Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** increasing use of technology in the…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** increasing use of technology in the food and agriculture industries spotlights the growing need for the design of innovative equipment and manufacturing tools, along with a skilled workforce to develop these resources. Numerous food and agriculture companies are currently seeking graduates with computer-aided design skills to fulfill these critical positions. However, most undergraduate curricula in food and agricultural engineering are seriously lacking exposure of students to topics on innovative uses of graphical design, spatial visualization, and appropriate computer-based tools applied to problems faced in the food and agricultural industries. To remedy this critical deficiency, this proposal addresses the development of enhanced, computer-aided graphical design course materials for students in food and agricultural engineering programs. The overall goal of this project is to develop flexible computer-aided graphical design educational materials focused on innovations in the foodand agricultural industries, which will be made freely available online. Key components of the proposed educational materials include technical innovation and instructional skill-based videos, tutorial documentation with discussion prompts, follow-up activities, and open-ended design projects to support a diverse student audience. The anticipated impact of the proposed project is increased student learning in spatial visualization and 3-dimensional graphical design. IT is also anticipated that the project will generate increased student interest in pursuing a career in the food and agriculture industries through integration of relevant, cutting-edge examples and projects within the educational materials. These outcomes will be assessed on UC davis students in an introductory engineering design course in biological systems engineering.