Agriculture and Biosystems Engineering students at Iowa State University will get to play with and learn from the latest tractor technology thanks to a generous donation from John Deere.

Tony Kajewski, continuing improvement engineering manager at John Deere Waterloo Tractorworks, presented gold keys to the tractor to Jonathan Wickert, dean of engineering, and Joe Colletti, senior associate dean of agriculture and life sciences (see photo). Check out the YouTube video.

The donated tractor features Deere’s next-generation John Deere CommandView™ II cab, an Infinitely Variable Transmission (IVT), and a 9.0L John Deere PowerTech Plus engine that meets federal emission standards for off-road diesel engines. Embedded in the tractor are data networks, controllers, and software to enable tractor efficiency and productivity.

“Modern agricultural vehicles like the Deere 8245R tractor require the integration of several technical systems including mechanical systems, hydraulic systems, embedded controllers, and data networks,” says Brian Steward, ABE associate professor. “This gift will allow our students to work with the absolute latest technology, literally right off the line.”

The gift is representative of the ABE department’s long-standing partnership with John Deere, according to Ramesh Kanwar, ABE professor and chair. “Partnerships like this enable us to move into the future and deliver high-quality instruction to our students and high-quality graduates back to industry,” he says.

The ABE department trains the largest group of engineering and technology students in the United States focused on the engineering, testing, manufacture, and safety of advanced machinery systems like those represented by the Deere tractor.