Advisors Technical
Purdue Student Soybean Innovation Competition
Faculty Advisors "Pool"
	Technical Advisors
	 
	
	Kingsly Ambrose
	Associate Professor Agricultural & Biological Engineering
	rambrose@purdue.edu
	765-494-6599
	ABE 3010
	 
Dr. Ambrose’s research expertise is in the area of grain processing, particle technology, particulate flow and materials handling, process modeling and simulation, and food process engineering.
	
	Bruce Applegate
	Professor Food Science
	applegate@purdue.edu
	765-496-7920
	NLSN 3177
My research interests include detection of viable foodborne pathogens using bacteriophage, automated extraction of nucleic acids from various matrices, enumeration of microorganisms using quantitative PCR, the use of bioreporters in bioelectronics, metabolic engineering, detection of problematic microorganisms in industrial environments, construction of recombinant bacterial strains to rapidly evaluate antimicrobial products, and microbial ecology.
		
		Christian Butzke
		Professor of Food Science & PRF, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Fellow
	
		butzke@purdue.edu
		765-494-6500
		NLSN 1261
Dr. Butzke is a Food Science professor and wine industry entrepreneur.
		
Teresa Carvajal
		Associate Professor Agricultural & Biological Engineering
	
		tcarvaja@purdue.edu
		765-496 6438
		ABE 2022
Dr. Carvajal’s research emphasis is on Surface Science of Pharmaceutical, Food and Agricultural Materials. Activities on powder technology issues such as the behavior of composites or powders and powder blends during processing (milling), development and storage. Current interest is on the effect of mechanical stress on the microstructure of organic crystalline materials in order to understand mechanical and surface properties.
		Kari Clase
		Associate Professor, Interdisciplinary Life Science
	
		kclase@purdue.edu
		765-494-4649
		KNOY 379D
Prof Clase’s lab investigates the mechanisms controlling neural cell proliferation and differentiation within brain tumors through proteomic and metabolic analysis. She is also interested in bringing grand challenge research problems into the classroom to engage students in the process of research and help them learn in an authentic interdisciplinary context.
			
			Meng Deng
			Associate Professor Agricultural & Biological Engineering
		
			deng65@purdue.edu
			765-494-1190
			ABE 3041J
Dr. Meng Deng is an Associate Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Materials Engineering, and Biomedical Engineering at Purdue University. His research interests include biomaterials, drug delivery, nanotechnology, and regenerative engineering.
		
		Abigail Engelberth
		Associate Professor Agricultural & Biological Engineering
	
		aengelbe@purdue.edu
		765-494-1009
		ABE 2041 B
Dr. Engelberth's research is focused on the recovery of valuable co-products from biological sources, either pre- or post-processing. Along with product recovery, Dr. Engelberth explores the design of the recovery process in order to obtain an economic analysis of the process to determine the value of the co-product.
		
Jen-Yi Huang
		Assistant Professor Food Science
	
		huang874@purdue.edu
		765-496-6034
		NLSN 1161
Dr. Huang's Food Process Sustainability lab is to enable interdisciplinary research that leads food processing to meet the growing demand for energy and water, while ensuring a safe, productive and sustainable environment for human welfare.
		
Mark Lipton
		Organic Chemistry / Chemical Biology
	
		lipton@purdue.edu
		765-494-0132
		WTHR 210B
Disciplines of organic synthesis, bioorganic chemistry and molecular modeling.
		
		Klein Ileleji
		Professor Agricultural & Biological Engineering
	
		ileleji@purdue.edu
		765-494-1198
		ABE 3012
Research focuses on the production of energy crops, biomass characterization, handling and transport logistics; biomass, biofuels nad bioenergy production and utilization.
		
		Michael Ladisch
		Distinguished Professor Agricultural & Biological Engineering
	
		ladisch@purdue.edu
		765-494-7022
		ABE 2044
		Dr. Ladisch’s research includes bioprocess and bioseparations engineering, transformation of renewable resources into biofuels and bioproducts, and detection of microbial pathogens. His fundamental studies
		address proteins and living organisms at surfaces, bionanotechnology, and bioseparations. His team
		developed and prototyped microfiltration technology for rapid concentration and recovery of
		microorganisms from foods and water - an innovation that won the US FDA Food Safety Challenge in
		2015. His research has resulted in technology that has reduced the cost of producing biofuels through
		energy-efficient removal of water from fuel ethanol at an industrial scale, and in science that enhances
		conversion of cellulosic biomass into industrial sugars for production of biofuels and bioproducts.
		
		Christina Li
		Assistant Professor Inorganic Chemistry
	
		christinawli@purdue.edu
		765-494-5294
		BRWN 4130D
Effective carbon management is an essential part of our energy future, and new catalysts are needed in order to fundamentally change the way we utilize C-based fuels and handle waste CO2. My research program tackles catalysis problems in this area including hydrocarbon activation and electrochemical transformations relevant to fuel cells. We are particularly interested in the development of metal alloys, mixed-metal oxide, and chalcogenide frameworks with tunable defect chemistry to create unique surface redox and binding properties for C-H activation and CO2 adsorption.
		
		Enrico Martinez
		Professor of Engineering Practice, Chemical Engineering
	
		marti309@purdue.edu
		765-496-6998
		FRNY G015
Areas of Interest - Biodiesel Production from Nonconventional sources, such as Jatropha Curcas, Higuerilla and Spent Coffee Grounds. Jet fuel Production from Nonedible Vegetable Oils. Lignin Depolymerization and Conversion to Fuels and Chemicals.
		
Ganesan Narsimhan
		Professor Agricultural & Biological Engineering
	
		narsimha@purdue.edu
		765-494-1199
		ABE 2024
		Areas of Interest - Food, Pharmaceutical and Biological Engineering.
		 
		
		Jiqin Ni
		Professor Agricultural & Biological Engineering
	
		jiqin@purdue.edu
		765-496-1733
		ABE 2041E
Areas of Interest - Environmental & Natural Resources Engineering, Agricultural Systems, Data Science and Digital Agriculture.
		
		Martin Okos
		Professor Agricultural & Biological Engineering
	
		okos@purdue.edu
		765-494-1211
		ABE 2026
Martin R. Okos is a professor in Agricultural and Biological Engineering at Purdue University. He currently teaches and does his research in food process engineering, computer-aided design of food processes, heat and mass transfer in foods, fermentation and biological reactor design, and properties of food and biological products.
		
		
Marshall Porterfield
		Professor Agricultural & Biological Engineering
	
		porterf@purdue.edu
		765-494-1190
		ABE 2041D
		Dr. Porterfield’s research interests include Biological Engineering.
		 
		
Kurt Ristroph
		Assistant Professor of Biological Engineering
	
		ristroph@purdue.edu
		765-494-1183
		ABE 2020
Scalable nanomaterials for medical and agricultural applications. Controlled drug delivery in humans, plants, and animals. Plant bionanotechnology, translaterional nanomedicine, soft material science, process scale-up, pathogen targeting.