Centennial Celebration

Welcome to the BSE Centennial Celebration!

We are delighted that you have joined us in celebrating the 100^th anniversary of our establishment as an academic department of Virginia Tech.  As you participate in the live sessions and browse our online content, you will be able to trace the trajectory of BSE from its origin as the Department of Agricultural Engineering, staffed by a small but dedicated cadre of faculty and specialists, to the Department of Biological Systems Engineering, with nearly 50 faculty and staff as well as over 200 students.  We are proud of our history and accomplishments.  Beginning with early emphasis on rural electrification, surface drainage and animal housing, BSE transformed over the decades to initiate successful research, extension and instructional programs in power and machinery, food and bioprocessing, land and water engineering, and structures and environment.  In more recent decades and in response to both national and international trends and needs, BSE refocused and reprioritized its resources into the two present areas of emphasis:  Bioprocessing/Biotechnology.    

Academic departments are not guaranteed even a decade of longevity, let alone a century.  The occasion of a Centennial Celebration is a testament to the dedicated efforts of all who have been a part of BSE, in any capacity, both present and past.  We hope that as you celebrate with us, you will be reminded of BSE’s spirit of resilient innovation  – in the face of challenges and forces, both internal and external – and that the tie that binds all of us together, past present and future, is our devotion to the idea contained in two very simple words:  Ut Prosim.