Advisory Council Biographical Booklet
Spring 2012
Advisory Council Members
Hagenson, Mary Jane
Hemken, Peter C.
Katzer, James R.
King, Terry S.
Lane, Robert A.
Thompson, Leigh H.
Vaughn, Dennis J.
Mary Jane Hagenson
Vice President of Research & Technology (retired 4/2012)
Chevron Phillips Chemical Company
Mary Jane Hagenson is the former Vice President of Research and Technology for Chevron
Phillips Chemical Company, with responsibilities for research and development, process
engineering, and licensing activities for the $8 billion company, which is 50/50 owned by
Chevron Corporation and ConocoPhillips. She previously served as Vice President of Specialty
Chemicals and Plastics for Phillips Petroleum Company (now ConocoPhillips). Before being
named to that position in 1998, she was general manager of the global Specialty Chemicals
business for five years.
Hagenson began her career with Phillips Petroleum in 1984 as a senior research scientist in
Research and Development. Before joining Phillips, she had research assignments at
Los Alamos National Laboratory, the University of Iowa, and Iowa State University. She held a
postdoctoral appointment in the Department of Genetics at Iowa State.
A native of rural Thompson, Iowa, she received a B.S. degree in physics and mathematics in
1974, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in biomedical engineering in 1976 and 1980, respectively,
from Iowa State University. Hagenson has authored more than 20 technical papers and holds
seven U.S. patents. In 1991 she was nominated for Phillips’ Inventor of the Year. Hagenson
served for over ten years on the ISU College of Engineering Industrial Advisory Council, and is
a Governor of the Iowa State University Foundation. She also served a three-year term on the
ABET Industrial Advisory Council (Accreditation Board for Engineering and
Technology). Hagenson was a 2006 recipient of the Iowa State College of Engineering
Professional Achievement Citation in Engineering (PACE) Award. Hagenson was recently
appointed to the National Academies Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology and the
National Science Foundation Directorate for Engineering Advisory Committee.
Hagenson is married to Randy L. Hagenson, who also holds B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in
engineering from Iowa State. They have two daughters: Leigh Hagenson Thompson received
her B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Chemical Engineering from Iowa State, and Lara Hagenson Niles
who received her Ph.D. from the College of Education at Iowa State University in August, 2007.
The Hagensons are also blessed with four young grandsons: Kyle, Kolben, and Alexander
Thompson, and Wyatt Niles.
3 Bay Cliff Court
The Woodlands, Texas 77389
hagenmj@cpchem.com
Peter C. Hemken
Founder and President
Strategy Development Partners LLC
Director
Iowa Innovation Corporation
Vice President (retired)
DuPont Company
Strategy Development Partners LLC provides strategy and business development consulting
services for small- and medium-sized businesses and not-for-profit organizations in Central
Iowa. Peter Hemken is a highly experienced general manager and former senior executive of the
DuPont Company with 35 years experience in all areas of business development and growth, as
well as restructuring and turnaround situations.
Prior to his retirement from the DuPont Company in December 2011, Peter managed strategy
and business development programs for the agriculture related businesses of DuPont, including
Pioneer Hi-Bred. Previously he was vice president and general manager of DuPont BioMaterials
and led the scale-up and commercialization of the Bio-PDO technology and expansion of the
Sorona renewably sourced polymer business. Earlier in his career he led the growth and
development of multiple DuPont businesses in the Asia-Pacific region for nearly a decade. Upon
his return the United States, Peter led the formation, restructuring and growth of a major joint
venture with Sabanci Holding A.S. of Istanbul, Turkey, from 2000 to 2006 as chief executive
officer of DuPont-Sabanci International (DUSA), more recently known as Kordsa Global A.S.,
the leading supplier of nylon and polyester tire cord yarns and fabrics worldwide.
Mr. Hemken graduated with distinction from Iowa State University in 1977 with a B.S. degree in
Chemical Engineering and is a 2003 recipient of the ISU Professional Achievement in
Engineering Award. He earned an MBA degree from the Robins School of Business at the
University of Richmond in 1982. Peter has served on the board of directors for the Iowa Power
Fund, the Iowa Innovation Council and currently serves on the board of directors of the Iowa
Innovation Corporation and the advisory council for the Department of Chemical and Biological
Engineering at Iowa State University.
Peter C. Hemken
Strategy Development Partners LLC
1512 South 45th Street
West Des Moines, IA 50265
Phone: 302 494-8541
E-mail: hemkenpc@aol.com
James R. Katzer
Manager, (Retired) ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company
Professor, Chemical & Biological Engineering Department, Iowa State
University (Affiliate)
James R. Katzer retired at the end of 2003 as Manager of Strategic Planning and Performance
Analysis for ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company. His involvement encompassed a
broad range of fuels, lubes and refining technologies, as well as activities associated with rapidly
evolving automotive technologies. Prior to the merger, he was Vice President of Technology of
Mobil Oil Corporation. He joined Mobil in 1981 as Manager of the Catalyst Section of the
Central Research Department and held a range of positions in the technology arm of the
Corporation after that. Prior to joining Mobil, Dr. Katzer was a Professor of Chemical
Engineering at the University of Delaware, where he was instrumental in the establishment of the
Center for Catalytic Science and Technology at Delaware.
Dr. Katzer holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Iowa State University and a Ph.D. in
Chemical Engineering from MIT. Dr. Katzer has authored and co-authored numerous technical
papers, presentations, and lectures. He is the co-author of the book Chemistry of Catalytic
Processes and has edited several other books. He is a member of the National Academy of
Engineering.
