Grants and Journal Publications
Czarena Crofcheck, Ph.D., P.E., received funding of $50,000 from Sinopec Petroleum Engineering Corporation to further her research on “Screening and Evaluation of Oilfield Sewage-proof Microalgae.” “A correlation-based optical flowmeter for enclosed flows” by Joseph Dvorak, Ph.D., was published December 2013 by Transactions of the ASABE. Naiqian Zhang (Kansas State University), first author, and Yali Zhang (China Agricultural University) are co-authors. Samuel G. McNeill, Ph.D., P.E., through a subcontract with Oklahoma State University for USAID’s Global Hunger and Food Security Research Strategy: Climate Resilience, Nutrition and Policy, has received $68,700 to further work that focuses on reducing postharvest loss in Ghana. He also has received a $19,640 grant from Andersons Grain Group through a regional USDA-based committee to revise the Midwest Plan Service Handbook on Grain Handling, Drying and Storage (MWPS-13). Co-authors are from Kansas State University and North Dakota State University; collaborators are from Purdue University and Oklahoma State University. Mark Purschwitz, Ph.D., through a subcontract with Penn State University, has received $50,000 from USDA to develop a proof-of-concept immersive 3D virtual learning environment focused on farm safety for youth. Michael P. Sama, Ph.D., P.E., and S.C. Bailey (Mechanical Engineering) have received funding of $10,000 for a Wildlife Conservation UAV Challenge grant from NASA KY Space Grant Consortium, with $8,616 Cost Share from Theta Tech, Inc. for one year. Timothy Stombaugh, Ph.D., P.E., received funding for “Phase 2: Control and Monitoring of Sprayer Output” from Case New Holland LLC; the two-phase grant totals $285,000. Joseph Dvorak, Ph.D., is a co-investigator. “Compost bedded pack dairy barn management, performance, and producer satisfaction” by Joseph Taraba, Ph.D., and R.A. Black (University of Tennessee – Knoxville), George B. Day, Ph.D., F.A. Damasceno , and J.M. Bewley (Animal and Food Sciences), was published December 2013 in the Journal of Dairy Science. Richard Warner, Ph.D., and Carmen Agouridis, Ph.D., P.E., received funding of $75,900 from USGS to support their research, “Ensuring Restoration Success and Management Effectiveness for the Imperiled Blackside Dace at Cumberland Gap National Historical Park.” “Phanerochaete chrysosporium pretreatment of biomass to enhance solvent production in subsequent bacterial solid-substrate cultivation” by Julia Yao, Ph.D. and Sue Nokes, Ph.D., P.E., was published in the March 2014 Journal of Biomass and Bioenergy.
Innovations in Tobacco By Nick Rhea Tobacco production has decreased significantly in Kentucky, but it is still a crop that brings in more than $300 million a year. Because tobacco is a labor-intensive crop, any steps toward mechanization Photos: George Duncan, John Wilhoit can help allow farmers to continue planting and harvesting it, rather than turning to other revenue streams for income. One aspect of mechanization being investigated at the University of Kentucky is transportation and housing of stick harvested burley. Traditionally, during harvest, most burley tobacco in Kentucky is cut, speared onto a stick, and left in the field to wilt several days. Then it is loaded onto wagons, moved to a curing structure, usually a barn, and hung by hand. Each
of these steps requires intensive physical labor. Portable field structures are an option for curing near the tobacco field, thus shortening transportation time and effort. John Wilhoit, Ph.D., P.E., has designed a system that allows the stick-harvested tobacco to be loaded directly in the field onto 4"x4" wooden rails that can then be picked up and transported with a front end loader. The set of rails, holding approximately 50 sticks of tobacco, is placed onto customized sawhorses that are completely portable. These temporary structures can be located very near to the field to minimize costs associated with hauling. Innovations have been made to the sawhorses so that they can be disassembled for storage and field-to-field transportation. This system of field curing eliminates workers having to climb high in barns for traditional hanging operations, providing farmers an alternative to aging, unstable barns.
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