Spring 2012 - Quad City Engineering and Science Council

ASABE Quad City Section Newsletter 

ASABE - The Society for Engineering in Agricultural, Food, and Biological Systems 

No. 50. Spring 2012 

Deere 600 Series HydraFlex Draper, given by Chad 

Dow. 

Inside this issue... 

From the Chair 1 

Awards Meeting Review 2 

Recognition 3 

Section Awards 3 

Election Results 6 

Scholarship Recipients 6 

AMC 9 

Closing Notes 9 

Upcoming Events 10 

2012-2013 Section Officers 11 

Social Hour Sponsors 12 

From the Chair Happy Spring, QC ASABE 

members! It seems a bit odd to say this now, after 

having almost a month of incredible spring weather, 

but I think we can safely say now that spring has 

arrived! The planters are out in the fields around 

my house, and that’s always a good sign that winter 

has finally let go. 

With spring comes the conclusion of another year 

within our Section. It is a bit strange, in this period 

that always marks the start of our agricultural 

season and symbolizes the beginning of new life, 

that at this time we are talking about the conclusion 

of most of our Section activities for the year. But, 

that’s exactly what we’re doing. 

A few weeks ago, we had our Spring Awards 

meeting. It was really a great evening. We started 

off with great tech session speakers – the first from 

Larry Hendrickson on how water and nutrient 

management can affect crops – and how managing 

these two factors on a much smaller scale could 

really improve yields. Then we had a great 

overview of this year’s Outstanding Engineering 

Achievement Award winning project, the John 

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After the dinner came the awards presentations. 

This year was an outstanding year for QC Section 

members. We had more patents this year – with 

over 90 patent certificates to give out! Coupled 

with our scholarships and other awards, it was a 

great showcase of what our Section has 

accomplished this year. But we’re not quite done 

yet! 

Coming up on April 17 is our Spring Tour of Kinze 

Manufacturing. This promises to be a great, 

informative tour. I’m disappointed that I will be 

traveling and unable to attend. I am excited to hear 

how the tour goes though. We have a quite large 

group scheduled to attend. 

I want to take a little time and recap our goals for 

the year. This year our Section leadership set three 

goals for the section. The first was to maintain 

section membership at or above the 2011 level. I’m 

happy to say that we have done this, in fact in the 

last few months our section has actually grown! 

Thank you to all the new members and those who 

helped recruit them! 

Our second goal was to increase participation in our 

Section meetings and events. Although I don’t have 

final numbers for the Spring Meeting and the Spring 

Tour, I think we have made great progress in this 

area. I certainly don’t think we have regressed! We 

have had great attendance at our events this year, 

and the number of people registered for the tour is 

exciting! 

Our final goal this year was to initiate one new 

event for the Section. We did this with our

volunteer outreach activity during e-Week in 

February. During this event, we reached almost 100 

children and their families and taught them about 

agricultural engineering. It was a great way to 

spend a Saturday afternoon. I’m hoping that this 

type of activity is something we can continue to be 

involved in. It’s something that I am passionate 

about, for sure! 

None of these things would have happened this year 

without an excellent Executive Committee. It’s 

completely true that one person can’t do it all, and 

this year was no exception. Without the help of 

each of these people, we would not have had such a 

great year. I need to especially thank Will Corman, 

who was key to finding so many great speakers for 

this year’s meetings. Will takes over as Section 

Chair for the 2012-13 year, and I have no doubt that 

he will do a great job. 

I want to thank you for the support you’ve given our 

Society this year. I have truly enjoyed being Section 

Chair. I particularly enjoyed getting to know each 

of you a little better at our meetings and events. I 

truly believe we have the best section within 

ASABE, and it was an honor to be able to lead this 

section for the last year. I am always available to 

any of you in the future – so please never be afraid 

to contact me with questions, concerns, or ideas. 

Enjoy the rest of your spring, and have a fabulous 

summer! I’ll see you all again at the Fall meeting.- 

Anne Ryerson, 2011-2012 Quad City Section Chair 

Awards Meeting Review The 2012 ASABE Quad 

City Section Awards Meeting was held at the 

Viking Club in Moline on March 27 th with 

approximately 60 members and guests present. The 

meeting began with a technical session with two 

speakers. 