After he retired from ExxonMobil, he became a Visiting Scholar at MIT in the Laboratory for
Energy and the Environment where he was Executive Director of a special project and report on
the Future of Coal in a Greenhouse Constrained World. He has recently been involved in
several National Research Council panel reports relating to energy and transportation. He has
just contributed two chapters on coal and biomass (1) to power and (2) to liquid transportation
fuels to a book titled Global Climate Change – The Technology Challenge and is on the
Technology Advisory Board of China’s newly formed National Institute for Clean and LowCarbon Fuels. He continues to work with Bob Williams at Princeton University on replacing
coal-based power with coal and biomass to low-carbon power and transportation fuels.
P. O. Box 1346
Blue Hill, ME 04614
908 892-9599 (cell)
207 374-2990 (land line)
jrksail@comcast.net
Terry S. King
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Ball State University
Terry King is the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Ball State University, a
position he has held since 2006. Among his duties as Provost, Terry oversees seven academic
colleges, the graduate school, the school of extended education, the Office of Research and
Sponsored Programs, the Rinker Center for International Programs, the Center for Media Design,
and the Center for Medical Education. He is the chief academic officer and is also responsible
for the university’s current strategic plan.
Prior to joining Ball State, Terry served as a Professor and Chair of Chemical Engineering at
Iowa State University, the Paslay Chair in Engineering at Kansas State University, and the Dean
of the College of Engineering at Kansas State.
Terry’s research has been in fundamental catalysis and surface science; application of solid state
NMR to catalyst studies; catalyst applications; surface thermodynamics; and reaction
engineering. Along with three patents, he has more than 150 refereed publications and invited
talks.
Ball State University
200 W. University Ave.
Muncie, IN 47306
765 285-1333
tsking@bsu.edu
Robert A. Lane
Vice President (Retired)
Shell EP International Ventures, Inc.
Robert A. (Bob) Lane was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1946. He was raised in the
midwest and attended high school at Glenbard West in Glen Ellyn, a west suburban community
near Chicago, Illinois. In 1964 he was accepted into the engineering college at Iowa State
University and in 1968, he graduated with a B.S. degree in chemical engineering.
Upon graduation Bob began a 30-year career with the Shell Companies in New Orleans,
Louisiana. He was primarily involved with Shell’s offshore and onshore oil & gas exploration
and production businesses throughout the United States. In addition, he held several senior
positions in Shell corporate strategic planning in Houston, Texas, and London.
During his final years with Shell, his assignments included Manager of Plans Coordination and
Strategy for Shell Oil Company, General Manager of Engineering for the U.S. Exploration and
Production Company, Vice President and General Manager of Shell Western E & P Company,
and Vice President of Shell E & P International Ventures, Inc, all in Houston. He also served as
Liaison Shell Oil Company in London for three years.
After electing to retire from Shell, Bob became the Chief Operating Officer of Sonat
Exploration, a large independent exploration and production company located in Houston. He
served in this role and other responsibilities involving both onshore and offshore operations until
200, when Sonat Inc. was sold to El Paso.
Bob has been married to Jacklyn Richard of Labadieville, Louisiana, for 40 years. They have a
daughter, Kristi Stites, who lives near Denver, Colorado. He is former chairman of The Gus
Archie Memorial Scholarship committee, which is affiliated with the Society of Petroleum
Engineers, AIME. He is also former chairman of the Board of Directors of PushAmerica, the
national service organization of Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity. He is chairman of the Shell Offshore
Pioneers Reunion Committee and a member of Houston’s ARE (Active Retired Executives).
6545 Edloe Street
Houston, TX 77005
713 666-9237
boblane@sbcglobal.net
Leigh H. Thompson
Solvents and Monomers
Global R&D Business Leader
The Dow Chemical Company
Leigh received her B.S. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Iowa State University in 1993
and 1997, respectively. In 2004, she was selected to attend the DeVos/Dow Executive MBA
Program, earning her MBA in 2008. She also received the Professional Process in Engineering
Award (PPEA) from Iowa State University in 2008. As a graduate student at Iowa State, Leigh
wrote a comprehensive literature review of Sonochemistry, which compiled chemical
engineering and chemistry knowledge in the scientific and industrial literature, in addition to her
own technical contributions. This publication was widely acclaimed, cited nearly 200 times in
less than 10 years, and was highlighted as No. 6 on the list of 2007 Industrial & Engineering
Chemical Research's Overall Most-Cited Articles Published Since 1996.
In 1997, Leigh joined Dow Chemical, where she worked in a variety of Corporate and Business
R&D roles. Leigh is currently the Global Business R&D Leader for Solvents and Monomers,
one of Dow’s Performance Products businesses with greater than $2 billion annual sales, in
addition to being an important supplier of raw materials to downstream market facing businesses.
Leigh currently serves on the Advisory Council for the ISU chemical and biological engineering
department and on the External Advisory Board for STEM Enrollment and Engagement through
Connections (SEEC), a NSF sponsored collaborative project between ISU and Des Moines Area
Community College (DMACC). She also served as the Team Captain of the Dow ISU recruiting
team for five years and was involved in campus recruiting activities for eight years. Leigh and
her husband Kirk (Ph.D. ChE ’98) live with their three young boys in Midland, Michigan, and
are very active in their community.
The Dow Chemical Company
Business R&D Leader Solvents and Monomers
Michigan Operations
1710 Building
Midland, MI 48667
989 638-4857
lhthompson@dow.com
Dennis J. Vaughn
Retired, Corporate Director
International Environment, Health and Safety and Global Safety
General Mills, Inc.
