North Dakota State University’s Ken Hellevang received the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) 2024 G.B. Gunlogson Countryside Engineering award. The award honors individuals for engineering practices, plans and programs that promote the development of the countryside. Hellevang was selected for this award by his peers for his enhancements and leadership in grain and potato storage, energy efficiency, building moisture and mold problems, and restoring flooded buildings.
Hellevang is a retired NDSU Extension agricultural engineer and professor emeritus in the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering. Throughout his career, he has provided education and technical assistance in grain drying and storage, structures focusing on energy efficiency, indoor environmental engineering primarily related to moisture and mold, and flood preparation and recovery to farmers, citizens, agribusinesses, and professionals.
“It is a special honor to be recognized for my work by my peers,” Hellevang says.
The ASABE has more than 7,000 members in more than 90 countries.
Hellevang has synthesized information on the design and management of grain drying and storage systems and conveyed it through seminars, publications, and technical assistance to farmers and agribusinesses across the United States. The extensive reach of his post-harvest educational program is demonstrated by his article, “Grain Storage Practices to Maintain Grain Quality,” published in The Miller Magazine, which is distributed in more than 130 countries.
Additionally, Hellevang has developed guidelines for building sandbag dikes that are incorporated in a publication and video, “Sandbagging for Flood Protection.” Communities use his material to train staff and citizens, and the Army Corps of Engineers has distributed his video. His seminars include one on flood clean-up, which he has presented in several states, and another on mold and building moisture management, which he has presented to medical doctors and public health and building professionals.
Hellevang has also provided energy efficiency education and technical assistance. Major design projects have included the ventilation system for several 700-ton sugar beet storage buildings for two cooperatives and ventilation systems for outdoor piles storing about 10 million tons of beets valued at about $500 million.
In his 45 years of ASABE membership, Hellevang has led Food and Processing and Structures and Environment Division committees, served a term on the Board of Trustees, and chaired the meetings council. He was inducted as an ASABE Fellow in 2013. He has received several ASABE awards, including the Sukup Global Food Security award, the Professional Engineer of the Year award, three Educational Aids Blue Ribbon awards, and a Presidential Distinguished Service citation.
Hellevang has authored or co-authored more than 230 technical publications. These include technical papers, proceedings, professional standards, chapters in handbooks, peer-reviewed Extension circulars and bulletins, videos and other electronic educational materials. More than 250,000 copies of these publications have been distributed internationally.