UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Suat Irmak, professor and head of Penn State’s Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, received the prestigious Royce J. Tipton Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) at the 2026 World Environmental and Water Resources Congress, held April 26-29 in Mobile, Alabama.
The award — established in 1964 and one of ASCE’s top honors — recognizes one society member a year for definitive contributions to the advancement of irrigation and drainage engineering management. This year, the award recognizes Irmak’s contributions to the advancement of agricultural engineering and science, irrigation, drainage, and water and soil resources engineering through impactful research, teaching and fulfilling the land-grant university mission. It acknowledges the excellence of his extension, outreach and education programs for unbiased scientific data, and knowledge transfer to stakeholders and communities to improve their well-being, operations, agricultural productivity, and enhance agro-ecosystem and environmental services, according to the society.
“Suat Irmak is an accomplished scientist and educator who is a leader in soil and water resources engineering,” said Troy Ott, Peter and Ann Tombros Dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences. “This prestigious award highlights his dedication to science and sharing knowledge through teaching and his large-scale, impactful research, extension and outreach programs.”
One of Irmak’s research areas focuses on science and research-based economical, durable, accurate and easy-to-use and easy-to-interpret technology implementation in agriculture and natural resources. His large-scale research and extension/outreach programs — conducted in partnership with state and federal agency partners, producers and other agricultural professionals — have resulted in substantial large-scale impacts in terms of water saving, reduction in energy use and carbon dioxide emission in agricultural production, improving water quality and enhancing economic net return in agricultural operations, while protecting environmental and natural resources services.
The products of Irmak’s research programs and projects are extensively used in regional, national and international platforms. Some of them have been implemented into the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Environmental Protection Agency incentive programs. Several of his research and education programs have been used by the USDA undersecretary for research, education and economics as examples of signature programs in congressional discussions on continuing specific federal support funds for research and extension at land-grant universities.
During his career, Irmak has delivered two presentations to the U.S. Congress. He was was also invited by federal policymakers to deliver information on “Future Potential Challenges of U.S. Agriculture,” “Technology Implementation in Agriculture for Enhancing Crop Water Productivity,” and “Climate Change Impacts on U.S. Agricultural Productivity and Water Resources.”
“I am honored and humbled to receive this prestigious award from the impactful professional society ASCE, which has done so much for the engineering discipline as well as communities, the nation and the environment for many decades,” Irmak said. “I am specifically grateful that my peers have regarded me as a worthy scientist and engineer for this recognition. I am grateful and am proud to be part of the excellent ASCE community for 26 years.”
Irmak was elected a fellow of the society’s Environmental and Water Resources Institute in 2021, highlighting significant contributions and exemplary accomplishments in soil and water resources and irrigation engineering, soil and water conservation, agricultural water management, the evapotranspiration impact of climate change on water resources, and agricultural and natural resources productivity.
Irmak has mentored 65 doctoral and master’s degree students; 25 national and international intern students; many undergraduate students from a variety of backgrounds; 13 postdoctoral scholars; four research professors; and four research technologists. A significant number of his former graduate students are now faculty members; others are employed by state and federal agencies or private industry.
Irmak has more than 400 publications in high-impact journals, including 290 refereed journal articles, 60 refereed extension/education articles and 550 presentations, including more than 200 invited talks or keynote addresses. He has obtained over $13 million in external grants to support his research and education programs.