The first speaker, Larry Hendrickson, Senior Staff 

Agronomist at the John Deere Technology 

Innovation Center in Champaign, discussed “Water 

and Nutrient Management and the Effect on Crop 

Yields”. Crop yields will need to be doubled by 

2030 to feed a world population of 9 billion as well 

as provide crops dedicated to energy production. 

Research shows large yield variations even within 

the same field due mainly to topography and water 

availability with water management the most 

important factor determining crop yields. However 

one study of yields from a field planted with a 24 

row planter showed the center 8 rows yielding less 

than the two outside sets of 8 rows likely indicating 

soil compaction effects from the tractor pulling the 

planter. The future of precision agriculture will lie 

in reducing yield variability within the same field so 

that maximum productivity may be realized. For 

example, the way of measuring fertilizer application 

may change from pounds/acre to grams/plant. 

The second speaker, Chad Dow, a Senior Engineer 

with the John Deere HydraFlex Draper design 

team, discussed the features of this new product 

which has been granted 13 patents with an 

additional 12 patent disclosures submitted. Design 

innovations include 7.5 inches of cutter bar flexing 

across the entire width of the header, seamless 

draper belts and the use of high strength steel. The 

latter was a major contributor to John Deere being 

the first United States company to receive the 

Swedish Steel Prize, the equivalent of the steel 

industry’s Nobel Prize. 

The first portion of the after-dinner program 

recognized the members serving the Section this 

past year as officers and Member Service 

Representatives. The membership longevity and 

patent award recipients were recognized next and 

are listed below. In addition, Section members 

serving on national committees were also 

recognized and are also listed below. The awards 

program concluded with presentation of the 

Section’s three local awards. 

The John Deere 600 Series HydraFlex Draper 

Platform design team was the recipient of the 2012 

Outstanding Engineering Achievement Award. 

Chad Dow accepted the award on behalf of the team 

and the many others associated with the 

development of this product. 

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Tom Hitzhusen 

The design team includes Front Row: Brian 

Herringshaw, Jeff Nelson, Krishna Potluri, Dan 

Hoffman and Chad Dow. Back Row: Mike 

Mossman, Bruce Coers, Corwin Puryk and Alex 

Lassers 

Anne Ryerson 

Anne Ryerson was the recipient of the 2012 Young 

Member of the Year Award. Anne, who served as 

the Section’s Chair this past year, is a Product 

Safety & Compliance Engineer with the John Deere 

Harvester Works and Seeding Group. Besides her 

technical society work, Anne volunteers time to the 

Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and has also been 

active in local programs for interesting girls in 

engineering. She is also a member of the College of 

Engineering advisory groups at her alma mater, the 

University of Iowa. 

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Tom Hitzhusen was recognized as the Quad City 

Section’s 2012 Member of the Year. A graduate of 

Iowa State, Tom started his career with the John 

Deere Des Moines Works before joining the John 

Deere Harvester Works in 1976 where he retired in 

1999 as Manager of Future Combine Engineering. 

Currently he is an engineering consultant and a 

farmer. He has served as Chair of both the Iowa 

and Quad City Sections of ASABE. Tom also 

helped develop the agricultural equipment exhibit at 

the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, is 

a past Director of the Deer Valley Collectors and the 

Antique Engine and Tractor Association and a 

Board member of the Farmers Mutual Electric 

Cooperative and the Administrative Board of his 

church. 

Photos from the March meeting are included as a 

separate file at the Section web site. See 

http://www.qcesc.org/ASAE/March_2012_Awards_ 

Meeting.pdf 

Recognition – The following Section members 

were recognized at the March Awards Meeting: 

25 year members: David Ramp 

Doug Graham 

Kent Wichelt 

Kevin Schwinn 

40 year member: Joe Teijido 

50+ year members: Philip Kester (51) 

Page Bellinger (52) 

Jim Doering (53) 

Walt Roll (53) 

Bernie Romig (53) 

Larry Gay (55) 

John Ackley (58)

60+ year members: Francis Brinkmeyer (61) 

Jim Graham (61) 

Roy Harrington (61) 

Don Hartwig (61) 

Tom Wilkinson (61) 

Milton Hedquist (68) 

Etlar Henningsen (69) 

