FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 05/17/2021
STAR Announces Its Third Award Winning Capstone Project
Texas A&M Students win 1st place in 2021 Engineering Project Showcase
Aguilares, TX— South Texas Advancement Resource (STAR) would like to congratulate our Texas A&M Capstone team, Andres Boccalandro, Hayden Dallmeyer and Lindsey Walton for winning first place in the Biological & Agricultural Engineers (BAEN) division at the Texas A&M 2021 Engineering Project Showcase held May 7th, 2021.
This Capstone team was tasked with the project “Water-Energy-Crop Analysis for Optimal Land Management & Irrigation”. In this project, STAR asked the Capstone team to design a crop, irrigation and energy plan that will generate a profit within 5 years on a 100-acre piece of property. Within this
project, the team faced many constraints such as harsh, dry and arid climate, no availability to connect with the electrical grid system and no pre-existing water well within the project area; only a 3-acre pre-existing stock tank.
To see a copy of this award-winning Design Report, “Water-Energy-Crop Analysis for Optimal Land Management & Irrigation”, please visit STAR’s website at www.starprograms.org.
About STAR: STAR (South Texas Advancement Resource) is a non-profit organization based in Webb County, Texas. Founded in 2016, STAR provides Research and Educational programs for sustainable farming and ranching in South Texas. To learn more about STAR, become a project sponsor, or to make a donation, you can visit our website at www.starprograms.org or call Bill Raney at 956-763-3624.
Water-Energy-Crop Analysis for Optimal Land Management & Irrigation design report
ON TUESDAY, FEB. 02, 2019, STAR SIGNED AN AGREEMENT WITH LAREDO COLLEGE. STAR’s project is a workforce development program for students getting certification degrees in the following programs:
- Diesel Mechanic Technology
- Automotive Mechanic Technology
- Welding Technology
- Electrician
STAR is providing a monthly stipend from $250 up to $500 directly to each student. At this time, we have 10 students chosen based on financial need. These students already have financial aid to pay for school and books but need a little extra so they can successfully complete their degree without having to worry about working full time while attending school or other financial obligations they may have.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 8/20/2020
STAR Announces Its Second Award Winning Capstone Project
Texas A&M Students win 3rd place in National Competition
Aguilares, TX.— STAR would like to congratulate their Texas A&M Capstone team, Ana Chen Reyes, Jacy Gray, and Madison Hodges for winning 3rd place in the AGCO National Student Design Competition. This national competition is held and judged by The American Society of Agricultural & Biological Engineers. The purpose of the AGCO National Student Design Competition, is to encourage undergraduate students to participate in the basic design of an engineering project useful to agriculture and related areas and to provide an arena of professionalism in which the student can experience peer recognition of a well conceived and executed design project.
This year’s Texas A&M team won for their design of a “Rural Garden in a Food Desert”. This design was their Capstone project that STAR (South Texas Advancement Resource) tasked them to complete. STAR asked this team to provide a design for a vegetable garden on a 5-acre development on the farm, with harsh weather conditions, in Eastern Webb County, an area classified as a “food desert”. The project will employ rainwater harvesting and high tunnels to supplement a vegetable garden to prove that a sustainable model is a viable solution in South Texas.
This Texas A&M team provided a design report that focused on 3 areas: Crop Selection and Crop Management, Garden Layout, and Irrigation. Based on their research and Design Report, STAR has begun implementation of this award-winning design. With partial funding from a USDA grant, STAR has constructed 2 of 4 high tunnels with completion scheduled for September. STAR will complete the irrigation system this Fall and start planting in January and February of 2021. To see a copy of this award winning Design Report, “Rural Garden in a Food Desert”, please visit STAR’s website at www.starprograms.org.
About STAR: STAR (South Texas Advancement Resource) is a non-profit organization based in Webb County, Texas. Founded in 2016, STAR provides Research and Educational programs for sustainable farming and ranching in South Texas. To learn more about STAR, become a project sponsor, or to make a donation, you can visit our website at www.starprograms.org or call Bill Raney at 956-763-3624.
IFS Baen Poster | IFS – Rural Garden in a Food Desert – Design Report
DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL AND AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING
Water-Energy-Crop Analysis for Optimal Land Management & Irrigation Huisache Pasture (Aguilares, TX)
Bill Raney
President
STAR – South Texas Advancement Resource 319 Oak Ave, Aguilares, TX 78369
Bill:
We are very pleased to be working together with you and the South Texas Advancement Resource (STAR) on our joint effort to determine how we can make low yield agricultural land more productive. The benefits could be, of course, enormous.
We are extraordinarily excited to be part of the project because STAR and Texas A&M have an important opportunity to make a long-term effect on the World and the ability to feed the growing population.
Working together with you we can “make a difference” and Texas A&M University as a leader in Agricultural Research as well as our students want to thank you.
Sincerely,
Rabi H. Mohtar
Professor and Dean
Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences (FAFS)
American University of Beirut
and
TEES Research Professor
Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering (BAEN) Zachry Department of Civil Engineering (CVEN)
Texas A&M University
306 Scoates Hall Mail Stop 2117 | College Station, TX 77843-2117
201 Scoates Hall
2117 TAMU
College Station, TX 77843-2117
Tel. 979.845.3931 Fax. 979.862.3442 http://baen.tamu.edu
