CIGR Newsletter No 60

CIGR NEWS

Report on the XVth CIGR World Congress–CIGR/ASAE Joint Congress

From 29 July to 1 August 2002, the XVth CIGR World Congress was held jointly with ASAE's Annual Meeting in Chicago, USA. With 1,730 registered participants from 90 countries from all over the world, with 144 Technical Sessions in which 900 poster and oral presentations were held, and with facilities allowing 20 presentations to be held in parallel sessions, this was the biggest joint Congress of ASAE and CIGR so far.

Gratitude is due for the excellent organisation of this joint Congress by ASAE and its members. Priority was invariably given to the interests of the participants, the persons holding presentations, and the sessions and meetings, whereas organisational matters remained in the background where ASAE/CIGR members and ASAE personnel laid the groundwork for an impressively smooth congress.

The main issues of the congress were geared to the interests of the participants both from highly industrialised and developing countries. Soil and Water as a topic area of strong common interests attracted the highest number of presentations. A second dominant area was Sensor Development, Modelling, and Information Technology while, in terms of numbers, the presentations about Precision Farming ranged behind those about Animal Production which also included presentations about environmental questions. Issues of Postharvest Technology ranged at roughly the same level as Quality and Technology in Fruit and Vegetables, whereas a topic area that was much less strongly represented was Mechanisation which was dealt with exclusively in relation to developing countries. Power and Machinery and Renewable Energy and Biomass played only relatively minor roles.

In addition to the Technical Sessions of the Congress, CIGR also held its regular Presidium, Executive Board, and Technical Board meetings as well as the General Assembly. In the latter, several new CIGR officers were elected, most prominently Professor Luis Santos Pereira (Portugal) who was elected Incoming President. (For a list of the CIGR boards for 2003-2004, please consult the list provided on page three of this newsletter.) The General Assembly also voted on two biddings for the 2010 CIGR World Congress, one from CSAE, Canada, and one from the Turkish Chamber of Agricultural Engineering and EGE University. The delegates from CIGR's member associations voted in favour of the CIGR Executive Board's recommendation so that the XVII CIGR World Congress will be held in Quebec City, Canada, in 2010.

In the CIGR General Assembly, special honours were conferred on former CIGR officers for remarkable achievements. Past President Prof. Bill Stout was made Honorary President. L. Santos Pereira, J. Voermans, E. Bourarach, E. Ramdani, T. Luoma, and M. Ruiz-Altisent were made Honorary Vice-Presidents as the end of their terms as Section Chairs is approaching. In the Fellows Ceremony held jointly by CIGR and ASAE, nine CIGR members were honoured for the key roles they have played in CIGR for years: A. Kamaruddin, G. Papadakis, J. Ortiz-Canavate, O. Marchenko, Y. Kishida, F. Bakker-Arkema, C. Hall, F. Coolman, and A. Musy. The title of CIGR Fellow was bestowed on them for their great sustained past and future contributions to the world-wide activity of CIGR. In an Awards Luncheon also held with ASAE, the excellent work of young engineers was honoured with the Armand Blanc Prize for students and young members under 30 years who presented excellent papers at the World Congress. It was shared by Nicholas A. Krueger (USA), Nathan E. Isaac (USA), and Timothy J. van Pelt (USA). The E-journal Prize went to six authors from Japan for the excellent paper "Ultrasonic Doppler Sensor for Measuring Vehicle Speed in Forward and Reverse Motions Including Low Speed Motions" which was published in Vol. III (Jan-Dec 2001) of the CIGR E-Journal: Kenji Imou, M. Ishida, T.Okamoto, Y. Kaizu, A.Sawamura, N.Sumida. Special Recognition of achievements and contributions of four ASAE representatives was made by certificates presented by CIGR President Bartali: M. Moore, W. Skaggs, D. Hull, B. West, C. Hansen. Industry Prizes sponsored by industries went to CIGR members for extraordinary achievements through CIGR activities for the development of technologies related to agricultural engineering. Prof. Abdallah Bekkali was awarded the AMA-Kishida Prize, and Suraweth Krishnasreni (Thailand), Jongho Lee (Korea) shared the KAMIC Prize. Prof. Theodor Renius (Germany) was awarded the third CIGR Industry Prize, the UNACOMA Prize sponsored by the Italian Association of Agricultural Machinery Manufacturers, in a meeting of the Club of Bologna held in Chicago on occasion of the CIGR World Congress.

