AgriLife Research personnel garner awards at engineering society international program

Writer: Kay Ledbetter, 806-677-5608, skledbetter@ag.tamu.edu
Contact: Dr. Brent Auvermann, 806-677-5600, b-auvermann@tamu.edu
Bob Avant, 512-422-6171, bavant@tamu.edu
Jim Bordovsky, 806-746-6101, j-bordovsky@tamu.edu

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Three Texas A&M AgriLife Research engineers were recently honored during the awards luncheon at the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers annual international meeting in Kansas City, Mo.

Dr. Brent Auvermann, an environmental engineer with dual appointments in the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and AgriLife Research in Amarillo, was awarded the G.B. Gunlogson Countryside Engineering Award, presented annually to honor outstanding engineering contributions to the development and improvement of the countryside, according to the awards program.

Auvermann is nationally and internationally recognized for his subject matter expertise, practical common sense approach to solving complex air quality issues, and helpful AgriLife Extension outreach education, the program stated.

His applied research programs focus on developing and promoting management practices to reduce environmental impacts of confined and concentrated beef and dairy operations while maintaining economic viability. His emphasis is on air quality emissions and abatement, nutrient management, manure as biofuel feedstock and large animal carcass composting.

Bob Avant, AgriLife Research corporate program director in College Station, was presented the Mayfield Cotton Engineering Award, which is named after William Donald Mayfield, an Extension agricultural engineer who devoted his career to the application of engineering fundamentals. It is presented to recognize outstanding engineering contributions to the cotton industry, according to the awards program.

Avant’s distinguished career includes more than 30 years of government and private sector experience in agriculture, environmental, energy and consulting engineering areas. In his current position, he interacts with 14 department heads and 13 research center directors, and provides project management oversight for a $70 million agricultural and bioenergy research portfolio.

During his professional career, he has managed a diverse range of cotton research areas, including breeding, agronomics, module systems, ginning, textiles and policy, the awards program stated. He has focused on bringing agriculture, particularly the cotton industry, to the forefront through the promotion of applied research focused on sustainable systems using engineering knowledge as a basis.

Dr. Jim Bordovsky, AgriLife Research scientist and agricultural engineer Research at Halfway, was presented the Heermann Sprinkler Irrigation Award. This award seeks to encourage and recognize engineering excellence in the design, evaluation, operation or management of sprinkler irrigations systems that effectively conserve natural resources.

Bordovsky is involved in all aspects of agricultural research related to water use and irrigation efficiency through improved management and engineering design of irrigation systems, including concept development, acquisition of funds, execution of research protocols and information transfer, according to the award program.

Bordovsky, a recognized leader in low-energy sprinkler irrigation research and development, is co-developer of the low-energy precision application irrigation system and has made significant contributions to the advancement of sprinkler irrigation technology. It is estimated that 75 percent of the approximately 4.6 million irrigated acres in the Texas High Plains use some form of low-pressure sprinkler technology that he helped research and develop.

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