MS. SCAMMAN & HER CAREER

My interest in agriculture was almost innate, originating from my childhood on my family's farm in New Hampshire. My interest in agricultural engineering came from reading the college course listings, and highlighting the courses that sounded interesting. Agricultural engineering came out on top with the most interesting courses. I don't regret doing it this way because I still find it fascinating.

Tell us about your career. How and why you became involved in agricultural engineering?

I am an environmental engineer; my degree is in Agricultural and Biological Engineering from Cornell University. I certainly had an interest in environmental issues, and putting together my environmental interests with my agricultural background made perfect sense for me. I have applied my education and background to the field of environmental engineering and, over the past several years, with an increasing awareness of agricultural environmental issues, I have really found my element, combining the two. I presently work with farmers and agricultural interests to develop treatment methods and practices for agricultural wastes to prevent pollution to the environment.

Who or what were the biggest inspirations for your career?

Of course, my Mom and Dad were huge inspirations throughout. They always said I could achieve whatever I put my mind to. I also definitely was inspired by my education (and educators) at Cornell. I can only qualify my education as fantastic. The work done there continues to inspire me.

What do you enjoy most and least about your job and your career?

Most: I love working with farmers and being able to get out of doors and see the world a bit. I also like the fact that most of these trips are in the countryside and not in the city.

Least: Sometimes I feel as though I'm a bit too attached to my job. I find myself waking up at night thinking about a certain project or something I might have forgotten to do. I guess I enjoy life a little too much to "live to work". I think my zest for adventure (out of work) has slowed me down a bit in what I can achieve at my job. There is certainly a delicate balance between private life and success at work.

What are some of the most interesting projects you've worked on in your career?

Kraków, Poland - Evaluated the use of US wastewater treatment technologies for application in the watershed that provides drinking water to the city of Kraków and surrounding communities. Developed a plan for proceeding with installation and use of these technologies.

Recycling Business - Evaluated commercially available treatment methods for cattle, hog and poultry manure, including anaerobic digestion and nutrient removal techniques. Developed mass balance computer model for sizing manure treatment facilities and evaluating project economics.

Private Island - Performed construction administration, start-up and operator assistance for sequencing batch reactor wastewater treatment system. Evaluated data and prepared report for a research pilot facility. The project included treating wastewater consisting of 75 percent seawater.

THE ACTUAL WORK

Tell us about what you do as an agricultural engineer. What is your position and what are the responsibilities?

I worked as a project engineer for Wright-Pierce, a consulting environmental engineering firm in Maine. As a consultant you work on specific client projects. These projects could be at many different stages from Feasibility Study, Preliminary Design, Design, Construction, Startup and Operations or even analysis of existing systems. Because my specialty is agriculture I worked on many projects that either were directly related to agriculture or that have some land base, such as municipal wastewater land application projects. I often worked on more than one project at a time.

My responsibilities included calculations, report writing, coordination with CAD (computer-aided design) operators and clients, and some project management. I also aided in marketing, trying to bring in new clients to the company. This included making site visits and attending conferences and becoming involved in professional organizations and committees.

Describe a typical day at work for you.

The first thing I did in the morning was determine what had to be done that day and what I should work on, if I had additional time. The daily tasks varied greatly depending on the stage of a project or even the number of different projects that would be worked on that day. Letters and telephone calls always take up some portion of the day and what ever I happen to be working on, such as report writing, coordinating and designing or doing some sort of analysis.

Sometimes, I had to make site visits for various reasons such as to inspect what a contractor is working on, measure something or take a sample or to take photos for future reference during design. Sometimes, I attended meetings.

Tell us about where you work. How many people work in your office? What's the atmosphere? Is there a lot of pressure?

The Wright-Pierce office is a mid-size consulting firm of about 100 people. They have three smaller offices in other places in New England. These folks work closely with the people at the main office.

Because of the location in coastal Maine, the company attracts a lot of people interested in the outdoors and casual living, which makes for a laid back and enjoyable workplace.

