ABE

The military might not be the first career you think of when you hear about pathways after graduating from the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

An education from the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign means critical thinking and hands-on learning across every major. That gives graduates an edge in the job market, but for Ian Fleming, it also meant becoming an inventor and scoring a deal on the hit TV show Shark Tank.

The Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering (ABE), part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) and The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, honored the exceptional success of two distinguished graduates at the 2026 Alumni Awards ceremony on Oct. 12.

Catherine (Cate) Gagliardo knew she wanted to follow in her father's footsteps.

Growing up in Chicago, she watched him expand his vegetable oil company into the emerging biofuels industry, turning used vegetable oil into biodiesel that powered the city's buses. Although her father passed away when she was just 11, his work sparked a fascination with renewable fuels that eventually led her to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where she launched her career in the same industry.

James A. (Jim) Holmes learned early that when something breaks, you figure out how to fix it.

Growing up on a small Angus cattle farm near Dunlap, Illinois, Mr. Holmes was surrounded by machinery, livestock, and the everyday challenges that come with keeping a farm running.

“If something broke, you fixed it with a screwdriver, an adjustable wrench, and a hammer,” Mr. Holmes said with a laugh.

Scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and five other research institutions are five years into a futuristic $25 million project that allows people and plants to communicate and collaborate to meet environmental challenges.

Farmers are struggling with high input costs, low grain prices, and razor-thin profit margins. A new project at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, with funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, aims to help. By experimenting with drainage water recycling, the team hopes to reduce nutrient losses, improve water quality, boost local farm economies, and avoid harmful algal blooms in the Gulf.

Tucked away in the far southern part of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus is the Food Science Pilot Plant, a flexible, state-of-the-art space for food processing.

The Center for Digital Agriculture at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is being awarded $750,000 by the USDA-NIFA Research and Extension Experiences for Undergraduates (REEU) program for a proposal titled “Digital Applications of Technology in Agriculture for Sustainable, Multidisc

The undergraduate program in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign earned the No. 4 spot in the nation in U.S. News & World Report’s 2027 Best Colleges rankings, continuing its longstanding place among the nation’s leading agricultural and biological engineering programs.