2003 Alumni News
Alumni Updates
We enjoy hearing your stories about your time in school and
what you have done since. Please take a few moments to fill
out and send us the Information Sheet inside the back cover
of this newsletter (it’s also available online).
Deane Manbeck, BAE 1954, MS 1959, PhD 1966.
No W2s for 2002 were sent to me, so perhaps I am finally retired
professionally, even though I attempted to first retire in
1997 which lasted one month. Between the BAgE degree and beginning
graduate school, I served as an agricultural (primarily soil
conservation endeavors) missionary and as an educational (equivalent
to county supervisor of rural schools) missionary in what
is now Zimbabwe. After completing the PhD requirements, I
was an associate professor with the University of Nebraska
for 10.5 years. The first nearly four years were spent participating
in the development of the first agricultural engineering program
in Colombia, South America. This involved teaching power,
agricultural machinery, and soil conservation courses in Spanish
to undergraduate agricultural engineering students and to
agricultural mechanization students in Medellin, plus soil
conservation to graduate students in Bogota. After moving
to Lincoln, I taught and conducted research in irrigation
and drainage.
In 1977, I joined Harza Engineering Company, Chicago, Illinois.
The first assignment was on a surface and subsurface drainage
and canal irrigation planning project near Peshawar, Pakistan,
for two years. After completing that assignment, we moved
to Naperville, Illinois, where we continue to live. My Harza
activities expanded to many types of irrigation, drainage,
and soil conservation projects in several countries. While
headquartered in Chicago, more than one-third of my time was
spent overseas. For a couple of years, I was heavily involved
in contracts for the rehabilitation and betterment of irrigation
on Indian reservations in the western states. A 4 1/2 year
residency in Indonesia began in 1988. The first 30 months
were spent leading a watershed management project in the hills
of East Java, followed by 18 months leading an irrigation
project using ground water sources at locations on three islands
east and north of Bali. Finally, I led a national institutional
strengthening study for watershed management based in Jakarta.
As I read about the program changes at the U of M and have
reflected on my own experiences, I realize that the 5-year
undergraduate program and the quarter system I experienced
were distinct advantages in my own agricultural engineering
career. The additional year and three sessions per year provided
me with a much greater variety of courses than a 4-year semester
system would have provided.
Now retirement includes appreciating our grandchildren, volunteering
in different venues, leading book discussions, and enjoying
our vacation spot on Lake Vermillion in northern Minnesota
for extended periods.
James R. Gilley, PhD 1971.
Both Karen and I have very fond memories of our years at the
University of Minnesota (September 1968-December 1974). The
people were wonderful and extrememly helpful to us and our
two daughters who were born in St Paul (September 8, 1970,
and April 23, 1973). Following my degree in December 1971,
I joined the department as an assistant professor until December
1974 when we moved to the University of Nebraska where I was
an Associate Professor working on irrigation. After 14 wonderful
years at the University of Nebraska, I was offered the opportunity
to become the department head of Agricutural Engineering (now
Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering) at Iowa State University.
In 1994, Karen and I moved to College Station, Texas where
I became the head of the Agricultural Engineering Department
(now Biological and Agricultural Engineering). After 14 years
of being a department head, I returned to the faculty as a
professor of irrigation engineering in December 2001. I have
received many opportuities to travel in my career (over 20
international countries), all of which provided experiences
which we shall never forget. We now have three grandchildren
and very much enjoy spending as much time as possible with
them. As many of us grow in age, our health becomes a key
factor in our lives. We often fondly recall our times and
experiences in the department, now so many years ago, and
enjoy receiving many retired department faculty and other
guests in our home in College Station, often on their travels
to winter homes in South Texas.
Sonia Maassel Jacobsen, BS
1978. Began a term on the ASAE board of trustees in July 2003.
Sonia works for the Natural Resources and Conservation Service
in St. Paul, Minnesota.
John Panuska, MS 1989. I am
a water resources engineer for the State of Wisconsin DNR.
My responsibilities include lake and watershed water quality
modeling and engineering support for the Lakes Management
Program. I also get involved in water quality research and
development, distribution, and staff training in the use of
computer models.
Jack C. Anderson, MS 1996.
I am married with a 20-month year old child. Have been with
John Deere for two years in the sprayer program. Actively
involved restoring and putting to use old tractors and farm
machinery.
Craig Steffen, BS. 1997. I'm
still working at CAT as a senior development engineer at the
Peoria Proving Grounds. I've been testing hydraulics since
I got here, some in the lab for about the first 9 months,
and mostly machine testing since. I worked on the ag tractors
for a while (the 35, 45, and 55, and just some with the now-AGCOs
development), and have been responsible for medium-sized dozers
(D5 through D8 size) for the last 3 years or so. It definitely
has been an experience. It's been a challenge the last few
years because of reduced number of employees and increased
amount of product lines and testing needed.
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