J. Thomas Clark Professor of Entrepreneurship@Cornell
Professor of Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
302 Riley-Robb
Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
Phone: 607-255-1630
FAX: 607-255-4080
Email: mbt3@cornell.edu

Introduction

After receiving his doctorate from Cornell University in Biological and Environmental Engineering (1979), Timmons was an assistant professor at North Carolina State University, and then joined the Cornell faculty in 1983. He is a member of the Aquacultural Engineering Society, American Society of Agricultural Engineers and the World Agriculture Society, and is a registered professional engineer in New York and North Carolina. Timmons was a founding member of the Aquacultural Engineering Society and served as President in 2003.

Teaching

Timmons teaches the course Biological and Environmental Engineering (BEE) 489; offered Spring semester, it is 4 credit hours. The course focuses on Engineering economics, engineering management and professional ethics and associated ethical issues. Course objectives include coverage of: prediction and probability of net returns; financial caculations of internal rate of return, time value of money, proforma statements; legal structures of businesses;, project management; developing an awareness of issues related to professional ethics; and technical writing and communication.

Research

Timmons' research is focused on the design of the microclimate affecting farm animals and fish. Timmons currently emphasizes the environmental sustainability of recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) technology and the economic competitiveness of such systems versus imported fish and seafood products. Timmons was involved in a commercial start-up venture (Fingerlakes Aquaculture LLC) for RAS production of tilapia that was designed and built for over 500,000 kg/yr of production.