Born and raised in Iowa, Vaughn graduated from Iowa State in 1970 with a B.S. degree in ChE. His
initial work was with the Iowa Department of Environmental Quality, where he developed regulatory and
permitting programs for water and air pollution controls. In 1979, Mr. Vaughn joined Henkel
Corporation, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as Director of Environmental Engineering. His work
encompassed designing, monitoring, and operating treatment systems and controls for North American
food ingredients and specialty chemicals facilities, producing materials such as synthetic vitamin E, wheat
starch gluten, adhesives and surfactants.
In 1986, Vaughn relocated to Chicago, Illinois, joining G.D. Searle Pharmaceuticals as Manager of
Environmental Engineering, where he oversaw global facilities for pharmaceutical chemical synthesis
operations. He worked with locations in the U.S., U.K., Belgium, Puerto Rico, and Asia, in implementing
corporate programs and procedures for addressing toxic material releases, emergency response systems,
and new drug applications.
Returning to Minneapolis in 1990, Mr. Vaughn joined The Pillsbury Company as Vice President of
Environmental Affairs, where he managed environmental, health and safety programs for up to 72
facilities located throughout the world, which processed foods such as ice cream, fresh and frozen
vegetables, baked products, pizza, pasta and ethnic foods. He developed corporate programs,
management systems and emergency response procedures for food processing facilities and pollution
control systems. Dennis also assisted in the design of new facilities and performed more than 200 due
diligence assessments as part of merger and acquisition activities.
In 2001, following the acquisition of The Pillsbury Company by General Mills, Vaughn continued his
work with food processing facilities as Corporate Director, International Environment, Health and Safety
and Global Safety, with responsibilities for more than 60 facilities in 21 different countries. In addition to
treatment and disposal and safety activities, Vaughn worked in developing environmental and safety
systems for new facilities, adding retail outlets, and mergers and acquisitions. Dennis also developed
metrics and reporting systems for corporate sustainability initiatives and corporate reporting.
Mr. Vaughn is a registered auditor for environmental, health and safety management systems, and food
safety management systems. He is a Certified Fire Protection Specialist and a registered professional
chemical engineer in several states. He is past Chair of The Conference Board Environmental Committee
and is a former member of the ISU Engineering Council Industrial Advisory Committee.
10 Raven Road
St. Paul, MN 55127-2017
651 483-2289 (home)
651 485-7405 (cell)
dvaughn4@gmail.com
CBE Faculty
Akinc, Mufit
Bratlie, Kaitlin M.
Brown, Robert C.
Cademartiri, Rebecca
Clapp, Aaron R.
Cochran, Eric W.
Dong, Liang
Fox, Rodney O.
Glatz, Charles E.
Hebert, Kurt R.
Heindel, Ted J.
Hill, James C.
Hillier, Andrew C.
Jarboe, Laura R.
Johnson, Duane D.
Jolls, Kenneth R.
Lamm, Monica H.
Loveland, Stephanie D.
Mallapragada, Surya K.
Narasimhan, Balaji
O’Donnell, Jennifer M.
Olsen, Michael G.
Pohl, Nicola L.
Reilly, Peter J.
Rollins, Derrick, K.
Schneider, Ian C.
Shanks, Brent H.
Shanks, Jacqueline V.
Stiehl, Cory K.
Vigil, R. Dennis
Mufit Akinc
Professor, Materials Science and Engineering
Professor, Chemical & Biological Engineering (Courtesy)
Professor in Charge, Engineering International Engagement
Former department chair of materials science and engineering, Professor Mufit Akinc began a
courtesy appointment with the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering in March
2012. Professor Akinc has been a faculty member within the College of Engineering since 1981.
He served as chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering from 1995 to 2006.
Dr. Akinc started his post-secondary career in Turkey, where he earned his B.S. and M.S. in
chemistry at Middle East Technical University, Ankara, in 1970, and 1973, respectively. He then
moved to the United States, where he earned Ph.D. in ceramic engineering at Iowa State
University.
Dr. Akinc’s research interests lie in synthesis and processing of ceramic powders and fibers,
intermetallics, bioinspired nanomaterials, IR transmitting materials and polymer composite
repair.
He has served in many major international roles. He was appointed three times as a consultant to
the United Nations to assist Korea and Turkey governments. He has been a feature lecturer all
over the world, including Switzerland, Japan, China, Turkey and Poland. From 2006 to 2010 he
was an international advisor to Japan’s National Institute of Materials Science.
Dr. Akinc was elected to the European Academy of Sciences in 2003. He is a Fellow of the
American Ceramic Society, the ASM International, and the American Association for the
Advancement of Science. He was elected to the Board of Trustees of ASM in 2008. Akinc also
served as an associate editor of the Journal of the American Ceramic Society for several years.
He is a recipient of the ISU Alumni Association’s faculty citation and received Ross Coffin
Purdy Award (Best paper published in 2005) by the American Ceramic Society in 2006.
Dr. Akinc has been married to his wife, Sevinc, for 35 years and currently resides in Ames, Iowa.
Materials Science & Engineering
2220 Hoover Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011
515 294-0744; 515 294-5444 (fax)
makinc@iastate.edu
Kaitlin Bratlie
Assistant Professor
Kaitlin Bratlie joined the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering in August 2011.
Bratlie began her college career at the University of Minnesota’s Institute of Technology, now
called the College of Science and Engineering. She earned her B.S. in chemistry there in 2003.