Daniel J. Burke 

Bradley A. Yanke 

A concave suspension 

control system and method 

for a threshing section in 

a harvesting machine 

Timothy F. Christensen Stalk roll with coating 

Timothy F. Christensen Reinforced row unit arms 

Patents (recipients in alphabetical order by last 

name) for patents granted between Dec. 18, 2010 

and Jan. 31, 2012: 

Aaron J. Bruns 

Glenn E. Pope 

Rear rotor cone 

Bruce A. Coers 


Ryan P. Mackin 

Combine-header-cylinder 

For float arm stop 

An agricultural harvester 

and header height control 

system 


Glenn E. Pope 

Tailing rethresher 

mechanical delivery to 

return pan 



Mark L. Pearson 

Flexible draper platform 

with pivot geometry 


Glenn E. Pope 



















Alan D. Sheidler 

Top cover for axial rotor 

combine having coned 

transition 

Agricultural harvester rear 

axle arrangement for 

narrow transport 

Multifunction conveyor 

side extrusions 

Steering axle transport 

positioning structure and 

method 

Unloading system for an 

agricultural harvester 

Unload rate control for an 

unloading system in an 

agricultural harvester 

Agricultural harvester with 

propulsion load shifting 

between dual engines 




John A. Schraeder 

Timothy A. Deutsch 

Chad A. Dow 

Chad A. Dow 

Jeffrey A. Nelson 

Chad A. Dow 


Bryan B. Finley 

Orlin W. Johnson 

Craig E. Murray 

Jay D. Schroeder 

Draper platform with 

breakaway joint 

Feeder house twist 

dampening system 

Adjustable row unit 

structure 

Combine with additional 

feed drum upstream 

strawchopper and curved 

guide element 

Spring assisted translating 

draper belt drive rollers for 

an agricultural harvesting 

machine 

Combine with an endless 

conveyor that can be 

positioned between a 

swath depositing position 

and a chopper position 

Spreader disk assembly 

convertible for windrowing 

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John D. Watt 

Douglas Graham 

Implement with active wing 

down force and wing lift 

sequencing 


Flexible louver opening 

adjustment mechanism for 

a pivoting combine 

harvester cleaning element 

Emily N. Horn 

Jason L. Werning 

Clean grain conveyor for an 

agricultural combine 

L. John Koutsky Vehicle seat and split 

console assembly 

L. John Koutsky Vehicle suspension with 

stabilized isolator 









Nathan A. Mariman 

Nathan A. Mariman 

Dust suppressor for 

combine harvester 

feederhouse 

Harvester multiple engine 

energy control system 

Dual engine work vehicle 

with control for exhaust 

aftertreatment regeneration 


dual engine failure power 

transfer system 

Seed delivery apparatus 

with sensor and moving 

member to capture and 

move seed to a lower outlet 

opening 

Differential pressure seed 

meter with an endless belt 

seed transport member 

Michael W. Mossman Combine head frame 

Michael W. Mossman Drive arrangement for corn 

head equipped with or 

without a corn stalk 

chopper 


Header with extendable 

cutter bar 

Benjamin E. Ramp 


Benjamin A. Ramp 


John F. Reid 

John F. Reid 

Bernard E. Romig 

Bernard E. Romig 

Jim M. Shoemaker 

Gordon L. Salley 

Gordon L. Salley 




auxiliary power unit and 

intelligent power 

management 

Work machine with 

auxiliary power unit and 

intelligent power 

management 

Method and system for 

guiding a vehicle with 

vision adjustment 

Human perception model 

for speed control 

performance 

Suspension system having 

active compensation for 

vibration 

Articulated transport 

arrangement for windrower 

with cutting platform 

A harvesting head reel 

support arrangement 

including hydraulic 

cylinders and control 

circuitry 

Sickle guard with integral 

streamlined air discharge 

system for blowing plant 

material toward a header of 

an agricultural plant cutting 

machine 

Apparatus and method for 

automatically controlling 

the settings of an adjustable 

crop residue spreader of 

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Kevin S. Schwinn 



Joseph A. Teijido 


Nathan R. Vandike 



Carl S. Silbernagel 

Todd Van Hal 

Todd Van Hal 

Nathan R. Vandike 

an agricultural combine 

Combine grain cleaning 

System including a grain 

cleaning sieve having 

a range of increased grain 

throughput 

Method of selecting engine 

torque curves 

System and method for 

boosting torque output of a 

drive train 

Agricultural machine 

having dedicated multisection 

fan unit 

Hybrid electric tool carrier 

Turbo compounding system 

Adaptive soft start system 

for mower blade clutch 

engagement 

Fluid coupler located in an 

air stream of a work 

assembly of an agricultural 

combine 

Air filter arrangement for 

an agricultural combine 

with stationary and rotary 

filters 

Our thanks to Kelly Leary of the Deere & Company 

Patent Department and Vannette Azarian of the 

CNH Intellectual Property Department for their aid 

in compiling the above list of patent recipients. 

