Major Courses

AGEN 301- Rural Workshop Technology
Hand and power tools, measuring instruments; planning and equipping a rural workshop: safety procedures; practice in wood-working, sheet metal work, soldering, gas and electric welding, plumbing, simple electric wiring, working with bricks and concrete, using nails, nuts and bolts, rivets and glue. (2 credits)

AGEN 322- Irrigation and Drainage Engineering I
This course includes definitions of irrigation and drainage; relevance of irrigation in Eritrea; brief historical profile of irrigation in the world, in Africa and in Eritrea; principles and techniques of the various types of surface and pressurized irrigation systems; definition of drainage; identification of areas where drainage is relevant; basic underlying theories of the various drainage systems; consequences of poorly drained land; water logging etc. (3 credits).

AGEN 341-Engineering Properties of Biological Materials
Engineering and biological properties of food materials, including liquid foods of biological origin, determination of properties and their effect on design of post harvest equipment, unit operations and related systems. Practical elements include physical and biological properties determinations measurement of shape, size, density, hardness along with deformation characteristics. (2 credits)

AGEN 401- Soil Mechanics
Soil classifications, bulk, particle densities and porosity, soil compaction, soil sliding, hydraulic properties of soils, permeability, seepage, stress distribution in soil mass, shear strength of soil, and shear strength measurement. Lateral earth pressure, retaining structures, stability of slopes, and maintenance of slopes, bearing capacity of soils. (2 credits)

AGEN 411- Soil and Water Conservation Engineering
Hydrologic cycle principles of engineering hydrology as applied to small watersheds, principles of mechanical and vegetative erosion control measures. Surface runoff estimation (Rainfall runoff models), design and layout of mechanical protection works (terraces, check dams, grass waterways, tied ridding, grass waterways, flood diversion structures, gully and ravine control structures, soil conservation structures in special problem areas, bank reinforcement, control measures for wind erosion (windbreaks, shelter belts). (3 credits)

AGEN 412- Design of Earth Embankments and Reservoirs
Types of dams, physical factors governing selection type of dams, earth dams, location and identification of construction materials for earth dams, zoning, embankments, pore water pressure, seepage through embankments, stability analyses, maintenance of slopes, control of seepage, types of reservoirs, reservoir routing, design of embankments and ponds sedimentation deposits in reservoirs, reservoirs sedimentation survey, siltation reduction. (3 credits)

AGEN 414- Design of Soil and Water Conservation Measures in a Catchment.
There are few additional theoretical aspects to be studied in this course. Knowledge gained from the previous courses will be utilized with the objective of familiarizing students with the selection and design of soil and water conservation measures in an agricultural area in general and in a watershed in particular, from the individual farmer's field level to the catchments level.
(2 credits)

AGEN 421- Irrigation and Drainage Engineering II
Phases of water distribution; irrigation and drainage canal design: cross section, free board and bank width, flow velocity, canal diameter; frictional losses in pipes: Hazen Williams, Darcy Weisbach and Colebrook equations, recommended flow formulae; computation of the back water curve. Flow measurement structure: undershot structures, overflow structures; control of water levels: check structures, drop structures, emergency structures; Miscellaneous structures; intake from a river, sand traps and bed material, night storage, farm roads and culverts; cost benefit analysis of various design options. (3 credits)

AGEN 422- Irrigation Water Management
Topics include the basics of the volume balance: infiltration functions, flow channel geometry and time-advance/recession relations, mathematical representation of the volume balance; misplaced water saving measures; classical and effective efficiency concepts in relation to water management; the concept of the use of fractions in the context of water management; field techniques for saving water in the surface irrigation systems (end checks, surge flow, alternate furrow and split-set) and pressurized irrigation systems (the use of appropriate sprinkler and drip discharges ,proper distancing of drippers and sprinklers); irrigation water quality assessment in particular salinity and total dissolved solids (3 credits)

AGEN 431- Agricultural Machinery I
Topics covered in this course include: Status and scope of farm mechanization in Eritrea, constraints, future trends and government polices, primary and secondary tillage, objectives, tillage methods, mechanics of tillage friction, and adhesion properties of soil. Types of primary and secondary tillage equipment description analysis of forces acting upon mould board disk plough and disk harrow blade. Force analysis during vertical and horizontal hitching and draft sensing. Crop planting equipment seed drill and planters, construction details, calibration, furrow openers, covering and compacting devices.(3 credits)

