Carl and Melinda Helwig Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering
Welcome
The K-State Carl and Melinda Helwig Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering is unique. Our mission, to advance the knowledge and application of engineering and technology to living systems, agriculture and the environment, guides us as we serve our students, our communities and the world.
Our department is small enough to care, and our people are big enough to make a difference.
We hope you will explore our website to learn more about us, our programs and how we bring solutions to life.
Top news and stories
- K-State TAPS program helps producers test new approaches to water and farm management
Kent Higerd is running an irrigation experiment on his farm that grew out of what he learned through Testing Ag Performance Solutions, better known as TAPS. This season, Higerd divided a center-pivot irrigated field into different water treatments to see how much irrigation he could reduce without sacrificing the crop. The combine will provide the final comparison, but late in the growing season, he said his agronomist was already having difficulty seeing much difference in the corn.
- Making plant stress visible: Kelechi Igwe is using drones, machine learning to map crop stress
A field of crops can appear green and thriving, while internally, they're already under stress. Prolonged periods of stress can affect productivity, sometimes long before a farmer realizes there's a problem. Igwe's research addresses a simple question: How can we detect crop stress, early enough to act, before it becomes too late?
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Turning K-State research into real-world solutions
As part of One K-State Research Week 2026, the university is recognizing inventors who received patents and plant variety protection certificates in 2024 and 2025. This week’s 2026 Inventors and Breeders Ceremony celebrated 36 inventors and breeders who are leading K-State innovations in new varieties of wheat, graphene and carbon nanomaterials, agricultural engineering, entomology, animal health and many other disciplines.