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-Kolb's cycle of experiential learning is a well-known and effective model in education which outlines the process where knowledge is gained through transformative experiences. As students immerse themselves in an active learning framework; acquisition of knowledge results from the combination of participation, assimilation, comprehension and conceptualization of experiential processes in the affective, psychomotor and cognitive domains.In this paper we outline efforts to integrate Kolb's cycle within the framework of several engineering courses with particular emphases on instrumentation, basic circuits, and programming language courses while involving selected students from these courses to develop a microprocessor based environmental monitoring and data logging system (EMDLS). The data acquisition system developed will be integrated to an Integrated Multi-trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) system and an autonomous boat currently under development at University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES).In building the data acquisition system, the engineering students not only get exposure to a crossdisciplinary team of collaborating faculty members from engineering, environmental sciences and aviation programs at the university, but also work closely with graduate students involved in the primary research efforts. The undergraduate students have worked closely with the faculty and graduate students and have followed the system development procedure, where they proposed project objectives, identified design requirements, characterized system specifications, sourced all required components, and are currently involved in system fabrication. The final system is based on the Arduino MEGA and has the capability to measure eight environmental parameters including temperature, color, dissolved oxygen, oxidation reduction potential (ORP), pH, and nitrate levels. While anecdotal evidence can be readily observed from the student excitement and informal feedback, formal assessment tools for documenting learning outcomes are being developed to appraise student learning and will be utilized at the end of the current semester.

Smart farming experiential learning and research endeavors have been ongoing at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) for the past several years. Recent field implementation of contemporary technologies for variable rate fertilizer application based on multispectral drone imagery; deployment of wireless solar powered soil moisture sensor network on a field with subsurface drip and fertigation capability; and development of a sustainable platform integrated with a Cartesian robotic device powered by solar and wind energy that can seed, weed, irrigate, and capture time-lapse photography while servicing a small raised bed for specialty crops and vegetables will be described in this paper. Results from the initial phase of implementation efforts and future goals will also be highlighted.

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robotics and mechatronics, (ii)remote sensing and precision agriculture, and,(iii) biofuels and renewable energy. He has published more than 70 refereed articles in journals and conference proceedings. Dr. Nagchaudhuri received his baccalaureate degree from Jadavpur University in Kolkata, India with honors in Mechanical Engineering. Thereafter, he worked in a multinational industry for a little over three years before joining Tulane University as a graduate student in the fall of 1987. He received master's degree from Tulane University in 1989 and doctoral degree from Duke University 1992. Mr. Abbas H. Diab, University of Maryland -Eastern ShoreAbbas Diab, BS in engineering with mechanical specialization, is currently a graduate student at University of Maryland Eastern Shore pursuing MS degree in Food & Agriculture Sciences . During his undergraduate studies, Mr. Diab along with a group of undergraduates, worked on several academic and research projects. He designed and built several ground, air, and water platforms for precision agriculture reasons. Currently he holds the position of chair of the ASME UMES chapter.