The Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering’s new John Deere Engines Laboratory, now fully-equipped, offers students an opportunity to become familiar with the composition, performance characteristics and operational dynamics of the latest engines used in agriculture.

John Deere provided $145,000 for renovation and gifts-in-kind for the engine laboratory, which is located in 147 Davidson Hall. Further funds for the renovation were provided by ISU’s Agricultural Experiment Station.

Formally dedicated on Jan. 7, the Deere lab has now received all the engines and engine stands it was anticipating and is prepared for a full complement of students.

The laboratory offers students the chance to assemble, disassemble and analyze engines belonging to John Deere’s latest generation of agricultural equipment. ISU received some of the first 4.5 liter, 105 hp, fuel-efficient engines for heavy agricultural construction machinery to come off the line in Dubuque.

Stewart Melvin, head of the department of agriculture and biosystems engineering, said, “In the agricultural equipment business, almost everyone needs to know how the machines are used efficiently.”

“Since 60 percent of our agricultural engineering graduates go to work in the agricultural power machinery industry, the new lab gives our students a good advantage over others in being prepared for the work,” Melvin said.

One of the most beneficial additions to the lab is the dynamometer, an electric generator, like the newer ones used in industry, which is hooked up to an engine that delivers a variable load to the engine. This allows students to analyze the torque and power the engine develops as a function of the electrical load, Melvin said.

Before the renovation, the lab had a generator from 1934, but it did not have the enclosed area to keep it in, Melvin said.

“We now have a much cleaner and safer lab to work in than before,” Melvin said.