Service on an ASABE National Committee in 2011- 

2012: 

Ronald Birr 

Mark Bowers 

Jason Carlson 

Stephen Corban 

Glenn Pope 

Shannon Prantner 

Anne Ryerson 

Benjamin Schlesser 

Will Corman 

Michael DeSpain 

Kevin Ehrecke 

Michael Gacioch 

Richard Gast 

Larry Gay 

Thomas Haar 

Jason Healy 

L John Koutsky 

David Lienemann 

Ryan Mackin 

David Mattes 

Paul Mosher 

Ronald Parkins 

Carol Plouffe 

Chris Schneider 

Michael Senneff 

Terry Skelton 

David Smith 

Lyle Stephens 

Timothy Stevens 

Mehari Tekeste 

Rusty Unterzuber 

Wayne Ward 

Joel Werling 

David Wolak 

Grant Wonderlich 

Chad Yagow 

Brad Yanke 

Election Results – For the past several years, the 

Section has not had contested elections. The current 

Section Bylaws required that “The membership 

shall annually elect by letter ballot the Chair-Elect, 

the Secretary and the Treasurer. In addition the 

Section shall elect the three members of the 

Nominating Committee.” The requirement for a 

letter ballot seemed unnecessary if the Nominating 

Committee was not able to secure two candidates 

for each position. Thus the following addition to 

the above language was approved at the March 27 

meeting: “If the Nominating Committee is not able 

to identify multiple candidates for any of the 

elective offices, the election may be conducted at a 

business meeting of the Section." (See 

http://www.qcesc.org/ASAE/Bylaws.htm for the 

revised Bylaws.) 

With the above change thus enacted, the members 

present then unanimously elected the following 

candidates proposed by the Nominating Committee 

to serve for the 2012-2013 Quad City Section year: 

Will Corman – Chair (previously elected) 

Mehari Tekeste – Chair-Elect 

Anne Ryerson – Past Chair (previously elected) 

Stephen Corban – Secretary 

Lindsay Hodnefield – Treasurer 

Bryan Finley – Nominating Committee 

Jeremiah Johnson – Nominating Committee 

Ben Zeigler – Nominating Committee 

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Thanks to this year’s Nominating Committee 

(Stephen Corban, Lindsay Hodnefield and Greg 

Long) for their work in identifying the candidates! 

Scholarship Recipients – This year, the Quad City 

Section awarded two $ 750 scholarships. DeeAnn 

Turpin (currently a junior at Kansas State) and 

Andrew Klopfenstein (currently a junior at Ohio 

State) were chosen as the recipients and recognized 

at the March meeting. 

DeeAnn Turpin 

Each submitted an essay (which follow) with 

DeeAnn’s (who also was a scholarship recipient last 

year) first: “I am interested in an environmental 

career, because I plan to pursue a career in the 

energy industry, researching and developing 

efficient renewable energy technologies as well as 

more energy-efficient methods of power distribution 

and consumption. I want to pursue this career to 

assess and implement sustainable solutions that 

improve the environment, fulfill society’s needs and 

are economically feasible. 

I believe that one of the biggest problems the U.S. 

faces today is a fossil fuel crisis, not an “energy 

crisis.” Since we heavily rely on non-renewable 

resources, we need to design our infrastructure in 

ways that incorporate the optimal amount of energy 

efficient technologies to sustain our increasing 

energy demands. By striving to achieve higher 

efficiencies, we can improve the environment, while 

fulfilling society’s needs and doing what is 

economically feasible. Currently, I am pursuing a 

degree in Biological Systems Engineering (BSE) to 

do just that. I plan to devote my career to designing 

and implementing more efficient renewable energy 

systems. As a BSE student, I am learning about 

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naturally occurring phenomena, which are vital to 

sustainable energy generation and distribution on a 

global scale. In addition to what I am learning in the 

BSE curriculum, I will continue taking classes 

where I learn about the chemical and biological 

processes that impact various renewable energy 

systems. For example, this previous semester I took 

wind and solar systems engineering and energy 

conversions to help develop the diverse skills I need 

to create viable energy solutions. After I earn my 

undergraduate degree, I hope to earn a masters 

degree, focused on power systems engineering. 

