Faculty by Area of Interest
Agricultural Systems, Safety, and Health
Applying particle technology concepts to the handling and processing of grain, food, feed, and other particulate materials. Research areas include powder flow; particle, powder characterization; agglomeration; dust explosion; modeling and simulation
Digital human modeling with foundations in human factors and ergonomics. His course teaching in recent semesters has included Applied Ergonomics, Safety Engineering and Job Design. (Industrial Engineering)
Rural Emergency Preparedness and Agricultural Machine Safety. Mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery from disasters and their specific impact on rural communities. Study and prevention of injuries involving agricultural machinery.
Agricultural Safety & Health, Rural Rehabilitation, and AgroSecurity. Focusing on loss prevention in the workplace.
Youth Engineering Education. Agricultural and Biological Engineering education with youth in primary, middle and high school, Challenge-based education as method to teach engineering concepts to PK-12 youth, effective farm safety and health educational methodologies
Biological Engineering
Innovatory for Cells and Neural Machines (ICAN) straddles the domains of digital agriculture (IoT & scalable databases) and computational biology (ML for genomics & cell engineering), both of which use applied machine learning, scalable databases and cloud/edge computing.
Biotechnology Innovation and Regulatory Science Center leader, developing global programs to ensure sustainable access to medicines in Africa and advance discovery in manufacturing technology, quality of medicines, and rare disease research.
Data-driven discovery and computational modeling of biosystems in health and disease. Physics of living systems. Food engineering and advanced biomanufacturing. Environmental bioengineering and sustainability.
Biomaterials, Regenerative Engineering and Drug Delivery. Rational design of cell-instructive polymeric biomaterials and development of bioengineered systems for musculoskeletal tissue regeneration and controlled delivery of therapeutics.
Bioseparations to recover valuable co-products from underutilized biological resources and the design of the recovery processes to assess potential economic feasibility of a given co-product.
Electromagnetic actuation of biological systems. Apply electromagnetic radiation, including electric pulses, plasmas, lasers, microwaves, and RF, to manipulate biological cells. Applications include food processing, wound healing, and pain relief.
Bioseparations & Mass Transfer: liquid chromatography, membrane separations, microfluidics, injectable biologics. Pathogen Detection. Biocatalysis: enzymes, cellulose pretreatment, fermentation, process engineering.
Flexible sensor and actuator design using additive manufacturing and novel materials for real world applications including manufacturing machines, processes, and products and precision agriculture
Martin Okos
Professor Agricultural & Biological Engineering/Biochem And Food Proc Engr
+1 765 49-41211
Optimization of food, pharmaceutical and bio processes using experimental and computer-aided research. Measurement of rheological, transport and kinetic properties, Design of biological fermentation, extrusion, dehydration and separation systems,
Biosensors. Lab-on-a-chip MEMS devices for cell sensing. Biomimetic sensors for environmental monitoring Bio-nanotechnology. Bioregenerative Life Support. Nutrient delivery systems for use in microgravity.
Jenna Rickus
Assoc. Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning; Prof., Agricultural & Biological Engineering
+1 765 49-40615
Biomaterials. Materials to measure, control, and mimic living cells. Biosensors. Nano/micro biosensors for cell physiology. Applications in cell transplantation, bioreactors, implantable devices.
Systems & Synthetic Biology. Integrated -omics, metabolic engineering & protein engineering for strain and biomolecule development in biotech. Applications in biofuels, value-added chemical production, drug discovery, molecular diagnostics.
Bioprocessing, Bioproducts. Biofuels processing/separation, chemical synthesis/modification of biomaterials, synthesis of DNA-protein bioconjugates, bioproducts development.
Systems Biology. Interdisciplinary research: mechanisms of development and regulation of Bone Morphogenetic Proteins. Finite-element modeling of biological systems. Quantitative image analysis, microscopy, and data-driven modeling.
Engineering microbiomes.Field-deployable paper-based microfluidic biosensors for animal health and human health, in vitro models for studying host-microbiome interactions, ecological rules of life, soft materials and devices.
Data Science and Digital Agriculture
Hydrology and water resources engineering. Using observations to support open-access, process-based model development; quantifying water cycle alteration through human intervention across multiple scales, climate regimes and ecosystems.
Dennis Buckmaster
Professor of Agricultural & Biological Engineering, Dean's Fellow for Digital Agriculture
+1 765 49-69512
Data generation, flow, and use in decision making Digital agriculture primarily with machinery, cropping, and livestock applications including computation, connectivity, and communication. Open source work through www.oatscenter.org.
Innovatory for Cells and Neural Machines (ICAN) straddles the domains of digital agriculture (IoT & scalable databases) and computational biology (ML for genomics & cell engineering), both of which use applied machine learning, scalable databases and cloud/edge computing.
