Nicolas Dubuc

What are you doing at the moment? What are you working on?

I am currently working on my master’s thesis, which looks at various precision agriculture applications for CANbus data. I finished collecting field data last fall and I now have to do some data analysis and write my final thesis report.

Why have you decided for an agricultural university degree?

Since I was young, I have always been extremely interested by mechanical systems – I always wanted to see and understand how machines worked.  Since I enjoyed mathematics, design and physics, engineering was a very attractive choice for me.  And since I grew up on a farm and always enjoyed working with farm machinery, choosing a specialisation in agricultural engineering was a natural decision.  Looking back at my last 5 years of university, there is no doubt in my mind that agricultural engineering was the right choice.  I would not have wanted to do anything else!

What is you family background? To what degree did it influence your decision?

My parents operate a medium sized dairy farm in the province of Quebec, in Canada. They milk 90 cows and farm 120 ha.  I started getting involved on the farm at around 8 or 9.  As soon as I was old enough to operate tractors, I took more responsibilities in the fields.  Even during my degree, I would work on the farm during the week ends and during my summer break.

Obviously, living on a farm had a major influence on my university degree choice.  Even if I wasn’t necessarily going to work on the farm after university, I absolutely wanted to find a field of work with a very strong connection to agriculture.  In then end, all I can say is that I am very grateful to my parents for transmitting me their passion of agriculture.

What do you like best about your university course?

What I like the best about my university course is how diverse the subjects are.  We touch to everything, from basic physics to heat transfer processes, fluid mechanics, CAD and so much more.  And most importantly, we have to develop a design project in which we have the occasion to put in application all the technical notions we have learned during the course.  It’s at the end of this project, when you are standing in front of a real product, that you realize how much you learnt during your studies. 

How did you learn about the CLAAS Foundation and the Helmut-Claas-Scholarship?

I first found out about the Claas Foundation and the Helmut Claas Scholarship after reading an annual report from Claas, trying to discover what the company values and visions are. 

In your opinion, how do you think agriculture is going to change in future?

I think the biggest source of change in agriculture will come from new technologies.  We are approaching the maximum practical physical size for farm machinery.  Agricultural engineers of the future will have to develop automation technologies that will allow remote control and adjustment of farm equipment.  Alternative power sources will also play a big role in future farm equipments; electricity is likely to play a much bigger role in machinery.

What are your plans after completion of your university course

Once I graduate, I would like to find a job with a major equipment manufacturer and work in product design and development or product testing and technical support.  I also hope my future job will give me the opportunity to travel and discover new places and cultures.

Would you advise other younger people to also go for an agricultural/ ag engineering course? For what reasons?

I would definitely recommend anyone interested in engineering to consider agricultural engineering.  Ag engineering is not as high profile as some other engineering disciplines.  However agricultural engineering means solving complex but exciting technical challenges.  The world population is growing, and it will be impossible without innovative engineers, who can think “outside the box”, to increase production, improve efficiency and diminish the environmental footprint of agriculture.  Finally for all those who grew up on farms, agricultural engineering is the ideal profession because you can keep the strong connection with agriculture and farmers, while at the same time developing cutting-edge technology that will help solve tomorrow’s challenges.

What are you interests if you are not busy with agriculture?

My favourite hobbies are reading, biking and music.  I also really like to travel and discover new places, meet new people.