Upon obtaining my masters, I plan to pursue a 

career in the energy industry, researching and 

developing efficient renewable energy technologies 

and energy-efficient methods of power distribution 

and consumption. To compliment my studies, I have 

engaged in various activities in college and outside 

of college and gained a myriad of valuable 

experiences from them. One of my most recent and 

greatest accomplishments is from a program that I 

initiated in April of 2011, where I decided to make 

change at my college campus. 

Every year, during finals week, I watched the 

dumpsters behind the dorms overflow with items 

that students threw away. When I passed by the 

dumpsters, I saw that most of the items being 

thrown away were still in good condition and could 

benefit someone else in the community. Then I 

thought why aren’t people donating their old school 

supplies, furniture, and other items instead of 

throwing them away So, I went around asking 

people living in the dorms why they didn’t donate their 

unwanted stuff. After talking to many students, I 

concluded that all of them shared a common reason; 

they all said it was too inconvenient to take their 

donations during a busy time of the year and the out-ofstate 

students did not have enough space to take their 

belongings home. I immediately thought, to solve this 

problem, there needs to be an easily accessible, 

centralized area for people to take their donations. I then 

contacted the local United Way and resident hall 

coordinators to discuss the logistics to establish 

collection sites in each dorm lobby. Between the 

three of us, we decided to designate donation areas 

in all 9 lobbies and have pick-up times twice a day, 

each day during finals week. This is equivalent to 

90 total pick-ups during our finals week. In May 

2011, we collected and prevented over 80,000

pounds from going into landfills and we sold those 

items, raising $2,500, which we donated to local 

charities. By collaborating with the United Way, 

resident hall coordinators, and over 200 volunteers, 

I initiated the 1 st annual “Give it up for Good 

Program”, a dorm salvage program for students to 

donate unwanted, reusable items. I am very proud 

of the program that I initiated at K-State, because of 

how successful it was after only the first time and 

from hearing students say they wanted this to 

become an annual program. In addition to my 

personal initiatives, I also have experience with 

water sanitation and improving health conditions in 

three countries from my involvement as project 

manager with Engineers Without Borders. 

As a freshman, I traveled to Dehradun, India (2009) 

to assess sites for building a water treatment system. 

Next, I traveled to Panajachel, Guatemala (2011) to 

monitor water filters in homes, distribute parasitic 

worm prevention medicine to schoolchildren, and I 

volunteered in a clinic taking the height and weight 

of patients. Currently I am preparing for my trip to 

Yakuñay, Ecuador in January 2012. 

To prepare for my trip to Yakuñay, I led our group 

by organizing workdays where we prepared 

materials to build a latrine prototype at K-State. 

What makes this a unique latrine is that we used 

plastic bottles collected from home football games 

that we stuffed with cleaned plastic trash and used 

this as a building material, instead of only using 

concrete to build the structure. This design solves 

two problems for Yakuñay. The first solution is 

that we are helping them reduce their plastic waste 

issue. The second is that we are providing a latrine 

and this is important because they currently do not 

have any proper solid and liquid waste containment 

systems so they are contaminating their water 

sources and infecting the villagers with intestinal 

diseases. However, with a latrine, their water 

sources are protected and with proper composting 

they can use the solid waste as fertilizer. These 

activities have further strengthened my engineering 

skills and allowed me to design and implement 

solutions that improve the quality of life in the 

villages that I have worked in. In addition to my 

studies and volunteer projects, I have fieldwork and 

research experience. 

In the summer of 2010, I toured wastewater 

treatment facilities where I saw many problems such 

as broken spouts and ineffective filters. As the 

city’s most energy intensive process, it is vital to 

assess these facilities and retrofit or repair broken 

equipment to ensure that the facility is optimally 

functioning. I have also conducted research at 

Kansas State University, in the bioenergy lab of Dr. 

