The department's overall mission is to develop and extend knowledge in engineering and technology that serves to advance the productivity of agriculture, the value-added processing and utilization of agricultural commodities, and the sustainable management of environmental resources.

Its research programs generally involve multi disciplinary collaborations that are focused in the areas of: 1) Natural Resources Engineering, 2) Machinery Systems and Precision Agriculture, 3) Food and Bioprocess Engineering, and 4) Structures and Environment.