Proyectos de Investigación

Strengthening Puerto Rico's Scientific Capabilities in Water Erosion and Sediment Transport Research (Award # NR22F3520001C004)

Project Objectives:

  • Strengthen the capabilities of the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (ABE) to broaden research opportunities in water and soil stewardship.
  • Enhance the facilities dedicated to conducting multidisciplinary research in soil erosion, and transport of sediments.
  • To positively impact the Greater Mayagüez region by providing training and information regarding rainwater harvesting.

Project Period:

  • September 01, 2022 – August 31, 2025

Researcher:

  • Dr. Salvador F. Acuña Guzmán (PI)
  • Prof. Héctor O. López Méndez (Co-PI)

Empowering Future Professionals: A Multidisciplinary Approach toward Agriculture 4.0 Career Readiness in Puerto Rico (Z-398 /PR2023-05539)

Project Objectives:

  • Provide career readiness training to students in remote sensing, computer programming, and mechatronics for agriculture and natural resources.
  • Promote capstone projects in agriculture for engineering students.
  • Contribute to a better-qualified workforce in Agriculture 4.0.
  • Strengthen collaboration between the College of Agriculture and the College of Engineering.

Project Period:

  • September 01, 2023 – August 31, 2026

Researcher:

  • Dr. Salvador F. Acuña Guzmán (PI)

Installation and integration of a rainwater collection system with a rainfall simulator to enhance water erosion research in Puerto Rico (PRWERI FY2023)

Project Objectives:

  • Design, construct and install a rainwater collection system at Finca Alzamora.
  • Integrate this rainwater collection system with a rainfall simulator.
  • Quantify water and soil losses caused by simulated erosive rainfall events at plot scale.

Project Period:

  • September 01, 2023 – December 31, 2024

Researcher:

  • Dr. Salvador F. Acuña Guzmán (PI)

Scaling Microirrigation Technologies to Address the Global Water Challenge (H-402)

Project Objectives:

  • The objectives of this project are to evaluate various aspects of water use, water requirements, and optimizing crop yields using microirrigations system. 

Project Period:

  • January 12, 2015 – September 30, 2024

Researcher:

  • Dr. Eric W. Harmsen (CO-PI)

Population Outburst of Stem Boreer Beetles on Tropical Fruits Groves in Southern Puerto Rico (H-502)

Project Objectives:

  • The objectives of this research are to evaluate the incidence, severity, and relative preference of various pests in different cultivars of mango in southern Puerto Rico, possible effects of some abiotic factors, and chemical and cultural management for the detection and reduction of these pests.

Project Period:

  • December 01, 2021 – November 30, 2025

Researchers:

  • Dr. Eric W. Harmsen (CO-PI)

Caribbean Climate Adaptation Network: Building equitable adaptive capacities of the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. (NOAA RISA)

Project Objectives:

The project objective is to enable effective decision-making that supports building just and equitable resilience in the USVI and equitable resilience in the USVI and PR. Our focus will be to address climate hazards related to extreme rainfall, extreme heat, drought, landslides, and coastal and riverine flooding. By utilizing a human-centered design approach, the network will develop effective and scalable climate actions.

Project Period:

  • January 10, 2023 – August 31, 2027

Researcher:

  • Dr. Eric W. Harmsen (Co-PI)

Controlled Fermentation Studies in the Manufacture of Specialty Coffees (H-512)

Project Objectives:

  • Evaluate the effect of the use different yeast strains during the fermentation process on aroma and flavor quality characteristics of products made from the Limani coffee variety.
  • To design, construct and evaluate a computer controlled continuous fermentation system for coffee.
  • To evaluate the effect of yeast inoculum concentration and temperature on the minimum time required to remove mucilage, and on the ratings given by Q graders related to aroma, flavor and general quality of coffee (as defined by SCAA).
  • To prepare a small land field of selected coffee trees to develop of future research and trainings activities focused to local farmers.
  • To prepare a Web Page with technical information and queries related to specialty coffees.

Project Period:

  • January 1, 2021 –  December 31, 2024

Researchers:

  • Dr. Javier Huertas Miranda (PI)

Development of High Quality Value Added Products Made from Coffee (H-518)

Project Objectives:

  • Determine the consumers preferences between coffees made with different varieties, roasting levels, and mixtures between them.
  • Refine and evaluate methods to obtain high-quality concentrated coffee-extracts prepared with water and ethanol, as solvents.
  • Evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of the use of the concentrated coffee extra

Project Period:

  • January 01, 2022 – December 31, 2025

Researcher:

  • Dr. Javier Huertas Miranda (PI)

Evaluation of Alternative Coffee Harvesting Methods for Puerto Rico (H-521)

Project Objectives:

  • Evaluate the coffee harvesting capacity, efficiency, effectiveness, coffee loss and tree damage of alternative methods that are commercially available and compare them  with the traditional basket.
  • Evaluate the quality of the harvested coffee in terms of the vegetal material collected, ripeness composition and the amount of pulped coffee present.
  • Evaluate the worker perception and acceptance of the alternate coffee harvesting methods studied.

Project Period:

  • January 20, 2022 – December 31, 2024

Researchers:

  • Dr. Francisco M. Monroig Saltar (PI)

Fruit Surpluses: Formulations and Manufacturing Methods for Fruit Value Added Products (H-531)

Project Objectives:

  • Gather current fruit production data to establish an accurate estimate of the amount fruit crops (i.e., mango, papaya, and pineapple) that remain unharvested or is otherwise lost and could be used to manufacture value-added products.
  • Define the formulation and manufacturing process for the development of commercial value-added products from surplus mango, papaya, and pineapple of interest to stakeholders.
  • Develop blueprints and related documentation for a model manufacturing plant to produce the value-added products of interest.

Project Period:

  • December 07, 2022 – December 06, 2026

Researcher:

  • Dr. Fernando J. Pérez Muñoz (PI)

Establishing An Educational Pipeline to Strengthen The MPP Industry Workforce In The Caribbean (RIIA-22)

Project Objectives:

  • Establish the Puerto Rico Meat Industry Alliance (PRMIA) to bring together all meat industry stakeholders (i.e., production, harvesting, processing, academia, and government) to prepare and implement a combined strategic development plan.
  • Establish an industry accepted certificate to provide the food safety and technical knowledge and skills needed at farm and slaughterhouse levels.
  • Prepare faculty to offer the industry accepted certificate assuring effort sustainability post project intervention.
  • Develop a plan for the establishment of a rendering facility to research alternative feed ingredients that maintain nutritional quality while reducing costs.

Project Period:

  • November 15, 2023 – November 14, 2027

Researchers:

  • Dr. Fernando J. Pérez Muñoz (CO-PI)

A strategic alliance impacting Puerto Rico meat and poultry industry by using immersive teaching methods to deliver instruction (HIS-23 PRMIA)

Project Objectives:

  • Establish an undergraduate MPP minor concentration.
  • Offer a “787 Workshop Series” to provide an experiential MPP experience in a lab environment.
  • Offer a “787 Study Tour” to experience Puerto Rico’s meat and poultry industry.
  • Develop model blueprints to streamline the establishment of small MPP plants.

Project Period:

  • March 01, 2023 – February 29, 2028

Researcher:

  • Dr. Fernando J. Pérez Muñoz (CO-PI)