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Announcing new promotions to agricultural and biosystems engineering faculty

Author: Sarah Hays

Peschel and Ramirez posing for a photo

Tenure

The Board of Regents, State of Iowa have awarded tenure and promoted to the rank of associate professors Joshua Peschel and Brett Ramirez, in the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering at Iowa State University.

“Peschel and Ramirez have each made significant, nationally recognized contributions as evidenced by their scholarship, teaching, and service to our profession and the Iowa State community,” said ABE Department Chair and Professor Amy Kaleita. “Both have excelled in all aspects of their work, and we are very fortunate to have them as members of our faculty.”

Peschel headshot

Joshua Peschel has established a recognized research and teaching program which has advanced robot-assisted sensing and developed new computational ways to extract meaningful information from visual data to improve human decision-making for agricultural infrastructure. He was named as a Black & Veatch Building a World of Difference Faculty Fellow by the College of Engineering and recognized at the University-level with a Teaching Innovation Award. His research program has been supported by the National Science Foundation, U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Defense and Energy, and several commodity groups and private industry partners. Peschel joined ABE in 2017 after having been a faculty member at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He earned a PhD in Computer Science, MS in Biological and Agricultural Engineering, and BS in Biological Systems Engineering, all from Texas A&M University.

Brett headshot

Brett Ramirez leads an integrated research and extension program that generates and shares science-based information following engineering principles to guide the design and management of controlled environments for livestock and poultry production systems. He was recently awarded the CALS Early Achievement in Research Award and was part of the team that won the Extension and Outreach Excellence in Research-Based Programming Award. His integrated program has been supported by U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) as well as national and local commodity groups, state agencies, and private industry partners. Ramirez started in ABE in 2018 after completing his PhD at Iowa State. He earned an MS and BS in Agricultural and Biological Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Professor

Kurt headshot

Kurt Rosentrater has been promoted from associate to full professor in ABE. Rosentrater teaches courses in the area of Biological and Process Engineering and Technology. In particular, he teaches ABE 469/569, Grain Storage, Handling, Preservation, and Processing, as well as ABE 480/580, Engineering Analysis of Biological Systems. He is actively pursuing research to improve the sustainability of biofuel, grain, feed, food and agricultural-based systems.

Term Advancement Track

Two faculty in ABE have been promoted from the Promotion, Tenure, and Review Committee on the term advancement track. Steve Bell has been promoted to Teaching Professor, and David Eisenmann promoted to Associate Teaching Professor.

“ABE is fortunate to have dedicated and excellent faculty like professors Bell and Eisenmann! They are passionate about giving students access to the best education and hands-on experiences, and bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to their classes,” Kaleita said.

Steve Bell Headshot

Steve Bell has more than thirty years of industry experience in commercial and industrial construction and development. He has held a number of positions with construction firms building for multiple sectors including manufacturing, office, hotel, retail, governmental, food, fuel and feed processing. His consulting experience is deployed in the field of organizational development. Bell holds a BS in Construction Engineering from Iowa State University and an MS in Construction Management from Texas A&M University.

David headshot

David Eisenmann holds bachelor’s degrees in agriculture, secondary education, and materials engineering, a master’s degree in secondary education, and a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering. He conducts research in the areas of ground penetrating radar, eddy current, magnetic particle inspection, fluorescent penetrant inspection, phaseed array utrasound (PAUT), soil compaction and metallurgy. In addition to his primary research areas, his work also includes sample fabrication and materials characterization through various methodologies to include optical and electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, laser and optical profilometry, and standard metallurgy techniques. His Ph.D. research focused on the effects of alloying elements on the fatigue properties of nodular cast iron at high temperature.

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