How important are computers to your work as an agricultural engineer? Do you use any specialized programs? If so, what are they and what do they do?

Keeping organized is of vital importance, and computers help tremendously. I primarily use standard programs, including word processing, spreadsheets and presentation software. There are some specialized software applications for design work; however, most of the work is done in Excel, which allows the transfer of work done in a spreadsheet to another project, and everyone is able to review and customize the documents to their particular project.

What professional certifications are available for your line of work and how important are they to the profession?

In engineering, the number one certification is the Professional Engineering licensing process, which I believe is available in every state. This is a long process, but highly-respected. In its most traditional form, a person graduating or graduated from an accredited engineering school becomes eligible to take the fundamentals of engineering exam. Once this exam is passed, depending on what state you are working in, you work several years under a licensed engineer, after which you become eligible for a second exam. If you pass this exam and have good references and experience, you can become a licensed engineer in a state. Additional applications have to be developed for each state.

The second exam that is taken is a specialized exam. There is an agricultural exam; however, I took the Civil Engineering exam, because it more closely matched the work that I had been doing before I took the exam.

How about professional memberships? What are some of the professional organizations for agricultural engineers, how important are they, and how have they benefited your career?

I became involved in the the American Society of Agricultural Engineers (ASAE), the Society for Engineering in Agriculture, Food, and Biological Systems, when I was in college and have enjoyed my membership since leaving college as well. I presently serve on a committee and attendance at annual meetings is great for networking and finding out what are the latest research and development projects.

I have also had some involvement but am not a member of the Water Environment Federation. This organization is for wastewater professionals. I have found this organization to have lots of information that is also helpful for my work.

EDUCATION INFORMATION & ADVICE

What is your degree in? What did you like and dislike about your education?

My degree is in Agricultural and Biological Engineering (ABEN). My specialty within this major was Environmental Systems Engineering. There is also an Environmental Engineering specialty at Cornell in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department (CEE). I was happy with my choice. The CEE program required classes that I was not interested in, such as structures and highway design; I got to take classes in biology and natural resources. Also, my program was flexible enough that I could take classes within the CEE department, such as water quality engineering and drinking water engineering.

The only negative I have for my educational experience is I wish I could have taken even more classes; there just wasn't enough time to take everything that interested me.

Did your education prepare you for what you actually do now? If not, could you have done anything differently?

There were some things that we had learned the theory of in school and, when it came to practical application, I was a little behind some of the people from other more practical application programs; however, it didn't take long to catch up. I still wouldn't do it any differently.

What factors did you consider when choosing a program?

I was very interested in Cornell because of their agricultural school; however, I did check into some programs a little closer to home. I'm glad I chose what I did. Factors included in selecting a program included "courses offered," both in the department and out.

What other courses did you take outside the department, that help you now?

I took some great classes that didn't appear to have anything to do with Agricultural Engineering but that help a lot. Some of these included:

• public speaking,
• natural resource management,
• toxicology,
• pesticides and the environment, and
• lots of chemistry and biology.

What advice can you give to prospective students thinking about an education and career in agricultural engineering?

No matter how much I hate to say it, there are some people that regard anyone associated with "Agriculture" as uneducated and unworthy. This can only be counteracted through professional conduct, excellence in your work, and enthusiasm. There is a wealth of opportunities for application of a degree in Agricultural Engineering and, if it fits your individual interests, it shouldn't be overlooked. As I have said before, it has allowed me to work in the countryside and with farmers and work within the environmental sector. If I had to do it all over, I would do the same thing.

Is agricultural engineering offered at every school?

Agricultural engineering is offered primarily at land grant schools (which are primarily state universities), and not all of them have an agricultural engineering program. Many schools also have tried to expand interest in the program by changing the name to something more general, such as Biological and Environmental Engineering. These name changes more accurately describe what is happening within the departments.

Does it make a difference in the industry to graduate from a prestigious school?