Bratlie then traveled west to University of California, Berkeley, where she earned her Ph.D. in
physical chemistry in 2007.
In 2008, Bratlie became a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral fellow for the chemical
engineering program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She remained at that position
until joining the CBE faculty at Iowa State in 2011. Bratlie has received the Ruth L. Kirschstein
National Research Service from the National Institutes of Health for her postdoctoral research.
Her research interests focus on understanding biocompatibility through three different facets:
1) collagen formation surrounding a polymer both in vitro and in vivo, 2) activation of
complement – one of the first lines of defense of the immune system – at interfaces, and
3) enzyme activation on biomaterials.
Chemical & Biological Engineering
3111 Gilman
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011
515 294-7297; 515 294-2689 (fax)
kbratlie@iastate.edu
Robert C. Brown
Anson Marston Distinguished Professor of Engineering
Gary and Donna Hoover chair in Mechanical Engineering
Professor in Chemical & Biological Engineering and
Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (Courtesy appointments)
Robert Brown, Anson Marston Distinguished Professor, and Gary and Donna Hoover Chair in
Mechanical Engineering, holds academic appointments in mechanical engineering, chemical and
biological engineering, and agricultural & biosystems engineering at Iowa State University. He
is the Iowa Farm Bureau Director of the ISU Bioeconomy Institute, which coordinates the
campus’ Bioeconomy Initiative. He also serves as Director of the Center for Sustainable
Environmental Technologies, which conducts research on thermochemical conversion of
biomass into fuels, chemicals, and energy.
Brown obtained his undergraduate training at the University of Missouri-Columbia where he
received a B.S. degree in physics and a BA degree in mathematics in 1976. He studied
mechanical engineering at Michigan State University where he obtained an M.S. degree in 1977
and a Ph.D. in 1980. Brown worked at General Dynamics Corporation in Ft. Worth, Texas, for
three years before joining ISU in 1983 as an assistant professor of mechanical engineering. He
was promoted to associate professor in 1987 and to professor in 1993. He became a Fellow of
the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 2002. He held the position of Bergles
Professor in Thermal Science from 2003-2009. He received the Distinguished Iowa Scientist
Award from the Iowa Academy of Science in 2006. Since 2007 he has served as the principal
investigator on the 22.5 million Biofuels Program established by ConocoPhillips Company at
ISU. In 2010 and 2011 he was named one of the “Top 100 People in Bioenergy” by Biofuels
Digest.
Dr. Brown’s research is directed toward thermochemical conversion of biomass into fuels,
chemicals, and energy. He conducts research on fluidized bed hydrodynamics, mechanisms of
pyrolysis, carbon conversion during gasification, transport phenomena in hot gas clean-up,
production of hydrogen and hydrocarbons from biomass, upgrading of thermolytic substrates to
fuels, biopower, and economics and policy of renewable energy. He teaches courses in
thermodynamics, heat transfer, fluid mechanics, combustion, fluidized beds, biorenewable
resources, and thermochemical biofuels.
Mechanical Engineering
1140E BRL
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-2153
515 294-7934; 515 294-3091 (fax)
rcbrown@iastate.edu
Rebecca Cademartiri
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Rebecca Cademartiri joined the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering as an
adjunct assistant professor in January 2012.
Her post-secondary academic career began at Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Germany,
where she earned a Diploma in chemistry in 2002. In 2005, Cademartiri earned a Doctorate in
chemistry from Universität Potsdam, Germany.
An impressive postdoc career followed. From 2005 to 2008 she was a postdoctoral fellow at
McMaster University, Canada. Cademartiri then traveled to the U.S. to pursue a postdoctoral
associate position at Tufts University from 2008 to 2009. Her latest venture, before coming to
Iowa State, was a postdoctoral fellow position at Harvard University, where she spent nearly two
and a half years.
Cademartiri’s research interests are interaction of biological entities with materials; simple and
inexpensive detection schemes in food safety and public health; drug delivery; and antibacterial
and antiviral surfaces.
She looks forward to building her life with husband, Ludovico, at their new home in northwest
Ames. She plans to create a small kitchen garden and a get a dog to keep them company.
Chemical & Biological Engineering
1031 Sweeney Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-2230
515 294-3327; 515 294-2689 (fax)
rcademar@iastate.edu
Aaron R. Clapp
Assistant Professor
Aaron Clapp received his B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of
Minnesota in 1996. As an undergraduate, he worked in the laboratory of L. E. Scriven in the
Coating Process Fundamentals Program for two years. He later attended the University of
Florida in Gainesville earning an M.S. in Biomedical Engineering (2000) and a Ph.D. in
Chemical Engineering (2001) under Professor Richard Dickinson. Following a brief
postdoctoral stay at Florida, he was a National Research Council Postdoctoral Associate at the
Naval Research Laboratory (Optical Sciences Division) in Washington, DC.
Clapp is interested in colloidal and interfacial phenomena, particularly at the nanoscale. He is
pursuing synthesis, characterization, and applications of quantum dot nanocrystals as novel
fluorescent materials for biological investigations. The unique behavior of colloidal quantum
dots is due to quantum confinement charge carriers leading to tunable spectral properties. He is
also interested in small-scale force measurements (sub-pN) with optical tweezers which employ
focused light to non-invasively manipulate colloidal particles in solution. These unique tools
have the potential to reveal behavior of biological systems previously inaccessible to
experimentalists. This work has direct implications in such diverse areas as cell proliferation,
particle filtration, pathogenesis, biomaterial design, and biosensing.