Wenqiao Yuan, to isolate and analyze different 

species of algae. 

To do this, I grew several algae samples and then 

isolated the algae cultures on agar plates. This 

allowed me to analyze the algae cells in the sample 

to identify their different composition and 

properties, to determine which species of algae 

might be more efficient to use in biofuels 

production. Currently, algae is growing at an 

alarming rate and is creating a condition called 

hypoxia, meaning lack of oxygen, in many ocean 

areas. When this occurs, other marine organisms 

are negatively affected. Therefore, by researching 

the composition and properties of algae, we can 

explore the possibility of efficiently removing the 

algae and utilizing it for energy generation. With 

the world’s energy demands on a rise, it is crucial 

that more engineering designs and solutions have an 

energy efficiency and sustainability basis, which is 

why I plan to pursue a career in environmental 

engineering to accomplish this. I feel that my past 

and current activities reflect sustainability, energy 

efficiency, and taking a global initiative to improve 

the quality of life with sustainability, all of which 

are integrated in ASABE’s goals. I have 

successfully prepared myself to be a promising 

environmental engineer because of my exposure to 

fieldwork, my leadership, and my initiative to create 

solutions in innovative ways. I hope the ASABE 

QC Scholarship Committee can see my dedication 

to an environmental career and sees my work 

worthy of the 2012 ASABE QC Scholarship.” 

8

Andrew Klopfenstein 

“There are many achievements I hope to accomplish 

over the next five years of my life. These range 

from college graduation to beginning a family and 

establishing a career. Some short-term goals though 

will occur during this next year. First of all, I want 

to be one of the top interns at Case-New Holland for 

the summer of 2012. Also, I want to have a 3.35 

GPA at the end of this year in college. In addition 

to these goals, I have several long-term goals. 

Initially, one of my long-term goals is to graduate 

from college as a Top 20 Senior in the College of 

Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. 

Next, I would like to return home and work on my 

family farm as well as test farm equipment, using 

my degree in Agricultural Engineering, for a 

company such as John Deere or Case-New Holland. 

While working on the farm, I hope to marry and 

have a family. One of my biggest goals in college is 

to graduate debt free. In addition, an obstacle that is 

going to be hard to hurdle will be finding a 

company that wants to hire an onsite engineer such 

as myself. I plan to overcome this by taking a minor 

in Ag Business and being very involved in my 

college experience. No matter how each of these 

goals is refined or accomplished it will be my desire 

to put forth my best effort in all endeavors. 

I have been interested in the agricultural field ever 

since I was able to drive a tractor and help my father 

on the family farm. I have grown up working, 

living, breathing, and raising animals and doing the 

work on our farm. When I first started working 

with my dad, I can remember getting tools and 

helping him fix machinery. Nevertheless, the most 

vivid memory of all was my first tractor driving 

experience. I learned how to chop wheat stubble 

with our 4430 John Deere tractor. Since that first 

driving experience and many years have passed, I 

have acquired much bigger responsibilities. I have 

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grown to love the farm and everything in it. I have 

also raised lambs and dairy feeders for 4-H and FFA 

for 12 years. In addition, the problems and 

challenges that occur for a farmer interest me a great 

deal. When pieces of equipment break down or 

some operation needs improvement, I love the 

challenge. I have learned so much from my father, 

grandfather, and employees and there is much more 

for me to learn. I cannot wait for the day when I can 

work on the farm with my father and spend years 

watching the alfalfa, corn, and soybeans come in for 

another harvest. 

Over the last two years I have had the opportunity to 

work for Case-New Holland and travel the United 

States of America to test hay and forage equipment. 

I began my field experience at the California border 

near Mexico and concluded that portion of the work 

on the vast plains of North Dakota. These travels 

have opened my eyes not only to the vast array of 

agriculture, but to the different ways a company 

must meet the specific needs of the farmers in 

various geographical regions. 

Our jobs as engineers, then, are not limited to tasks 

in front of a computer or at a desk designing 

equipment. Engineers must communicate with the 

public to understand individual circumstances and 

to consider how these technological decisions will 

affect every aspect of the economy. As Bobby D. 

