Announcing new open textbook: Introduction to Biosystems Engineering

[Anita Walz]

Dear Colleagues, 

Please join me in congratulating ASABE, Virginia Tech Publishing, the editorial team, and contributors on the publication of a new open textbook, Introduction to Biosystems Engineering.

View the book  

Learn more about the book

Adopt this book for a course

Introduction to Biosystems Engineering can be used as a customizable text for university-level introductory courses in Biosystems Engineering. Written by an international team of authors, the book is divided into six sections aligned with technical communities within Biosystems Engineering: Energy Systems; Information Technology, Sensors, and Control Systems; Machinery Systems; Natural Resources and Environmental Systems; Plant, Animal, and Facility Systems; and Processing Systems. Within the sections, individual chapters focus on discrete topics that can be covered in one week of class. Each chapter contains the expected learning outcomes, key concepts, applications of the concepts, and worked examples.  

The discipline of Biosystems Engineering emerged in the 1990s from the traditional strongholds of Agricultural and Food Engineering with the goal of advancing engineering solutions toward creating a sustainable world with abundant food, water, and energy, while maintaining a healthy environment. While the discipline has continued to grow, so has the demand for quality educational resources that instructors can use to teach Biosystems Engineering courses. The publication of this book marks an important step in meeting that demand.  

Edited by: Nicholas Holden, Mary Leigh Wolfe, Jactone Ogejo, and Enda Cummins    

Cover design: Robert Browder  

Introduction to Biosystems Engineering (CC BY) is available in print and online. The online version is freely downloadable as a complete work and as individual, stand-alone chapters. In addition, a parallel resource is in development—The Biosystems Engineering Digital Library (BEDL)—which will provide more teaching and learning materials for instructors to use in the classroom (ASABE.org/BE).  

Instructors adopting or reviewing this text are encouraged to record their use on this form. This helps the book's sponsors to better understand this open textbook's impact.  

Introduction to Biosystems Engineering is Virginia Tech's first book from the Open Education Network Publishing Cooperative (formerly Open Textbook Network Publishing Cooperative).  

Suggested citation: Holden, N. M., Wolfe, M. L., Ogejo, J. A., and E. J. Cummins. (2021) Introduction to Biosystems Engineering, ASABE and Virginia Tech Publishing. https://doi.org/10.21061/IntroBiosystemsEngineering, CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0  

Warm regards,

Anita Walz, Managing Editor

Anita R. Walz

Associate Professor

Assistant Director for Open Education and Scholarly Communication Librarian
Library Liaison to Economics and Legal Studies

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