Advisors Technical - Agricultural & Biological Engineering - Purdue University

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. 

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.

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.
 

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. 
 

Rodolfo Pinal
Associate Professor of Industrial & Physical Pharmacy

rpinal@purdue.edu
765-496-6247
IPPH

Dr. Pinal’s research interests include: solution chemistry, solubility and solubilization techniques, mixtures, polymer-based composites as means of control of product performance (mechanical strength, dissolution, release rate and bioavailability) of bioactive compounds, antiplasticization, and molecular relaxation in amorphous organic materials.

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.