Moser, Vice President for Agricultural 

Administration and Dean, College of Food, 

Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The 

Ohio State University wrote, “. . . we now ask 

ourselves four questions: Is it economically viable 

Is it efficiently productive Is it environmentally 

sound Will society accept it” He said this 

pertaining to agriculture, but I believe it will be of 

great importance in all aspects of engineering in the 

future, especially agricultural, where we are under 

constant scrutiny. 

Being an integral part of improving people's lives is 

one reason that I enjoy this field so much. My, 

Andrew Klopfenstein's, work may affect every part 

of the economy from how food is harvested to how 

it is processed, and even how it will be eaten. This 

privilege is not one to be taken for granted. It is my 

desire to pursue this vocation that I love, in order to

enhance and enrich the lives of my fellow men and 

women." 

AMC – The Quad City Section is one of three local 

technical society sections sponsoring the 27 th 

Annual Agricultural Machinery Conference (AMC) 

to be held on May 7-9 at the Ramada Hotel and Five 

Sullivan Brothers Convention Center in downtown 

Waterloo. The Section receives a portion of the net 

proceeds from the AMC which allow us to offer the 

Section Scholarships and to hold the line on Section 

Meeting registration fees. So your continued 

support of the AMC is encouraged both as an 

excellent source of technical information and 

networking contacts but also as a way to support the 

Quad City Section. More information on this year’s 

Conference is available online at www.amconline.org 

– Will Corman, Chair-Elect and Quad 

City Section Representative to the AMC Planning 

Committee 

Closing Notes – 

At the Agricultural Equipment Technology 

Conference held in Louisville in February, Section 

Member Rusty Unterzuber (on the left in the above 

photo) was honored with the AETC MPV award. 

Rusty has been a long-serving member of the AETC 

planning committee and has served the committee 

long and steadfastly despite a job change that 

complicated his involvement. Additionally, he has 

continuously stepped into leadership roles as 

needed, even taking notes for the monthly 

conference calls. Rusty has also been extremely 

involved in the Standards meetings held during 

AETC over the years and in AE50 awards 

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coordination. Rusty is a 35-year member of 

ASABE. 

In the photo, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad and 

Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds are presenting 

the 2012 QCESC (Quad City Engineering and 

Science Council) Junior Scientist of the Year Award 

to Section Member Shannon Prantner at the 

QCESC’s 50th Annual National Engineers Week 

Banquet held on March 1. Shannon is Manager of 

Product Safety and Compliance for Deere & 

Company. Her leadership in ASABE and industry 

committees has led to her active participation in 

standards development at both the national and 

international levels. Before assuming her present 

position, she was responsible for product safety and 

engineering standards for Deere’s combines and 

seeding equipment working both locally and in 

Germany. She has been an active member of 

ASABE serving locally as Chair of the Quad City 

Section and nationally on the ASABE Board of 

Trustees. She received the Quad City Section’s 

Young Member of the Year Award in 2009 and the 

ASABE Gale A. Holloway Professional 

Development Award in 2010. 

As of April 16 th , the Section had balances of $ 

4,456.45 in its checking account, $ 444.45 in its 

savings account and two certificate of deposit’s 

valued at a total of $ 4,682.42. 

Please welcome Erica Petre (North Carolina State), 

Ben Zeigler (Dell Services Engineering Solutions), 

Bryan Finley (CNH) and the following John Deere 

employees: Jim Adamson, Nate Bernklau, Joel 

Ferris, Dan Harvey, Brian Herringshaw, Daniel 

Hoffman, Alexander Lassers, Brian Lobdell, Brett

Milliman, Hannah Phares, Norbert Pohlman, 

Krishna Potluri, Shawn Powers, Hannah Slominski, 

Myron Stratton, Douglas Van Meter, Patricia 

Venner and Jeffrey Walter as new Section 

members. 

Upcoming Events - Check the Section’s web site at 

http://www.qcesc.org/ASAE for the most recent 

information on the Section and the following 

events: 

April 17, 2012 

Quad City Section Spring Tour, Kinze 

Manufacturing. 

May 7-9, 2012 

Agricultural Machinery Conference, Ramada 

Hotel and Five Sullivan Brothers Convention 

Center, Waterloo, Iowa. See http://www.amconline.org/ 

May 31-June 3, 2012 

1/4 Scale Tractor Design Competition – Expo 

Gardens, Peoria. See 

http://www.asabe.org/membership/preprofessionals 

students/14-scale-comp.aspx 

July 29 – August 1, 2012 

ASABE International Meeting , Dallas, Texas 

August 25-26, 2012 

Antique Tractor Show, Village of East 

Davenport. 

