Auburn Bulletin 2023-2024

Biosystems Engineering — ABM

Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s Curriculum for Biosystems Engineering

The Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s degree program is designed to provide an opportunity for highly motivated students to gain an in-depth understanding of Biosystems Engineering beyond that of typical bachelor’s level graduates and make them more competitive for industrial positions or for graduate studies. Specifically, the program allows students to take three 6000 level courses (minimum of 9 credit hours) that will count for both the bachelor’s and master’s degrees. The ABM program can be applied towards the non-thesis or the thesis option of the BSEN M.S. degree. In addition, the ABM program provides an opportunity for students involved in undergraduate research to build on that research and develop it into an M.S. thesis. The availability of an ABM will be useful in recruiting and attracting highly motivated high school students. Finally, the ABM program allows students to obtain a non-thesis M.S. degree in 12 months or obtain a thesis-based M.S. degree in about 18 months after earning a Bachelor of Biosystems Engineering degree. Note that the duration of the thesis-based M.S. degree is highly dependent on the type of research conducted for the M.S. degree. Students who are interested in the ABM program are highly encouraged to discuss with the department head or the BSEN Graduate Program Officer

Below is a chart of all the approved courses that can be taken in the ABM program and what course that replaces at the undergraduate level.

CodeTitleHours
BSEN 6220Geospatial Technologies in Biosystems (Replaces BSEN 5220 Geospatial Technologies in Biosystems)3
BSEN 6230Waste Management and Utilization for Biosystems (Replaces BSEN 5230 Waste Management and Utilization for Biosystems)3
BSEN 6280Life-Cycle Assessment for Biological Systems (Replaces BSEN 5280 Life-Cycle Assessment for Biological Systems)3
BSEN 6510Ecological Engineering (Replaces BSEN 5510 Ecological Engineering)3
BSEN 6520Watershed Modeling (Replaces BSEN 5520 Watershed Modeling)3
BSEN 6540Biomass and Biofuels Engineering (Replaces BSEN 5540 Biomass and Biofuels Engineering )3
BSEN 6560Site Design for Biosystems (Replaces BSEN 5560 Site Design for Biosystems)3
FOEN 6230Engineered Wood Structure Design (Replaces FOEN 5230 Engineered Wood Structure Design)3

Courses marked with an asterisk are those that can be substituted by graduate level courses by students enrolled in the ABM program to meet nine undergraduate hours during their senior year and nine graduate hours to be used toward their graduate degree.

Senior Year for Students in ABM Program - Biosystems Engineering 

Senior
FallHoursSpringHours
BSEN 3210 Mechanical Power for Biosystems3Literature Core3
BSEN 4210 Irrigation System Design3Fine Arts Core3
BSEN 4300 Professional Practice in Biosystems Engineering2BSEN 4310 Engineering Design for Biosystems3
PHIL 1040 Business Ethics or 1020 Introduction to Ethics3*Biosystems Engineering Elective3
*BSEN 5220 Geospatial Technologies in Biosystems3*BSEN 5230 Waste Management and Utilization for Biosystems3
*Biosystems Engineering Elective3UNIV 4AA0 Creed to Succeed0

Senior Year for Students in ABM Program - Biosystems Engineering (Bioprocess Engineering Option)

Senior
FallHoursSpringHours
*BSEN 5280 Life-Cycle Assessment for Biological Systems3BSEN 4310 Engineering Design for Biosystems3
*BSEN 5540 Biomass and Biofuels Engineering3Literature Core3
BSEN 4300 Professional Practice in Biosystems Engineering2*BSEN 5230 Waste Management and Utilization for Biosystems3
PHIL 1020 Introduction to Ethics or 1040 Business Ethics3Fine Arts Core3
*Bioprocessing Engineering Elective3*Bioprocessing Engineering Elective3
*BSEN 5220 Geospatial Technologies in Biosystems3UNIV 4AA0 Creed to Succeed0

Senior Year for Students in ABM Program - Biosystems Engineering (Ecological Engineering Option)

Senior
FallHoursSpringHours
BSEN 4300 Professional Practice in Biosystems Engineering2Literature Core3
*BSEN 5220 Geospatial Technologies in Biosystems3PHIL 1020 Introduction to Ethics or 1040 Business Ethics3
*BSEN 5510 Ecological Engineering3BSEN 4310 Engineering Design for Biosystems3
*Ecological Engineering Elective3*BSEN 5230 Waste Management and Utilization for Biosystems3
*BSEN 5560 Site Design for Biosystems3*BSEN 5520 Watershed Modeling3
Ecology Elective3UNIV 4AA0 Creed to Succeed0

Senior Year for Students in ABM Program - Biosystems Engineering (Forest Engineering Option)

Senior
FallHoursSpringHours
*BSEN 5220 Geospatial Technologies in Biosystems3BSEN 4310 Engineering Design for Biosystems3
*BSEN 5560 Site Design for Biosystems3*Forest Engineering Elective3
FOEN 5710 Systems Analysis for Forestry and Biological Operations3PHIL 1040 Business Ethics or 1020 Introduction to Ethics3
FORY 5230 Silviculture4Literature Core3
BSEN 4300 Professional Practice in Biosystems Engineering2UNIV 4AA0 Creed to Succeed0

Accelerated Master of Science in Biosystems Engineering (non-thesis) 

First Year
FallHoursSpringHours
BSEN 6250 Deterministic Modeling for Biosystems3BSEN 7950 Seminar1
BSEN/Engineering/STAT Electives8BSEN/Engineering/STAT Electives9
 11 10
Total Hours: 21