Agricultural Engineering

• Bachelor of Engineering (Agricultural)

What is agricultural engineering?

USQ’s agricultural engineering programs prepare you to find solutions to problems related to the sustainable production of agriculture, the environmental impacts of intensive agriculture, and the post-harvest handling of agricultural and other primary products. You might:

• design a machine to peel and slice a mango
• predict the odour emanating from a feedlot
• eliminate road dust from a cattle trailer
• remotely guide a tractor along a set path
• use weather forecasts to manage the harvest of a cereal crop
• devise a computer model of a mobile irrigation machine
• control the respiration rate of a stored apple
• assess the environmental impact of a piggery development.

Career opportunities

You will have many career opportunities in the areas of research, design, development and management. You could work in private industry or a consulting firm or you could work in the public sector, with state government water supply, agriculture, forestry, soil conservation and environment protection agencies. There are also many career opportunities overseas in developed and underdeveloped nations.

The wide range of employment areas open to agricultural engineers include:

• agricultural hydrology - irrigation, drainage, salinisation, micrometeorology
• agricultural machinery - tractors, tillage, seeding and harvesting equipment, spray technology, machinery
• terramechanics - traction, tillage, soil compaction
• environmental management - soil conservation, environmental impact assessment, catchment management, agricultural waste disposal
• controlled environments - intensively housed livestock, greenhouses, nurseries
• post-harvest technology - grading, processing, packaging, storage, handling and transport of produce
• electronics and instrumentation - computer, robotics and measurement applications.

Research opportunities

USQ is the centre of agricultural engineering in Australia, offering a solid and practical education which is highly respected by employers. USQ is the only institution in Australia which offers a degree specialising in agricultural engineering. It also offers higher degrees by research in this field at Masters and Doctoral levels.

In addition, we are home to the National Centre for Engineering in Agriculture (NCEA), a joint venture between USQ and the Queensland Government Natural Resources, Mines and Water (NRM&W). The advanced research and development being undertaken at the NCEA provides you with access to the highest level of expertise available.