The invention of the large round hay baler and the incorporation of women into agricultural engineering are just part of the 100-year history of Iowa State’s department of agricultural and biosystems engineering.

The department was founded in 1905. This year marks the department’s centennial.

Department founder J.B. Davidson, who retired in 1946, saw the need to bring engineering into agriculture to keep up with the rapid changes of technology. The program was originally housed in the agronomy department.

“J.B. Davidson organized the department here,” said Carl Bern, university professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering. “That was the first time that agricultural engineering appeared anywhere.”

In 1908, Davidson was named the first president of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers, an organization that still has strong ISU representation.

The agricultural engineering laboratory, now known as Davidson Hall, was built in 1921.

In 1941, most of the building was destroyed by fire. The temporary structure built in its place is still standing, Bern said.

The department is working to get a new building for the department within the next 10 years.

“The building really limits some things we could do,” said Thomas Brumm, assistant professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering.

The new building would allow the department to achieve some of its goals for the future and relocate the faculty from the five buildings it now occupies into one, he said.

This change would be one of several the department of agricultural and biosystems engineering has experienced in its 100 years. Technology, society and curriculum reorganization have all influenced the department.

The large round baler and the MidWest Plans Service, a university-based publishing organization that works to create plans and books on agricultural engineering, are two developments with roots at Iowa State.

Virgil Haverdink, former ISU graduate student, and Wesley Buchele, former ISU professor, created the baler in 1967. The MidWest Plans Service was established on campus in 1932, Bern said.

Societal changes, including the decreased number of people from farms and the increased number of women in science and engineering, has also influenced the department.

International graduate students have also increased in the department.

“Our student body used to be rural kids,” Brumm said. “We’re getting a more diverse student body.”

In the late 1970s, women entered the agricultural engineering field, Bern said.

In 1978, Susan Barisas was the first woman to receive a Master of Science degree in agricultural engineering.

Recent innovations brought two additional programs and a name to the department.

Agricultural mechanization was added to the department in 1972.

Professor emeritus Howard Johnson said the program floundered in the 1980s because of the farm crisis, but was revived in the 1990s.

“It’s been quite successful,” he said.

Then, the program changed its name to agricultural systems technology in 1991.

Brumm said now there are almost equal numbers of agricultural systems technology students compared to agricultural engineering students.

Agricultural Engineering added “Biosystems” to its name in 1992.

“An area we’re really moving into is biological systems engineering,” Brumm said.

“Now it’s more of a formal recognition.”

Last fall, industrial technology merged with the department. Brumm said the combination offers more opportunities and will reflect the society better.

“It’s really how our economy has developed,” he said.

Bern, Brumm and Johnson, who is writing a book about the history of the department, said they all see an optimistic future in the department.

“We’re really poised,” said Brumm.

“We’re going to do some great stuff.”

The men also said the students have a lot to gain from the college’s reputation.

“We have 100 percent placement of our graduates and we expect that to continue,” Brumm said.