Hydrology and Water Resources Engineering. Integration of field based observations, remote sensing products and, hydrology and crop models into a digital ecosystem that can be used to enhance sustainability in the face of environmental change.
Data-driven discovery and computational modeling of biosystems in health and disease. Physics of living systems. Food engineering and advanced biomanufacturing. Environmental bioengineering and sustainability.
Bernard Engel
Associate Dean of Agricultural Research and Graduate Education/Professor Agricultural & Biological Engineering
+1 765 49-48362
Information Systems Soil and Water Resource Engineering. Hydrologic/water quality model development and application at field to watershed scales, groundwater modeling, environmental decision support systems, GIS, simulation.
Design of 3D printed components for miniaturized fluid power systems. Additive manufacturing for the fabrication of fluid power soft actuators, valves, embedded sensors and low-pressure for robotics & industry.
Water Resources and Ecohydrologic Engineering: integrated (hydrologic, water quality, statistical) modeling; climate, land use/land management impacts; development of computer-based applications for water resources decision making and management.
Plant phenotyping sensors systems development, along with machine vision, electronics, statistics, machine learning automation and robotics and their applications in plant phenotyping activities.
Agricultural Informatics: human-centered design, information modeling, and software engineering for increased resilience in food and agricultural systems. Digital Ag applications in field and cove crops, specialty crops, livestock, and food systems.
Precision/Digital Agriculture- Remote sensing and Internet of Things (IoT) for managing plants/animals, development of spatio-temporal/machine learning models for site specific plant management, and decision support tools for natural resources management.
Design of Specialized Machines and Systems for Agriculture: Thermo-fluid & Mechanical Design; Precision Livestock Instrumentation; BioEnergy/Power Conversion; Off-Road Equipment Design; Social Implications of Engineered Systems & STEM Education.
Engineering microbiomes.Field-deployable paper-based microfluidic biosensors for animal health and human health, in vitro models for studying host-microbiome interactions, ecological rules of life, soft materials and devices.
Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering
Hydrology and water resources engineering. Using observations to support open-access, process-based model development; quantifying water cycle alteration through human intervention across multiple scales, climate regimes and ecosystems.
Natalie Carroll
Professor of Youth Development/Agricultural Education/Agricultural & Biological Engineering
+1 765 49-46638
Youth education in natural resources and environment. Informal learning methods and modes for youth audiences.
Surface Materials Science - Exploring and exploiting physical and chemical factors governing particulate interactions to relationships between surface-structure and process-performance of food and pharmaceutical powders and composites
Hydrology and Water Resources Engineering. Integration of field based observations, remote sensing products and, hydrology and crop models into a digital ecosystem that can be used to enhance sustainability in the face of environmental change.
Bernard Engel
Associate Dean of Agricultural Research and Graduate Education/Professor Agricultural & Biological Engineering
+1 765 49-48362
Information Systems Soil and Water Resource Engineering. Hydrologic/water quality model development and application at field to watershed scales, groundwater modeling, environmental decision support systems, GIS, simulation.
Soil Erosion Mechanics, Prediction, and Control. Soil detachment, sediment transport, and sediment deposition processes. Process-based soil erosion modeling (WEPP model). Soil amendments for erosion control. Water quality monitoring and modeling. (USDA-ARS)
Watershed management in agricultural watersheds. Conservation drainage and climate change adaptation for water quality and resilient agricultural landscapes, Conservation practice effectiveness; watershed modeling for improved community decision-making.
Water Resources and Ecohydrologic Engineering: integrated (hydrologic, water quality, statistical) modeling; climate, land use/land management impacts; development of computer-based applications for water resources decision making and management.
Building environmental control and measurement, modeling and mitigation of indoor and outdoor dust, noxious gases, and odor, pollutant emission rates from agricultural facilities, and atmospheric dispersion modeling.
Ecological Restoration and Biogeochemistry Water quality in agricultural and urban watersheds; social-ecological systems; field monitoring, lab experiments, and computer modeling to develop environmental solutions and restore ecosystem functions.
Waste Management, Treatment, and Utilization : Anaerobic digestion of agricultural and industrial wastes; animal environment and welfare; air pollution monitoring and modeling; and data acquisition software and sensor development.
Precision/Digital Agriculture- Remote sensing and Internet of Things (IoT) for managing plants/animals, development of spatio-temporal/machine learning models for site specific plant management, and decision support tools for natural resources management.
Systems Science & Engineering for Sustainability: Industrial Ecology, Circular Economy, Process Systems Models, Machine Learning, Industrial-Natural Coupled Systems, Life Cycle Analysis, Macroeconomic Models, Urban Systems, Dynamics, Complex Systems
Subsurface hydrology, water quality, tile drainage, preferential flow, water isotopes, field and watershed monitoring.