AGEN 501- Farm Electrification
The polyhase system; generation of a three phase voltage; star and delta connection; the balanced three phase circuit; the unbalanced circuit; the rotary field synchronous and asynchronous motor; power transmission over long distance (hydroelectric and diesel power transformer substances); small generator sets (use and maintenance); design of farmstead wiring; installation material (wires, application of a motor on the farm; connection and remote control of electrical motors; electric circuits for illumination.(2 credits)

AGEN 522- Design of Drip and Sprinkler Irrigation Systems
Selection procedure of pipe diameters, drippers, sprinkler nozzles and irrigation pumps; installation of drip and sprinkler laterals, sprinkler nozzles and various accessories such as pressure regulators non return valves; gate valves in both field and horticultural crops based on topographic maps; set up of the control head: identification of a proper site assembling of a fertilizer tank for flushing with acid, assembling and dissembling of different filters; (3 credits)

AGEN 531- Agricultural Machinery II
Introduction to machine elements, theory of machines, design of mould board plough, disk plough, harrow, cultivator, and forage harvesting machinery and grain combine. Kinematics and dynamics of farm machines. Dynamic behavior of soils. Force analysis of machine element. Mechanical power transmission systems, design of farm machines- bearing, V Belts, gears and chains, overload safety devices universal joints, hydraulic power take off drives and, power transmission, hydraulic control systems.(2 credits)

AGEN 532- Tractor Design and Analysis
Trends in tractor design, design of engine components, design of clutch and transmission, steering and linkages, design of front end geometry and wheel suspension, tractor stability, selection of ground drive components, ergonomics applications to design of tractor controls, visual displays, operator's seat, cabs etc. Application of similitude to engine design. (2 credits)

AGEN 535- Farm Power Units
Classification and selection of tractors, vehicles and other power sources; measurement of engine power; component parts of an internal combustion engine, fuel and lubrication system.
Clutch and fluid coupling, transmission gears and torque converters, differential units and final drives steering and braking system; hydraulic control systems, traction theory, mechanics of tractor chassis; center of gravity; auxiliary power and supplementary systems power tillers and their operation. Trouble shooting in tractors and power tillers; numerical power related to above topics. (3 credits)

AGEN 537- Tractor Driving
Correct procedure for starting, stopping and controlling the tractor. Smooth driving
habits. Safety precautions.(1 credit)

AGEN 541- Dairy Engineering
Engineering properties of dairy products and various foods, process flow chart for dairy products, study of unit operations, selection and design of dairy equipment, milking machine heating and cooling of milk, heat exchanger internal tube barrel, plate and surface types pasteurization of milk -batch type, high temperature short time (HTST) pasteurization, vacreators, bottling, cream separators and refrigeration. Food plant operations and maintenance; program design and layout of plants. (3 credits)

AGEN 542- Agricultural Process Engineering
Process of farm crops, including drying of grains and seed, principles of grain drying systems, thin layer drying, deep bed drying, drying methods; types of drier -sack drier, revolving drum drier, close circuit drier with dehumidifier, thin layer, deep bed, batch, continues flow and bin drying methods; milling of cereals, pulses and oil seeds, with special reference to coffee, wheat and rice processing; design of grain processing equipment and systems. Practical elements include: field visit to various seed processing plants. (3 credits)

AGEN 544- Advanced Seed Processing
Unit operations and equipment; design of processes, equipment and plant systems; seed storage requirements, practices, design and standards for storage structures; inventory control; safety aspects ; plant management, cost analysis of operations ,plant system ; comparison of modern and traditional storage structures ,relative merits and demerits .Practical elements include: visit to various seed processing plants and their structural analysis. (3 credits)

AGEN 582- Senior Research
The student will develop and carry out a research project in one of the main components of Agricultural Engineering fields, write it up and defend his/her report in order to develop the skills to design and carry out research, as well as report on the results. (3 credits)

 

