Difference Between Agricultural Engineering And Biomedical Engineering
Agricultural Engineering, a specialized branch of engineering that is concerned with the design, development, and application of agricultural machinery, farm structures, farm power, and soil and water control. It is a profession that, in the broadest sense, had its beginning with humanity’s first need and its struggle for existence.
The history of agricultural engineering begins with the cave, lean-to, or other crude shelter where early humans housed their few domesticated animals, and it comes up to the modern mechanical milk-production plant. It also includes developments from the back-breaking toil of harvesting grain with the hand sickle and flail to harvesting grain with the self-propelled combine, which cuts, threshes, and cleans wheat at a rate undreamed of years ago. But its history does not stop with present-day developments, for the most fascinating chapters lie ahead and are yet to be filled with advances from the teams of soil physicists, agronomists, horticulturists, plant pathologists, animal scientists, farmers, and agricultural engineers working in agricultural technology.
In the solution of a given problem, it is very often necessary for the agricultural engineer to contribute as a member of a team. For example, in a problem of mechanizing the harvest of a given crop, the basic solution may not lie in the area of machine design or redesign, but in cooperation with the botanist or plant breeder in developing a new variety of plant that is better adapted to presently available machines. Once a solution is found, the team is dependent on the agricultural engineer, perhaps more than on any other member, to translate and carry the process or development into practical usage.
In view of the increasing emphasis in feeding and clothing the people of the world, the horizons of the practicing agricultural engineer are becoming international in character. The demand is great for service in overseas projects sponsored by land-grant colleges and universities, in federally supported programs, and with private industries as they expand their domestic operations to international proportions.
Biomedical engineering is an interdisciplinary field that uses engineering, physics, and chemistry to develop instruments, machines, and methods for studying and treating living organisms. Biomedical engineering as a distinct profession is only about 20 years old. It is still so specialized that few universities offer graduate-level training in the field, and even fewer have undergraduate programs. Therefore biomedical engineers usually start out in a related field such as medicine or engineering. With the emphasis in medicine on electronic devices, a useful background for a biomedical engineer is electronic engineering.