Page 8 - ME Newsletter Fall

Working With the Wind
The Hogan Lab has something rare
to offer its researchers: a bonafide
wind tunnel. Led by Professor Chris
Hogan, the team has been working with
WinField, a subsidiary of Land O’Lakes,
since 2018 on reducing “spray drift.” As
part of this research, WinField donated
a wind tunnel to the lab, one of only two
similar wind tunnels in U.S. academia suitable for agricultural spray. Undergraduates, master’s students, PhDs, and postdocs have all worked on this unique piece of equipment over the last five years.
Spray drift is when droplets get carried by the wind to an area that was not intended to be sprayed. This is a significant issue for pesticide use on crops, as spray drift can lead to overuse of pesticides and creates
a significant issue for adjoining fields — an issue of particular interest for organic farmers. Droplets need to be big enough that they don’t float away, but small enough that they can be evenly distributed on plants. WinField wanted to know if they could be more predictive about droplet size in sprays, rather than using trial and error. The goal is to optimize pesticide use on crops to minimize use and maximize efficiency. “The analogy would be, your doctor gives you one pill that’s 1/10th a normal antibiotic dose that works just as well,” said Hogan.
The WinField research is a partnership between Hogan and faculty members Jiarong Hong and Cari Dutcher. Hogan tests sprays in the wind tunnel, Hong analyzes the spray in 3D imaging, and Dutcher works on the properties of the liquid being sprayed. Each research team’s work informs the other teams’ efforts going forward.
8 ME News Fall 2023
Industry and
An Electrifying Future: Volvo and ME
William Northrop, ME professor and director of the Thomas E. Murphy Engine Laboratory (MERL), is working on a U.S. Department of Energy project led by Volvo Trucks. Northrop’s team is developing software that helps fleets using electric trucks manage energy and efficiently charge to meet their daily schedule. The project has been beneficial to the lab because it funded research on important topics related to heavy duty vehicles, including working toward reduced carbon emissions.