Chemical and Biological Engineering
3033 Sweeney Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-2230
515 294-9514; 515 294-2689 (fax)
clapp@iastate.edu
Eric W. Cochran
Assistant Professor
Eric Cochran began his studies at Iowa State University where he earned his B.S. degree in
Chemical Engineering and a BA degree (second major) in Liberal Arts and Science
(mathematics) in 1998. From there he went to the University of Minnesota where he received
his Ph.D. in 2004. He spent a year and a half as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Santa
Barbara, California, prior to joining the ISU faculty as an assistant professor in January, 2006.
Cochran’s research interests include the synthesis, characterization, and modeling of novel
polymeric materials. The main thrust of this program is to better understand the physics of selfassembly processes in soft materials and to use that knowledge to engineer advanced materials
from the bottom up. One current project area includes the design of polymeric nanocomposites
using block copolymers to template the filler particle morphology. Depending on the choice of
filler particle, applications range from barrier materials for use in the packaging industry, to fireresistant engineering thermoplastics, to high-efficiency catalytic membranes for use in fuel-cell
applications.
Cochran and his wife, Allison, reside in Ames, with their sons, Michael and Mason, daughter,
Dillan and two cats, Radar and Ollie.
Chemical and Biological Engineering
1035 Sweeney Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-2230
515 294-0625; 515 294-2689 (fax)
ecochran@iastate.edu
Liang Dong
Assistant Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering
Assistant Professor of Chemical & Biological Engineering (Courtesy)
Liang Dong, Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and of Chemical and
Biological Engineering, joined the faculty at Iowa State University in 2007 after earning his B.S.
degree in Precision Instruments at the Xidian University, Xian, China in 1995 and his Ph.D. in
Electronics Science and Technology from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China in 2004,
respectively. From 2004-2007, he was a post-doctoral research associate at the Department of
Electrical and Computer Engineering of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Liang Dong’s research expertise is in micro/nano-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS),
microfluidics, lab on a chip, nanophotonics, sensors and actuators.
He was a recipient of Iowa State Early Career Engineering Faculty Research Award in 2011,
National Science Foundation CAREER Award in 2010, and National Outstanding Doctoral
Dissertation Award of China in 2007.
Liang and his wife, Su, and his son, David live at 3122 Beckley St., in Ames, IA.
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
2115 Coover Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011
515 294-0388; 515 294-8432 (fax)
ldong@iastate.edu
Rodney O. Fox
Anson Marston Distinguished Professor and Herbert L. Stiles Chair
Rodney Fox, Professor and Herbert L. Stiles Chair, joined the chemical engineering faculty at
Iowa State University in August 1998 after nine years on the engineering faculty at Kansas State
University. He earned all his degrees in Chemical Engineering at KSU, graduating with a B.S.
degree in 1982, M.S. degree in 1985, and a Ph.D. in 1987. In addition, he has had extensive
international experience as an engineering exchange student at Justus-Liebig University in
Germany in 1980-81 and at ETH-Zurich in Switzerland in 1982-83, a postdoctoral fellow at
LSGC-ENSIC in France in 1987-88, and as a visiting professor in France, Italy, and Holland in
1996-97, and in Switzerland and France in 2004-05.
Computation simulation and modeling is the main thrust of Fox's research in chemical reactor
engineering and transport phenomena. Most of the research projects focus on the development
and application of computational fluid dynamics to the chemical process industry. Of particular
interest is the development of efficient computational methods for treating turbulent reacting
flows in complex geometries. Such flows include polymerization in LDPE and HDPE reactors,
thermal chlorination of alkanes, and reactive precipitation of fine chemicals. This work is
carried out in close collaboration with industrial end users including BASELL, BASF, BP
Chemical, Dow Chemical, DuPont, Exxon Mobil, Merck, and Univation.
His honors include a Fulbright Scholarship for 1982-83, the National Science Foundation
Graduate Fellow Award for 1984-87, the NATO Postdoctoral Fellow Award for 1987-88, the
Presidential Young Investigator Award for 1991-96, and the ASEE Dow Outstanding New
Faculty Award in 1996.
Fox and his wife, Betty, live in Ames. They enjoy international travel and are frequent visitors
to Betty's home country of France.
Chemical and Biological Engineering
3162 Sweeney Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-2230
515 294-9104; 515 294-2689 (fax)
rofox@iastate.edu
Charles E. Glatz
University Professor
Charles (Chuck) Glatz, joined the chemical engineering faculty at Iowa State University as an
assistant professor after earning his B.S. degree at the University of Notre Dame in 1971 and his
Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin in 1975. In 1980 he was promoted to associate professor
and in 1986 to professor. During this time, he was also an honorary research fellow at the
University of Hull and University College London in 1982-1983 and visiting professor at the
University of Colorado, Boulder in 1994. He served as Department Chair (with an interim
assignment as Dean of Engineering for six months in 2004) from 1997-2005. In 2006-07, he was
on-leave as Erskine Fellow at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, NZ and Visiting
Professor at RPI in Troy, New York and finished the year with stints in Colorado and Ames.
Bioprocessing is the common thread running through Glatz’s research on plant biotechnology,
product recovery, and waste treatment. Most of these projects focus on separations problems,
and many are collaborative efforts that involve biochemists, microbiologists, genetic engineers,
and chemists. Current projects are to study the recovery of recombinant proteins from transgenic
plants, production of biosurfactants, and aqueous extraction of oil from soy. Separation methods
include precipitation and crystallization, chromatography, and ultrafiltration and microfiltration.
