In 1895, when the first classes in ag physics and irrigation engineering were offered at the recently opened Washington State Agricultural College, a revolution that would transform the Inland Northwest was underway.
WSUʼs L.J. Smith Hall was built in 1947 as the permanent home for teaching and research in the agricultural engineering program (pictured in 1949).
Those two courses were the nuclei of a department that rode advances in mechanization, irrigation, and electrification, evolving over the next 127 years to become today’s Department of Biological Systems Engineering (BSE).
“Every generation faces unique challenges,” said BSE chair Manuel Garcia-Perez. “When this department began, mechanization was just beginning.
“We’re now in an era when automation, artificial intelligence, sustainable energy, new processing strategies to produce healthy and safe foods, and many other new ideas are coming to farms and society,” he added. “Just like in our early days, we need pioneers who can teach people how to use them.”
Long innovating for productive agriculture, renewable energy, and a healthy environment, the department marked its history with a gathering and book launch in 2022.
BSE evolved from a handful of courses in the early 1900s to a department with its own “Acting Head” in 1918. A four-year, professional course of study for agricultural engineering appears in the 1926 WSU catalog.
By the end of World War II, the department pivoted to meet the needs of a changing society and university. Veterans came home with a need for education and careers. Agriculture soared statewide, especially in the Columbia Basin following the 1942 completion of Grand Coulee Dam. Farms and agricultural support services and industries increasingly mechanized as Washington State College was transforming into a true university.
“There was tremendous interest in mechanization and ag engineering,” said Larry James, former department chair. “Commodity groups demanded research into machinery, farm structures, controlled environments for animals and crop storage, rural electrification, food processing, and irrigation.”
Growing over the following decades, the department built a deep, globally experienced faculty and embraced new ideas in technology and sustainability. Today, BSE scholars build the tools and techniques to tackle global food security, labor shortages, environmental resiliency, and more. In its next century, the department must stay in the forefront of changes that will be as big, or bigger, than those of the last hundred years.
“We’re on the verge of many revolutions,” Garcia-Perez said. “We need to be part of them. We will remain the bridge between agriculture and engineering and stay true to our value of doing as much good as we can.”
Learn about BSE’s history in a recently published book, Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering at Washington State University: More Than 100 Years Committed to Building a Better and More Sustainable Agriculture.