CIGR received ASAE's President Citation Award for services rendered to agricultural engineering worldwide and for the organisation of the XVth CIGR World Congress in Chicago. This award was presented by ASAE President Wayne Skaggs on behalf of ASAE to CIGR President El Houssine Bartali on behalf of CIGR.

The wide range of subjects discussed, the great number of participants, the splendid organisation, and the international character of the XV CIGR World Congress and ASAE Annual Meeting have undoubtedly made a strong contribution to the good international esteem which CIGR and ASAE enjoy.

Preparations for the next CIGR World Congress, which will be held in 2006 in Bonn, Germany, have already begun. The Agricultural Engineering branch of the German Association of Engineers, VDI-MEG, works in close co-operation with EurAgEng and the CIGR General Secretariat to make the XVI CIGR World Congress another success for the international community of agricultural engineers.

Prof. P. Schulze Lammers
CIGR Secretary-General


Composition of the CIGR Boards 2003-2004, as elected in the
General Assembly on 29 July 2002

Presidium

President Prof. Axel Munack

Incoming President Prof. Luis Santos Pereira
Past President Prof. El Houssine Bartali
Secretary-Genera1 Prof. Peter Schulze Lammers

Executive Board

Yoshisuke Kishida, ASAE

Prof. Vilas M. Salokhe, AAAE

Prof. Bent Bennedsen, EurAgEng

Prof. Irelniza de Alencar Nääs, ALIA

Dr. Nuhu Hatibu, SEASAE

Prof. Osamu Kitani, Japan

Prof. Gao Yuanen, China

Philippe Marchal, France

Co-opted:

Prof. Pierre Abeels,

Prof. Jan Daelemans,

Prof. Bill Stout
 
 

Auditing: P. Abeels (BE), Y. Seo (JP), F. Bakker-Arkema (US)

Composition of the seven Section Boards
 

Sections I II III
Chair Sato Y. (JP) Pedersen S. (DK) Marchenko O.S. (RU)
Vice Chair Musy A. (CH) Berckmans D. (BE) Bourarach H. (MA)
Secretary Brasa Ramos A. (ES) Benhazi T. (AUS) Gross U. (GER) 
Members
 
 

(* Liaison Members)

 Maiga A. (EIER)*

Howell T.H. (US)

van Lier H.N. (NL) 

Greppi M. (IT) 

Hann M. (UK) 

Huang Guanhua (CN)

Somma D. (ARG)

Alves Soares A. (BR)

Taylor P. (US)

Pereira .L. S. (PT)

Tyagi, N.K. (India)

De Wrachien D. (EurAgEng)*

Ragab R. (ICID-Water)*

Tarjuelo J (WG-WMIS)*

Jaarsma C.F. (PIARC)*

Loudon T.L. (NOWRA)*

Rubio J.L. (ESSC)*

 Maekawa T. (JP)

Kuczynski T. (PL)

Jacobson L. (US)

De Alencar Nääs I. (BR)

Flaba J. (BE)

Mennella V. (IT)

Meneses J. (PT)

Sällvik K. (SE)

Gates R. (US)

Tantau H.J. (GER)

Monteny G.-J. (NL)

 Faust D. (HU)

Nishizaki K. (JP)

Sundell B. (SE)

Sutton D.K. (UK)

Snobar B.A. (JO)

Lara-Lopez A. (MX)

Schueller J. (US)

Salokhe V.M. (TH)

Mantovani E. (BR)

Jasinski B. (PL)
IV V VI VII
Kamaruddin A. (ID) Julizewski T. (PL) Sun D.W. (IE) Sigrimis N. (GR)
Papadakis G. (GR) Piccarolo P. (IT) Yuanen Gao (CN) Hegg R. (US)
Irps H. (GER) Soerensen C. (DK) Ruiz Altisent M. (ES) Omasa (JP)
De Francisco A. (ES)

Umeda M. (JP)

Ghaly A. (Can)

Mazzetto F. (IT)

Blatin D. (FR)

Piechocki J. (PL)

Akdenez C. (TR)

Gemtos T. (GR)

Heier S. (GER)

Ramdani A. (MA)

 Szeles G. (HU)

Goense D. (NL)

Weiershäuser L. (DE)

Takigawa T. (JP)

Singh G. (TH)

Hilmersen A. (NO)

Luder W. (CH) 

Luoma T. (FIN)

Marchal P. (F)

Cazorla A. (SP)

 Maier D. (US)

Regner S. (SE)

Sei Ichi Oshita (JP)

Silva J. (BR)

Soponronnarit S. (TH)

Kapseu C. (CM)

Menesatti P. (IT)

Grochowicz J. (PL)