He and his wife, Kathy, live in Ames. His son, Andrew, is a Pediatric Cardiologist at Children’s
Hospital of Philadelphia, daughter Rebecca is working at Geographic Expeditions in
San Francisco, California, and daughter Catherine is in medical school at the University of
Minnesota.
Chemical and Biological Engineering
2162 Sweeney Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-2230
515 294-8472; 515 294-2689 (fax)
cglatz@iastate.edu
Kurt R. Hebert
Professor
After completing his B.S.E. degree at Princeton University in 1978, Kurt Hebert went to the
University of Illinois for his M.S. (1981) and Ph.D. (1985) degrees. He joined the faculty at
Iowa State University in 1985 as an assistant professor and in 1990 was promoted to associate
professor. He served as Interim Chair in 1994.
His teaching and research areas include corrosion and electrochemical materials science and
engineering. Many materials used in structures and devices are intrinsically reactive with their
environments and depend on a thin surface film, formed by oxidation, for protection against
degradation by corrosion. When corrosion does begin on oxide-covered metals, it is typically
confined to certain sites where the corrosion rate is very high. The goal of this research is to
develop a fundamental understanding of critical chemical and physical processes involved in
localized corrosion initiation and hydrogen-related degradation. Other research topics are
fabrication of nanoscale-ordered catalyst layers for fuel cells, electrodeposition of copper
interconnects for semiconductor technology, and electrochemical fabrication of nanostructured
oxide films.
Hebert’s professional affiliations include the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE)
and the Electrochemical Society. In 1994 he received the Young Engineering Faculty Research
Award from the ISU College of Engineering. He served as Interim Chair of the Department in
2004, and is currently North American Regional Editor of the Journal of Applied
Electrochemistry.
He lives at 3619 Woodland Street in Ames.
Chemical and Biological Engineering
1037 Sweeney Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-2230
515 294-6763; 515 294-2689 (fax)
krhebert@iastate.edu
Ted Heindel
Interim Department Chair and Bergles Professor of Thermal Science,
Mechanical Engineering
Professor, Chemical & Biological Engineering (courtesy)
Dr. Ted Heindel has a courtesy appointment in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering.
His main department is mechanical engineering, where he is the interim department chair and the Bergles
Professor of Thermal Science.
Dr. Heindel earned his B.S. in mechanical engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as well as
his M.S. and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at Purdue University.
His research interests lie in X-ray flow visualization; fluid mechanics; multiphase flow hydrodynamics
related to gas-liquid, gas-solid and gas-liquid-solid processes; and gas-liquid mass transfer. He directs the
Experimental Multiphase Flow Laboratory at Iowa State University, which houses a one-of-a-kind X-ray
flow visualization facility for large-scale multiphase flows.
Dr. Heindel is active in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Fluids Engineering
Division. He recently completed an associate editor assignment for the ASME Journal of Fluids
Engineering and was recently Chair of the Fluid Measurement and Instrumentation Technical Committee.
He currently serves on the Fluids Engineering Division Honors and Awards Committee.
Dr. Heindel lives in Ames with his wife and two daughters.
Mechanical Engineering
2025B Black Engineering
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-2161
515 294-0057; 515 294-3261 (fax)
theindel@iastate.edu
James C. Hill
University Professor
Jim Hill is University Professor and former Chair of the Department of Chemical and Biological
Engineering. He joined the chemical engineering faculty at Iowa State University in 1971 after
earning his B.S. degree with distinction at Stanford, his Ph.D. at the University of Washington, a
NAS/NRC post-doc in theoretical physics at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and working
as a research engineer at Shell Development. He has held visiting and sabbatical positions at the
National Center for Atmospheric Research, CNRS-Rouen, Nagoya University, and the Isaac
Newton Institute. He was Vice-Chair of the U.S. National Committee on Theoretical and
Applied Mechanics from 1998-2002 and has served as a regional editor of the journal Fluid
Dynamics Research. He has served on the AIChE Board of Directors (2001-2003) and served as
chair of AIChE’s Chemical Engineering Technology Operating Council. He is co-meeting chair
for the 2011 Annual AICHE Meeting, to be held in Minneapolis. He is also Director of District
11 of the Tau Beta Pi Association and has been advisor to the ISU solar car team since it started
in 1989.
Hill’s research area is fluid mechanics, and he studies problems of turbulent transport and mixing
using statistical turbulence theory, numerical simulations, and laboratory experiments. He was
among the first to use PDF methods for turbulent reacting flows and pioneered the use of direct
numerical simulation to study these flows. Current research in collaboration with Fox (CBE) and
Olsen (ME) deals with theory and experiments in a model turbulent flow reactor.
Among Hill’s awards are the ISU Alumni Association Faculty Citation, Iowa Board of Regents
Faculty Excellence Award, and designation as University Professor. He has also won the Tau
Beta Pi National Outstanding Advisor Award, the AIChE Lappin Award, the AIChE Van
Antwerpen Award, and is a Fellow of AIChE.
Hill and his wife, Ruth, live in Ames. Their sons and families live in Colorado and Washington.
Chemical & Biological Engineering
3155 Sweeney Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-2230
Phone: 515 294-4959; 515 294-2689 (fax)
jchill@iastate.edu
Andrew C. Hillier
Professor and Associate Chair of the CBE Department
Andrew Hillier joined the chemical engineering faculty at Iowa State University as an associate professor
in June of 2003. Hillier earned a B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
in 1990 and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Minnesota in 1995. He then spent
one year as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of
Texas-Austin. Hillier started his academic career at the University of Virginia in 1996 as an assistant
professor in chemical engineering and was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2002.
