Department of Agricultural Engineering
The Department of Agricultural Engineering traces its beginnings with the then Central Luzon Agricultural School (CLAS). It used to offer a secondary Farm Mechanics course. After the school was elevated into the Central Luzon Agricultural College (CLAC), the department was expanded to include the offering of a 4-year degree program in Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Engineering (BSAEn) starting in 1955 and four years later, this curricular program was revised into a 5-year BSAEn program.
Graduates of the BSAEn program have excelled in the board examinations for agricultural engineers and have occupied key management positions. Many of its graduates have earned national and international recognition for their outstanding works. All these achievements have contributed to the high reputation of the College in particular and the Central Luzon State University in general.
Graduate programs of the Department of Agricultural Engineering started in 1978 and 1984 for the masteral and doctoral levels, respectively. During this period, graduate programs of the different colleges in the university were still under the Institute of Graduate Studies (IGS). With the verticalization of academic programs in the university, the graduate programs are now being implemented by the College of Engineering starting June 2013.
Over the years, the graduate programs in Agricultural Engineering have earned recognition. The graduates, including the faculty of the programs, have gained respect and recognition that must have emanated from their key management positions at their place of work and their professional organizations; their capacity to initiate, lead, and implement research, development and extension activities.
On July 2008, representatives of the Commission of Higher Education (CHED) – Technical Panel for Agricultural Education visited the College of Engineering relative to the application of the department for the Center of Excellence of its BSAEn program. After their evaluation, the CHED officially recognized CLSU as Center of Excellence in Agricultural Engineering.
With the recent trends and developments, the department is in the process of revising its BSAEn curriculum changing its name to Bachelor of Science in Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (BSABE). Likewise, the department shall also be named Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (ABE).
In April 2007, a consortium of eight engineering institutions in the country was created to implement the Engineering Research and Development for Technology (ERDT) Program. Led by the University of the Philippines in Diliman, the other members of the consortium are Central Luzon State University (CLSU), the Ateneo de Manila University, the De LaSalle University, the Mapua Institute of Technology, the University of San Carlos, the Mindanao State University, and the University of the Philippines at Los Banos (UPLB). The graduate program in agricultural engineering is being offered in two universities: CLSU and UPLB.