See 

http://www.villageofeastdavenport.com/events.php 

August 28-30, 2012 

Farm Progress Show, Boone, Iowa. 

http://www.farmprogressshow.com/main.aspx 

See 

Aug. 30-Sept. 3, 2012 

Midwest Old Threshers Reunion, Mt. Pleasant, 

Iowa. See http://www.oldthreshers.org/ 

September 14-16, 2012 

Antique Engine & Tractor Working Farm Show, 

rural Geneseo, Illinois. See http://www.ae-ta.com/ 

October 23, 2012 (tentative) 

Quad City Section Fall Meeting 

January 20-22, 2013 

Quad City Farm Equipment Show, QCCA Expo 

Center, Rock Island. See 

http://www.qccaexpocenter.com/ 

January 24, 2013 (tentative) 

Quad City Section Winter Meeting 

February 12, 2013 (tentative) 

Quad City Section Continuing Education 

Seminar 

March 26, 2013 (tentative) 

Quad City Section Awards Meeting 

April 16, 2013 (tentative) 

Quad City Section Spring Tour 

May 6-8, 2013 

Agricultural Machinery Conference, Ramada 

Hotel and Five Sullivan Brothers Convention 

Center, Waterloo, Iowa. See http://www.amconline.org/ 

ASAE Quad City Section Officers 2012-2013 

Chair: 

Will Corman 

John Deere Harvester Works 

Ph. 309-765-2048 

CormanWillD@JohnDeere.com 

Chair-Elect: 

Mehari Tekeste 

John Deere ADV & Soils Lab 

Ph. 309-748-8714 

TekesteMehari@JohnDeere.com 

Past Chair: 

Anne Ryerson 


Ph. 309-748-2100 

RyersonAnneE@JohnDeere.com 

Secretary: 

Stephen Corban 


11

Ph. 309-765-2179 

scorban2@gmail.com 

Treasurer: 

Lindsay Hodnefield 


Ph. 309-765-2050 

HodnefieldLindsayL@JohnDeere.com 

Nominating Committee: 

Bryan Finley 

CNH 

Ph. 563-285-1084 

bryan.finley@cnh.com 

Jeremiah Johnson 

John Deere 

Ph. 309-765-2295 

JohnsonJeremiahK@JohnDeere.com 

Ben Zeigler 

Dell Services Engineering Solutions 

Ph. 563-449-5115 

benjamin_zeigler@dell.com 

Awards and Newsletter: 

David Smith 

Ph. 309-755-8934 

dave.smith8633@sbcglobal.net 

Communications: 

Marilyn Dumolien 

John Deere Seeding Group 

Ph. 309-765-7699 

DumolienMarilynA@JohnDeere.com 

Continuing Education: 

Open position 

Membership: 

Will Corman 


Ph. 309-765-2048 

CormanWillD@JohnDeere.com 

Joel Werling 

John Deere Seeding Group 

Ph. 309-765-2227 

WerlingJoelC@JohnDeere.com 

QCESC Liaison: 

Anne Ryerson 


Ph. 309-748-2100 

RyersonAnneE@JohnDeere.com 

Scholarship: 

Cody Freehill 


Ph. 309-765-2282 

FreehillJustinC@JohnDeere.com 

Suppliers Coordinator, Young Professionals: 

Open positions 

Social Hour Sponsors 

The following sponsors generously provided the 

beverages for the social hours at our meetings this 

past year: 

Aetna Bearing Company 

Assembled Products Inc. 

Carlisle Power Transmission Products 

Clarkson Company 

Drives Inc. 

Firestone Agricultural Tire Division 

H & H Sales Inc. 

Henkel Loctite 

Lord Corporation 

Peer Bearing Company 

Sears Seating 

Superior Gearbox Company 

Winamac Coil Spring 

Our thanks to Clifford Pim for his past work in 

organizing this much appreciated support activity. 

Program & Meeting Arrangements: 

Eric Viall 


Ph. 309-748-2140 

ViallEricN@JohnDeere.com 

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Spring 2012 - Quad City Engineering and Science Council

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