Hillier’s research deals with surfaces and materials. Current projects in Dr. Hillier’s research group
include the discovery and characterization of high performance catalysts for fuel cells, development of
electrochemical and optical methods for high-throughput analysis of reacting surfaces, fabrication of
“adaptive” membranes and thin films that respond to electrical stimulation, construction of surface
“gradients” that can be used as dense combinatorial libraries or sensor platforms and application of
molecular and polymeric materials in optical and electronic devices.
Dr. Hillier’s teaching interests include courses in the core chemical engineering curriculum as well as
elective courses dealing with surface chemistry, electrochemistry and materials. He teaches both graduate
and undergraduate courses. At Virginia, Dr. Hillier taught courses that included process control, mass
transfer, thermodynamics, electrochemistry and applied mathematics. At ISU, he has taught chemical
reaction engineering, process control and simple and colloid chemistry.
Hillier has received several national awards including a National Science Foundation CAREER Award in
1999, an Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award in 2000, a Young Investigator Award from
the Society of Electroanalytical Chemistry in 2002, a Young Scanning Probe Microscopist Award in 1997
and a New Faculty Award from the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation in 1996. He was also named
a University of Virginia Teaching Fellow in 2000 and a Memminger Faculty Fellow in Chemical
Engineering in 2002. Hillier was awarded an ISU Engineering Council Leadership Award in 2005.
Hillier, his wife, LeAnn, their three sons, Ian, Cole, and Adam, live in Ames.
Chemical and Biological Engineering
3133 Sweeney Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-2230
515 294-3678; 515 294-2689 (fax)
hillier@iastate.edu
Laura R. Jarboe
Assistant Professor
Laura Jarboe earned her B.S. at the University of Kentucky in Chemical Engineering, where she
also earned a certificate in Environmental Engineering in 2000. She earned her Ph.D. in
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles in 2006
and subsequently worked for two years as a postdoctoral researcher at the Florida Center for
Renewable Fuels and Chemicals at the University of Florida and eagerly joined the ISU faculty
as an assistant professor in August, 2008.
Jarboe’s research focuses on characterizing, modeling and engineering biological systems with a
dual purpose. The first purpose is to metabolically engineer biocatalysts that efficiently produce
biorenewable products at a high yield. This engineering requires identification of metabolic
inhibition and bottlenecks in order to attain economically feasible production levels. The second
purpose is to improve treatment and prevention of bacterial-mediated disease, including
characterizing the bacterial defense against compounds produced by the mammalian immune
system and modeling the attachment of antibiotic-resistant bacteria to soil sediments.
Jarboe just purchased a home in Ames, which she shares with two cats and a dog.
Chemical and Biological Engineering
3051 Sweeney Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-2230
515 294-2319; 515 294-2689 (fax)
ljarboe@iastate.edu
Duane Johnson
Chief Research Officer, Ames Laboratory
F. Wendell Miller Professor, Materials Science and Engineering
Professor, Chemical & Biological Engineering (Courtesy)
Professor, Physics (Courtesy)
Duane D. Johnson is chief research officer at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory.
In addition to his role as Ames Lab’s CRO, Johnson is the F. Wendell Miller Professor of Energy
Sciences at Iowa State University, with a tenured faculty appointment in the Department of
Materials Science and Engineering and courtesy appointments in the Department of Chemical
and Biological Engineering and the Department of Physics.
Johnson is an internationally recognized leader in the area of materials theory and computational
materials science, with more than 160 publications and over 100 invited presentations. His
research melds modern theoretical methods and their computational solution for materials
discovery and to predict properties and interpret characterization experiments. His group has
developed several algorithms used worldwide and helps advance materials prediction.
Johnson came to Ames Laboratory from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, where
he was the Ivan Racheff Professor of Materials Science and Engineering. He was also a professor
of Physics and Mechanical Engineering, principal investigator in the interdisciplinary Frederick
Seitz Materials Research Laboratory, director of the National Science Foundation-supported
Materials Computation Center, and affiliated with the College of Engineering’s Computational
Science and Engineering program, which fosters interdisciplinary, computationally oriented
research among all fields of science and engineering.
Johnson received his Ph.D. in physics in 1985 from the University of Cincinnati, performing his
thesis work in the Metals and Ceramics division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Following a
postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Bristol, England, and a National Research Council
postdoctoral fellowship at the Naval Research Laboratory, he was a senior research scientist at
Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, California. Johnson joined the faculty of the
University of Illinois in 1997. He joined the faculty of Iowa State University in 2010.
Ames Laboratory
Materials Science and Engineering
2220H Hoover Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011
515 294-4877; 515 294-5444 (fax)
ddj@iastate.edu
Kenneth R. Jolls
Professor Emeritus
Kenneth Jolls possesses a unique blend of interests. In 1958 he graduated from Duke University with a
degree in music. He then turned to chemical engineering, receiving a B.S. degree with high honors from
North Carolina State University, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Illinois in 1963
and 1966. His dissertation was in fluid mechanics. Music remains his avocation.
His current research involves visualization of ideas in chemical thermodynamics and related areas.
Visualizing computer-based analyses through high-performance graphics holds great promise for
chemical engineering research, practice, and teaching. Visual thinking utilizes powerful intellectual
pathways that have traditionally been underused by scientists and engineers. Many areas of chemical
engineering analysis possess visualizable components—concepts dealing with structures, stresses, fields
and phases. Computer simulation in these areas yields results that are often more readily interpreted
visually—through static or dynamic views of carefully conceived structures. Thermodynamics is a prime
example.