Food, Pharmaceutical, and Biological Process Engineering
Applying particle technology concepts to the handling and processing of grain, food, feed, and other particulate materials. Research areas include powder flow; particle, powder characterization; agglomeration; dust explosion; modeling and simulation
Surface Materials Science - Exploring and exploiting physical and chemical factors governing particulate interactions to relationships between surface-structure and process-performance of food and pharmaceutical powders and composites
Biotechnology Innovation and Regulatory Science Center leader, developing global programs to ensure sustainable access to medicines in Africa and advance discovery in manufacturing technology, quality of medicines, and rare disease research.
Biomaterials, Regenerative Engineering and Drug Delivery. Rational design of cell-instructive polymeric biomaterials and development of bioengineered systems for musculoskeletal tissue regeneration and controlled delivery of therapeutics.
Bioseparations to recover valuable co-products from underutilized biological resources and the design of the recovery processes to assess potential economic feasibility of a given co-product.
Electromagnetic actuation of biological systems. Apply electromagnetic radiation, including electric pulses, plasmas, lasers, microwaves, and RF, to manipulate biological cells. Applications include food processing, wound healing, and pain relief.
Grain post-harvest handling & storage, powder technology and logistics with focus on post-harvest operations, storage and feedstock characterization for grains, oilseeds, bioprocessing coproducts and lignocellulosic biomass.
Bioseparations & Mass Transfer: liquid chromatography, membrane separations, microfluidics, injectable biologics. Pathogen Detection. Biocatalysis: enzymes, cellulose pretreatment, fermentation, process engineering.
Nathan Mosier
Department Head, Indiana Soybean Board Professor, Agricultural & Biological Engineering/LORRE
Bioprocess engineering for transforming carbohydrates (starch and cellulose) and lipids (vegetable oils) to biofuels and value-added chemicals. Development of novel catalysts, reaction engineering, reactor design, and process integration.
Colloidal and Interfacial Phenomena. Pore formation by antimicrobial peptides in lipid bilayers, molecular dynamics simulation of protein conformation, oxidative stability in food emulsions, pasting behavior of starch.
Martin Okos
Professor Agricultural & Biological Engineering/Biochem And Food Proc Engr
+1 765 49-41211
Optimization of food, pharmaceutical and bio processes using experimental and computer-aided research. Measurement of rheological, transport and kinetic properties, Design of biological fermentation, extrusion, dehydration and separation systems,
Systems Science & Engineering for Sustainability: Industrial Ecology, Circular Economy, Process Systems Models, Machine Learning, Industrial-Natural Coupled Systems, Life Cycle Analysis, Macroeconomic Models, Urban Systems, Dynamics, Complex Systems
Bioprocessing, Bioproducts. Biofuels processing/separation, chemical synthesis/modification of biomaterials, synthesis of DNA-protein bioconjugates, bioproducts development.
Machine Systems Engineering
Dennis Buckmaster
Professor of Agricultural & Biological Engineering, Dean's Fellow for Digital Agriculture
+1 765 49-69512
Data generation, flow, and use in decision making Digital agriculture primarily with machinery, cropping, and livestock applications including computation, connectivity, and communication. Open source work through www.oatscenter.org.
Numerical methods and CFD simulation of flows n applications with heat transfer, turbulent gas-liquid flows, sprays and liquid atomization, and mixing. Modeling cavitation in fluid power systems.
Machine Systems and Automation: Agricultural Machine Design and Logistics. Precision Agriculture Technologies Evaluation and Application. Automated Systems Design and Modeling.
Design of 3D printed components for miniaturized fluid power systems. Additive manufacturing for the fabrication of fluid power soft actuators, valves, embedded sensors and low-pressure for robotics & industry.
Plant phenotyping sensors systems development, along with machine vision, electronics, statistics, machine learning automation and robotics and their applications in plant phenotyping activities.
Design of intelligent machines and systems. Agricultural robotics. Autonomous and drive-by-wire technologies for vehicles. Sustainable technologies for developing countries. Modeling, simulation, and control of dynamic systems. Fluid power.
Flexible sensor and actuator design using additive manufacturing and novel materials for real world applications including manufacturing machines, processes, and products and precision agriculture
Design of Specialized Machines and Systems for Agriculture: Thermo-fluid & Mechanical Design; Precision Livestock Instrumentation; BioEnergy/Power Conversion; Off-Road Equipment Design; Social Implications of Engineered Systems & STEM Education.
Andrea Vacca
Maha Fluid Power Faculty Chair; Professor, Agricultural and Biological Engineering and Mechanical Engineering (joint)
765-430-0081
Fluid Power Systems. Design, modeling and testing of new concepts for Hydraulic Systems and Components, with focus on improving controllability and efficiency of fluid power machines in off-road, aerospace, industrial, and automotive applications.