It depends where you are in the country. Cornell is highly-respected in the Northeast. As far as I can tell, there are other parts of the country that view the program as a little too theoretical. As I have said before, though, I would do it the same way again.

Based on what you hear in the industry, what do you think are the most respected programs for agricultural engineering that really make a difference to students who graduate from these schools?

From what I see (and it really isn't that much; most people I work with are traditional civil and environmental engineers) University of California, Davis and Pudue University both have very respectable programs.

Based on individuals within certain programs, I also probably would consider University of Tennessee, Penn State and Iowa State as very practical programs. There are plenty of others out there, there is a lot happening at North Carolina State University with animal wastes, and that certainly would be a center of activity in this field.

JOB INFORMATION & ADVICE

What kinds of jobs are available for agricultural engineers?

I always try and explain engineering opportunities this way: There are government jobs, industry jobs and consultants. Government jobs generally are agencies that work with soil, water, agriculture, fisheries, etc. Industry jobs allow you to work with research or development. Consultants are independent and have some allowance as to projects they work on, as long as they can find a client to pay the bill. Of course, there is always academia, which in agricultural engineering plays a large role in the profession - much of the research and development within the industry is done at major land grant institutions.

Why did you choose consulting over government or industry?

I chose consulting primarily because I wanted to work on a wide variety of projects and not be a slave to industry's bottom line or make decisions based primarily on profit. Consulting also gave me a wide variety of projects to work on and flexibility in career direction.

What's the pay scale for an agricultural engineer just starting out? How about for those at the senior level?

Salaries vary greatly depending on region of the country and what sector you are working in. Probably the highest pay scales are in industry.

My recommendation is to go the National Society of Professional Engineers' web site. They do a salary survey every year and publish the pay scales - unfortunately, it looks like this information now has to be ordered.

What are the best ways to find a job in agricultural engineering?

I guess I can only reflect on my experience. I was interested in consulting (not government or industry) and wanted to be somewhere I enjoyed. I narrowed this to New England, New York and the Rocky Mountains. I researched good companies in those areas working on interesting projects and sent out resumes. From there, it is in your hands and the hands of the companies.

How is the job market right now? How do you think it will be in the next five years? 10 years?

Depending on what area you are interested in pursuing, I would say there will be a lot of opportunities. The animal waste field is only growing. Above and beyond my little specialty, agricultural engineers are being used in multiple disciplines for their biological and science expertise, diverse and thorough engineering education, and practical thinking. With the development of ever-increasing technical agriculture, a growing population and environmental issues, I feel agricultural engineers can not only make a place for themselves, but make a name for themselves as well.

Are there any common myths about agricultural engineers?

In the past, there were many who believed that agricultural engineering was a soft form of engineering and that the engineers were not as qualified as other engineers from more traditional fields. I encounter this attitude once in a while, and I always figure it is my job to prove them wrong - hopefully, I have.

INDUSTRY TRENDS

What are some trends that you see in the field that might help prospective students?

Environmental engineering in agriculture is exploding. I expect to see a trend in that direction for mainstream environmental engineers over the next five years. Knowledge of agriculture and environmental engineering will be huge for this growing industry.

How has advancing technology changed the way agricultural engineers work?

Traditional engineering advancements have helped, such as application of CAD and the spread of knowledge through the Internet. The availability of standards and news on the Internet and manufacturers literature, have all made daily work easier and better. More informed decisions with less time spent are huge benefits of the Internet.

CLOSING REMARKS

Is there anything else you can tell us about yourself, your career, or the profession that would be interesting or helpful to others aspiring to enter the field?

Don't be afraid to buck the trends. I can't say that the path I have followed has been traditional, but I believe I have only benefited from it. I believe that the animal waste field will be really big over the next five to ten years, and enthusiasm, coupled with a practical education, will be the best assets of anyone entering the field.

If you have any questions related to agricultural engineering, you may contact Dolores Landeck with the American Society of Agricultural Engineers at landeck@asae.org.

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EDITOR'S NOTE: For more information about the educational and career outlook for Environmental Engineering majors, click here.