Elective Departmental Courses

AGEN 534- Agricultural Machinery Testing and Evaluation
Laboratory tests, PTO performance test, belt pulley performance test, hydraulic power and lifting capacity test. Safety test -brake test, center of gravity position, turning ability; Ergonomically test noise measurement, mechanical vibration, visibility from driver's seat, smoke level; Miscellaneous tests -Air cleaner pull over test ,component /assembly inspection . Practical elements related to tractor performance tests ,safety test ,ergonomical test ,field evaluation and performance testing of various farm machines will be conducted. (2 credits)

AGEN 536- Land Development Machinery
Engineering fundamentals related to land development. Soil stabilization and compaction parameters. Land development machinery (Dossier, grader, clamshell, loader ,excavator, dragline ,trenching machine, digging equipment ,trucks and wagons ,other specialized machines ,land reclamation machinery); stone clearing ,scrap cleaning , trimmers ,hole diggers ; working principles ,output cost analysis ,management practices adopted and other related parameters .Application of CPM and PERT for optimum output. Numerical problems related to above topics. (2 credits)

AGEN 537-Energy Resources in Agriculture
Conventional and non-conventional energy sources, energy requirements in production agriculture, agro-based industries, and energy use pattern on various categories of farms, energy equivalence. Biogas plants, installation, operation and maintenance. Biomass gasification and application, solar and wind energy application, energy management and forecasting. Practical elements include: field visit to various solar, wind and biogas plants. (2 credits)

AGEN 538- Farm Machinery Production
Feasibility analysis for agricultural machinery production, plant size determination, product design and analysis, production techniques and processes, plant layout, inventory control, production planning and control. Practical elements include: field visit to various agricultural machinery production units. (2 credits)

AGEN 425-Indigenous Irrigation Practices
Importance of indigenous knowledge and practices; survey of the different types of indigenous irrigation systems in Eritrea, Africa and other similar environment s around the world; comparative advantages and disadvantages of indigenous and modern irrigation systems; intervention methodologies for improving the indigenous irrigation systems and integrating them with modern systems. Practical elements include: field visits to Shieb spate irrigation system and other areas where indigenous irrigation systems are practiced (2 credits)

AGEN 524- Well Engineering
Classification of wells; steady and transient state flow to partially and fully penetrating open wells. Design of open well; methods of well drilling: percussion, rotary, reserves rotary. Design of well assembly and gravel pack and installation of well screen; completion and development of well; well interference and multiple well systems; Determination of Aquifer parameter by Theis, Cooper, Jacob and Chow's method. Practical elements include: tutorials on estimation of aquifer parameters from open wells; testing of well screen in sand tank model in unconfined conditions;(2 credits)

AGEN 526- Fish Farm Designing and Construction
Criteria for selection of fresh water and brackish water farms; design and method of construction of: a modern hatchery pond, nursery pond, brood and spec fishponds. Design and construction of fish production farms, determination of earth works volume of pond and embankments. Functional design of different types of spillways; design and construction of inlet, outlet, filters and sluice; measurement and control of water supply; seepage determination (2 credits)

AGEN 527-Rural Water Supply and Sanitation
Introduction and scope of subject; sources and characteristics of rural water supply; estimation of quantity of rural water supply; layout out of water distribution system; intake works; major parameters to be taken into consideration to select site specific pumps. Capacity and requirement of overhead tanks, rural water treatment methods; pipe network analysis; estimation and design of sewage systems. (2 credits)

AGEN 415- Indigenous Soil and Water Conservation Practices
Importance of indigenous knowledge and practices; survey of indigenous soil and water conservation in Eritrea, Africa and other similar environments around the world, both agronomic and mechanical; advantages, disadvantages; potential for improvement; exotic and indigenous practices; integration of indigenous knowledge and practices into conventional techniques. Practical elements include: field visits to areas where indigenous methods are being practiced.(2 credits)

AGEN 516- Flood Estimation and Control
Introduction, factors and causes of floods, flood estimation, importance and objectives, classification, flood frequency methods, flood flow determination, design flood depth-area duration analysis, flood forecasting, flood routing. History of flood control, flood control measures, planning methods, limitations and their economics, control measures for soil erosion and sediment out flow, flood control projects.(2 credits)

