   tss1@cornell.edu   607-255-2489   Web site
Soil and water engineering, water management, watershed hydrology, groundwater quality engineering, international agriculture.
	Mike Timmons, Ph.D.   Professor   View Profile and CV	302 Riley Robb   mbt3@cornell.edu   607-255-1630   Web site
Aquacultural engineering, environmental control, ventilation, animal energetics.
	Larry Walker, Ph.D.   Professor   View Profile and CV	232 Riley Robb   lpw1@cornell.edu   607-255-2478   Web site
Bioprocess modeling, experimentation, and synthesis with a focus on renewable resources and waste utilization.
	Michael Walter, Ph.D.   Professor and UG Program Director   View Profile and CV	207 Riley Robb   mfw2@cornell.edu   607-255-3161
Water resources, tropical water management, small-watershed hydrology, drainage.
	Todd Walter, Ph.D.   Associate Professor   View Profile and CV	222 Riley Robb   mtw5@cornell.edu   607-255-2488   Web site
Hydrology, hydrological interactions with ecosystems, biogeochemistry, and microbial ecology, environmental biophysics, cold-region hydrology, surficial transport processes, vadose zone dynamics, water quality assessment and protection, water resources engineering.
	Mingming Wu, Ph.D.   Adjunct Associate Professor   View Profile and CV	306 Riley Robb   mw272@cornell.edu   607-255-9410   Web site
Nano/microscale biotechnology, dynamic imaging, cellular engineering for both health industry and environment