Famil Moumen R. (IR)

O'Para L. (NZ)

Nicolai B. (BE)

Geyer M. (GER)

Li Shujun (Cn)

Fekete, A. (HU)

 Turner L. (US)

Roger M. Clouaire (F)

Carlos Arthur da Silva (BR)

Ayman F.Abou-Hadid (EP)

Xiong F.L. (CN)

van Straten G (NL)

Jahns G. (GER)

Sindir K. (TR)

Molta H. (ES)

Reid F. (US)

De Baerdemaeker J. (BE)

Murase H. (JP)

Hashimoto Y. (JP) (Hon Chair)

 
 

The CIGR-FAO Global Network on Agricultural Engineering

Worldwide Discussion and Information Sharing

The CIGR-FAO Global Network consists of seven electronic discussion and information sharing groups for anyone with a serious interest in agricultural engineering. Postings may include queries, discussion, conference announcements, calls for papers, information on work-in-progress, and anything else relevant to agricultural engineering. A joint undertaking of CIGR and the Agricultural Engineering Branch of FAO launched in 1999 by Dr. Friedrich of FAO AGSE, the Network has become an important channel of information on agricultural engineering.

Seven Specialist-Moderated Discussion Groups

In order to channel the flow of specialist information, the CIGR-FAO Global Network is divided into seven individual groups. These correspond to the fields of study covered by the Technical Sections of CIGR. Thus, organized by subject matter, the Network facilitates the exchange of informaton among agricultural engineers from around the world and acts as a valuable addition to technical conferences and publications.

Being moderated by CIGR Section Chairs or by nominated deputies, the lists offer a certain guarantee against spam mail, and their subscribers can often profit from specialist information provided in addition to the original messages. Rather than confining discussion, the moderator-based system is intended to contribute to the quality of the lists and stimulate professional discussion.

CIGR-FAO-LanWat-L covers the technical area of CIGR Section I: Land & Water Engineering which deals with Agricultural Engineering as applied to

CIGR-FAO-Build-L covers the technical area of CIGR Section II: Farm Buildings, Equipment, Structures & Environment, particularly CIGR-FAO-EquipPlant-L for the issues of CIGR Section III: Equipment Engineering for Plant Production. It tries to develop exchanges in the field of know-how, technical study, scientific research, and practical experiences between CIGR-FAO-Energy-L runs parallel to CIGR Section IV: Rural Electricity and Other Energy Sources. Intended to cover the interests of industrial countries as well as developing countries, it specializes in the following topics: CIGR-FAO-SystMngm-L, covering the issues of CIGR Section V: Management, Ergonomics, and Systems Engineering is an open discussion forum for all experts interested in CIGR-FAO-ProcQual-L covers the technical area of CIGR Section VI: Postharvest Technology and Process Engineering, in particular CIGR-FAO-InfoSyst-L is for discussion of the issues of CIGR Section VII: Information Systems, which intends to advance the use of Information Systems for improvements in Subscribing to a Discussion Group

If you are interested in the issues covered by any one of the seven groups, you can subscribe free of charge. To subscribe, do the following:

  1. Create an email message to: mailserv@mailserv.fao.org
  2. Leave the subject line blank
  3. In the body of the message, type "subscribe <list-name>" where <list-name> is the list that you want to join, for example:


    4. subscribe CIGR-FAO-Build-L
    [Do not include your email address or name.]

  4. Send the message
Multiple subscriptions are possible in one message, using one separate line for each group. To unsubscribe, write the same e-mail, but with "unsubscribe" instead of "subscribe". For other mailserv-list commands relating to archive functions etc., please consult the FAO web page http://www.fao.org/Mailnews/mscommnd.htm ; for a list of other discussion groups run by FAO, see http://www.fao.org/Mailnews/econflis.htm

CIGR General Secretariat, Bonn






Club of Bologna Meeting in Chicago

On the occasion of the joint Congress of CIGR and ASAE, the Club of Bologna held a working session in Chicago (IL) on 27 and 28 July 2002. The meeting saw the participation of over 60 experts coming from 24 countries to start the discussion of the general subject "Mechanisation and Traceability of Agricultural Production". The subject was subdivided into 5 topics, the first two of which were discussed in Chicago, while the other three will be examined in Bologna on 16 and 17 November. Keynote speakers were: P. De Castro (Italy), F. Pierce and R. Cavalieri (USA) on "Quality of production and needs of the market"; H. Auernhammer (Germany) and I. De Alencar Nääs (Brasil) on the "Role of Mechatronics". During the deep discussion, it was recommended to define international standards on the products and the enrichment of tractors and agricultural equipment with I. T. for both pre- and post-harvesting operations. In addition, a small working group coordinated by G. Pellizzi (President of the Club) and composed of H. Auernhammer (Germany), L. Bodria (Italy), H. Cetrangolo (Argentina), J. De Baerdemaeker (Belgium), Ph. Marchal (France), I. De Alencar Nääs (Brazil), P. Piccarolo (Italy) and Y. Sarig (Israel) was created in order to go one step deeper into various technical problems.