AGEN 517- Erosion Assessment and Modeling
Erodability and Erosivity field reconnaissance, erosion plots using natural and artificial rains, rainfall study, mechanics of erosion by the water, interill processes, modeling, empirical and physical based model, application to different spatial and temporal scales, use in erosion assessment and conservation design. Practical elements include: erosion studies using artificial and natural rains, assessment of erosion risks and modeling exercises. (2 credits)

AGEN 545- Food Engineering
Preservation of food materials including fruits and vegetables of thermal processing, kinetics and equipment, food irradiation, extrusion processing, processing by irradiation, food additives. Advanced topics in food processing, filtration, membrance separation, distillation, leaching, extraction and ion exchange process, by-product utilization. Practical elements includes: field visit to various food, fruit and vegetable processing and by-product utilization industries.(2 credits)

AGEN 546- Introduction to Packing
Functional requirements of packing, structural and performance characteristics of packing material, design testing and performance evaluation of packages. Filling and packaging machinery. Practical elements includes: field visit to various packing industries.(2 credits)

AGEN 547- Management of Agricultural Bi-products
Composition and characteristics of agricultural by-products of plant and animal origin, present management practices including technologies and systems, their limitations and scope for improvement, advances in by-product management, including energy efficiency and economics, design of unit technologies and plant systems for various scales of operations. Practicalelements include: field visit to agricultural by-product plant.(2 credits)

AGEN 549- Bio-conversion Engineering
Bio-conversion processes for food, feed, energy and other utility products, process description and process kinetics, effect of process variables, unit operation involved, design of processes, equipment and plant systems. Practical elements include: field visit to various bio-conversion process industries.(2 credits)

Basic Engineering and Related Courses

CIEN 202- Construction materials, (see Civil Engineering syllabus).(3 credits)

CIEN 211- Surveying I, (see Civil Engineering syllabus) (3 credits)

CIEN 241- Engineering Mechanics I (Statics), (see Civil Engineering syllabus). (3 credits)

CIEN 242- Strength of Materials I, (see Civil Engineering syllabus). (3 credits)

CIEN 311- Surveying, (see Civil Engineering syllabus). (3 credits)

CIEN 312- Surveying III, (see Civil Engineering syllabus).(1 credits)

CIEN 332- Engineering Hydrology, (see Civil Engineering syllabus). (3 credits)

ELEN 201- Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering, (see Electrical Engineering
Syllabus). (3 credits)

MEEN 212- Engineering Mechanics II (dynamics), (see Mechanical Engineering
Syllabus). (3 credits)

MEEN 230- Technical Drawing 1, (see Mechanical Engineering syllabus). (3 credits)

MEEN 231- Descriptive Geometry, (see Mechanical Engineering syllabus). (3 credits)

MEEN 305- Thermodynamics I, (see Mechanical Engineering syllabus). (3 credits)

MEEN 308- Fluid Mechanics, (see Mechanical Engineering syllabus). (3 credits)

ANSC 201- Introduction to Animal Husbandry, (see Animal Science Syllabus). (2 credits)

GEOL 201- General Geology, (see Earth Sciences Syllabus). (4 credits)

LREN 212- Introduction to Soil Science, (see Land Resources and Environment syllabus). (3 credits)

LREN 241- Remote Sensing and Resource Evaluation, (see Land Resources and Environment
Syllabus). (3 credits)

MATH 231- Applied Mathematics I, (see Mathematics Syllabus). (4 credits)

MATH 232- Applied Mathematics II, (see Mathematics Syllabus). (4 credits)

PLSC 212- Principles and Practices of Crop Production, (see Plant Science syllabus) (2 credits)

AGEX 201- Principles of Extension, (see Agricultural Economics, Extension and Communication syllabus) (2 credits)

AGEX 212- Extension Teaching and Communication Methods, (see Agricultural Economics, Extension and Communication syllabus) (2 credits)

AGEC 332-Agribusiness, (see Agricultural Economics, Extension and Communication
Syllabus) (2 credits)

AGEC 452-Project Management, (see Agricultural Economics, Extension and Communication syllabus) (1 credits)