Materials in Agriculture, Food Security, and Food Safety

3-0-9 units · Graduate

Offers a unique perspective on the interplay between advanced materials, agriculture and food. Illustrates the impact that advanced materials-based innovation is imparting to four key areas of agriculture: management of plant diseases, mitigation of saline soil, enhancement of crop yield and productivity, and food safety and food security. Exposes students to engineering design concepts that are germane to biopolymer processing, functionalization and characterization, which will be coupled with hands-on activity in a lab setting. Students regenerate, process and functionalize biopolymers from raw to advanced materials, paving the way for the second part of the class, which centers around a proposed research project that aims at bringing materials-based innovation into agriculture.