In the opening session Prof. W. Skaggs (President of ASAE), Prof. E. H. Bartali (President of CIGR), and V. Tugnoli (representative of UNACOMA) delivered welcome addresses. On the first day the participants were invited on a technical visit to the CNH Laboratories and a typical farm under the leadership of A. Rider (Vice-President CNH America).

The discussion will continue on 16th and 17th November in Bologna.

Prof. Giuseppe Pellizzi
Club of Bologna President
Honorary President CIGR

NEWS FROM Regional and National Societies

EurAgEng: Prospects and Challenges in a Changing World

The following is a shortened version of an address delivered by EurAgEng President Daniele De Wrachien at the closing Session of the AgEng 2002 International Conference on Agricultural Engineering. Budapest, 1–3 July 2002.
 

Agricultural Engineering Development

Developments in agricultural science and technology over the 20th century have dramatically changed the ways in which we farm and the way agriculture contributes to society. In the early decades of the past century these developments meant tractorization and mechanization, reflecting the need for increased power input to agricultural production. With the evolution of agricultural engineering, its activities have grown considerably to encompass information systems technology for production, handling and processing, and improved methods for efficient and sustainable use and management of land, water and other natural resources.

Today, agricultural engineering is admittedly at a crossroad and there is ongoing worldwide debate as to the future of the discipline. Growing concern over the relevance, legitimacy, vitality and growth of the agricultural-related disciplines has recently been voiced in both the academic and professional spheres.

While this soul-searching debate has been going on in the developed world, most developing countries are still struggling to feed themselves due partly to insufficient food production, inefficient post-harvest handling and distribution systems and anthropogenic disasters. Here, agriculture is still practised at subsistence level and there is a continuing need for appropriate mechanization technologies to enhance the productivity and efficiency of rural farms.

To balance and find suitable solutions to such concerns, it is essential to focus on how our profession needs to change in response to the conflicting and competitive trends of the present century. These trends include the role of agriculture in the global economy, society’s demands for sustainable agricultural practices and the emergence of new technologies such as information technology, precision agriculture and biotechnology.

With reference to economy, the last decade of the 20th century was marked by the change of the global economic system from state to market oriented in many countries of the world. The immediate reflection of this change on agricultural production was the movement from subsidized towards privatized farming and free marketing of farm products. While, on the one hand, privatization means less involvement of governments in improving services and welfare, on the other, moving towards a market economy requires enhancing the quality of production and the shift from supply-push to demand-pull in the agri-food sector, in order to compete with similar products at world-wide level. In the meantime, public awareness about pollution and environmental issues is increasing. All this leads to the main features of agricultural development in the 21st century, namely:

If these trends continue, they have the potential to substantially alter the manner in which mankind exploits the natural resources. To survive the new century and repeat the feat achieved during the last one, we must reshape our future on the basis of a strategic analysis of the broader external environments (society, agriculture, education, R&D, finance) in which we practice our profession and discipline.

The Society

In this context, EurAgEng, within the CIGR networking system, has a great mission to enhance the capability and achievements of the agricultural engineering profession and the industries which it serves. The European society aims to promote and manage the exchange of knowledge and experience in the broad domain of agricultural engineering science, to update, improve and test new technologies and, especially, to make this information available to all its members by means of adequate ways of communication. It cannot be taken for granted that expertise and experience in agricultural engineering will be preserved. One consequence of specialization is the widening gap between research and practice. Closure of this discontinuity will require the effort of both fields in a variety of ways. Research-oriented professionals should devote more time to transferring their knowledge to practising engineers.

This exchange has to become part of a continuous process. Our framework, by means of scientific and technical meetings, guidelines and handbooks will also attempt to meet this challenge.

Co-operation with universities, research laboratories, professional associations are solicited and welcome.

The main tools by which our society will face and cope with these challenges are herewith underlined.

SIGs and Fields of Interest

This framework, made up of 20 Special Interest Groups (SIGs) assembled into 9 Fields of Interest (FoI), aims to monitor the most important events and activities in engineering science and practice in agriculture, forestry, environment and food processing in Europe and elsewhere.

