College of Engineering News • Iowa State University

Five questions for agricultural engineering alumnus Bret Euken

Bret-EukenBret Euken graduated from Iowa State University in 2007 with a bachelor’s in agricultural engineering. He is currently a process water recovery supervisor for the Grain Processing Corporation (GPC) plant in Muscatine, Iowa.

Why did you choose ISU?

I knew I wanted to study engineering, and I knew that ISU had a great engineering school. Plus, I grew up on a farm and loved seeing and understanding how things worked. This naturally led me to study agricultural engineering.

What is your most memorable experience during your studies at ISU?

Any class I took with Dr. Steven Hoff (a professor in agricultural and biosystems engineering at ISU) was amazing! He brought so much enthusiasm to the classroom and provided real world problems to solve. I remember actually building a spreadsheet in our heat and mass transfer class to help us design a HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) system for a hog confinement building or home.

When did you first start working for Grain Processing Corporation (GPC)?

I first found them at the engineering career fair in the fall of 2006. I started working for GPC right out of college. I currently manage the process water recovery department, which entails keeping track of department budgets, supervising operations personnel in the department and managing the process water process.

What is the process water recovery department responsible for?

The process water recovery department is responsible for monitoring water quality going to the Mississippi river from the GPC Muscatine plant and operating the process water recovery water treatment facility.

Where do you apply your engineering background in the workplace?

As process water recovery supervisor, I use water balances daily in figuring out how best to divert flows to different equipment within the process water recovery water treatment facility. I also use engineering economics, physics, heat and mass transfer and unit conversions on a regular basis.

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