Some of these Groups also have the delicate task of continuing and promoting what has been done by the existing CIGR Working Groups (WGs) in Europe whilst at the same time trying to impart new dynamism to their specialities, if needed. The WGs of CIGR should continue their work as before since they will stay in the worldwide CIGR networking system. The only difference is that they should bear a EurAgEng label when acting in Europe.

The SIGs and Fields of Interest represent the backbone and the nervous system of the society. The most meaningful way to differentiate our association from the others is to do an outstanding job with information. How we gather, manage, and use information will determine whether we win or lose. To gain that competitive edge will require the development of a flexible and agile digital system, to ensure a smooth and constant information flow for maximum and continuous learning. The result of this process will be the establishment of a multilevel networking system truly able to collect, select and exchange information on topical matters in engineering science and practice in agriculture, forestry, environment and food processing. The network will represent a unique opportunity for EurAgEng to demonstrate to its partners its role and involvement across Europe, and elsewhere, and its authoritative voice on scientific and technical issues. This structure has to be improved and made even more efficient.

Task Force on European Agricultural Engineering Curricula

The challenge facing universities is to train agricultural engineers to meet the demands of future agriculture. Many universities are in the process of modifying their studies to adapt to the new trends in agricultural engineering, and to recruit students in a world where traditional agricultural engineering is less appealing to young students.

In this context EurAgEng, under the chairmanship of the President Bent Bennedsen, set up a task force on European Agricultural Engineering Curricula, with the aim of identifying the new trends within agricultural engineering and suggesting ways in which to incorporate these into agricultural engineering curricula.

This task force has been created within a multi and inter-disciplinary project (AFANET) focusing on agriculture, forestry, environment and rural economy. It consists of a network which today spreads across six countries (Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, and Spain). The frame aims to create and promote a European dimension in education and cooperation in universities and colleges offering degree programmes in agricultural engineering and related fields.

Involving Industry

EurAgEng integrates European agricultural engineers from universities, research centres, and now also from industry, with the new Industry Innovation Event at our AgEng Conferences. In this regard we have established the EurAgEng Industry Innovation Award (such as the newly set up UNACOMA Vision Award) for those companies whose engineers present a winning paper on innovations that have a potential major impact on the agricultural engineering industry. Therefore, the society is inviting young people (35 or under) from forward looking firms to present papers on their vision of the future of agriculture and technology in agriculture. Entrants are invited to bring details of inventions and prototypes to demonstrate and stress their ideas. These ideas should demonstrate lateral thinking and consideration of ecological and economic factors. A special Vision Session of the AgEng Conferences will be dedicated to this event.

ENGAGE

ENGAGE (European Network of Engineering for Agriculture & Environment) is a network of co-operating research institutes in the fields of agricultural, biosystems and environmental engineering.

The main aims are to:

In 1999 EurAgEng and ENGAGE agreed to merge. Thenceforth, ENGAGE has become the strategic division of EurAgEng and its Chairman is appointed as a Vice President of the Society.

Publications

Biosystems Engineering is the official scientific Journal and preferred channel for publishing significant research achievements. Topics within the scope of the Journal are broadly classified into nine categories called "Interest Fields".

Membership

The number of EurAgEng members is increasing every year, now standing at more than 2200. 15 national societies participate in the EurAgEng networking system as en-bloc members, and 4 countries as affiliate members. In addition there are personal members in 20 countries. Recently a new student membership scheme has been introduced to encourage young people to join the Society.

Coming Challenges

Increasing globalization (the world is a small village is now common parlance), the multi-functionality of agriculture, food safety scares and the demand for sustainable agricultural practices have brought considerable pressure upon the scientific and professional communities to address emerging challenges in the rural environment and the food chain. To confront these challenges, in the present century it is essential for agricultural engineering to keep pace with the changing demands. This calls for:

Success in achieving these goals will depend largely upon our ability to harness innovative technologies and on that of well-educated engineers and researchers to recognize what data/information to capture, analyze, interpret and apply for equipment and process design and control.

EurAgEng is committed to continue working in this direction, to develop strategic relationships with major industry players and to enhance effective communication systems with other organizations impinging on similar issues, at both the European and world-wide levels with the assurance of doing it in a responsible and efficient manner. We have approached and are proceeding into the 21st century confidently and our confidence is based on the people who belong to and work for EurAgEng.

Daniele De Wrachien
EurAgEng President
Director Institute of Hydraulics Agricultural
State University, Milan, Italy

 

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