His most important recent recognitions are the Responsible Care National Catalyst Award from the
Chemical Manufacturers Association (1996), a review of his 1998 software product “Phase” published in
Science magazine (October 15, 1999), and a Faculty Citation Award from the Iowa State Alumni
Association (fall 2000). His letters in the New York Times about the link between art and science:
“Keeping Eyes Open,” “Teaching Art and Science: The Twain Meet,” and “The Visual Side of Science”
were published May 6, 2001, June 10, 2003, and June 19, 2007. “Science students need to develop the
skills of artists” was published in Nature, October 2008. Jolls organized the Larson-Ruth Chemical
Engineering Research Symposium in 1979, 2003, and 2005 and also co-authored (with E. Cochran and P.
Miller) a paper for the 2003 Atanasoff Symposium on Modern Computing: “Visualizing
Hyperdimensional Functions Using Nurbs: ‘Animate’ Software-Thermodynamic Phase Diagrams for
Mixtures.” His most recent paper, “Visualizing the Gibbs Models,” was the lead item in issue 15 of
Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research, Vol. 47. In October 2010 he presented his work at a
conference, “Imaging Without Boundaries,” at the Beckman Institute of the University of Illinois.
Jolls was the faculty representative for the ChE Department’s Foreign Study Program at the University of
Oviedo, Spain, from 2002 through 2010. He will repeat that involvement in 2012 with continued
assistance from a Higher Education Initiative grant that he obtained from Cargill, Inc. Jolls was recently
inducted into the Des Moines Community Jazz Center Hall of Fame.
Chemical and Biological Engineering
2155 Sweeney Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-2230
515 294-5222; 515 294-2689 (fax)
jolls@iastate.edu
Monica H. Lamm
Associate Professor and Department Officer of Graduate Education
Monica Hitchcock Lamm joined the chemical engineering faculty as an assistant professor in
2003 after completing a postdoctoral appointment at the University of Michigan. She earned her
B.S. degree in chemical engineering at Syracuse University in 1993 and her Ph.D. at North
Carolina State University in 2000.
Lamm uses molecular and mesoscale simulation to discover and interpret fundamental
relationships between molecular structure and thermodynamic properties in advanced materials.
Current projects include studying the phase behavior of dendrimers used as nanoparticle
encapsulants, improving molecular models of crystal growth, developing and implementing
multiscale simulations of nanoparticle synthesis and aggregation, and simulating the assembly of
inorganic/organic nanostructured materials. Many of these projects are interdisciplinary and
Lamm often collaborates with groups in chemical engineering, material science, and chemistry.
Combining insights from theory, simulation, and experiment give a clearer understanding of how
processing environments and end-use conditions impact the functionality and performance of
materials engineered at the nanoscale.
Lamm lives with her husband, David, and their daughters, Madeline and Genevieve, at 4004
Westlawn Drive in Ames.
Chemical and Biological Engineering
1037 Sweeney Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-2230
515 294-6533; 515 294-2689 (fax)
mhlamm@iastate.edu
Stephanie D. Loveland
Senior Lecturer
Stephanie Loveland joined the chemical engineering faculty at Iowa State University as a
lecturer in August 2002 after earning her B.S. degree at ISU in 1998 and M.S. at ISU in 2002.
During her undergraduate career she participated in a co-op at Union Carbide Corporation in
Texas City, Texas, and South Charleston, West Virginia, and an internship at Cargill in Blair,
Nebraska. She went to work for Emerson Process Management after graduating, first at Fisher
Controls in Marshalltown, Iowa, and then at Rosemount in Chanhassen, Minnesota, before
returning to ISU to complete her M.S. degree. After teaching for two years, she returned to her
studies part-time in 2004 under the direction of Dr. Derrick K. Rollins, Sr., and completed her
Ph.D. in May 2008.
Her research has been in the areas of process modeling and identification, and model-based
advanced control. She is serving as the department Laboratory Safety Officer and co-chair of the
safety committee, and is the teaching laboratory coordinator.
Loveland and her husband, Brian, live at 3011 Sapphire Circle in Ames with their five children.
Her hobbies include photography, scrapbooking, gardening, cooking, and music.
Chemical and Biological Engineering
2052 Sweeney Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-2230
515 294-3024; 515 294-2689 (fax)
prairie@iastate.edu
Surya K. Mallapragada
Professor, Department Chair, and Stanley Chair in
Interdisciplinary Engineering
After receiving her B. Tech. degree from the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay in 1993,
Surya Mallapragada attended Purdue University where she had the Andrews Fellowship from
1993-1995 and earned her Ph.D. in August 1996. She joined the ISU chemical engineering
faculty fall semester 1996 as an assistant professor, and was promoted to associate professor with
tenure in 2001 and to full professor in 2006. She also served as Program Director of the
Chemistry & Biomolecular Materials Program at Ames Laboratory from 2004 - 2008. She has
been serving as chair of the CBE Department since August, 2009.
Mallapragada’s research interests include bioinspired materials, nanoscale modification of
polymers, and biomedical applications of polymers in controlled release and in tissue
engineering. Before joining the faculty at Iowa State she had a short post-doctoral experience at
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Currently, Mallapragada is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological
Engineering and the American Association for Advancement of Science and an active member
of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the American Chemical Society, the Materials
Research Society, and the Society of Women Engineers. She received a National Science
Foundation Faculty Early CAREER Award in 2000, ISU Foundation Early and Mid-Career
Achievement in Research Awards in 2001 and 2007 and a 3M Young Investigator Award, also in
2001. She was named by MIT’s Technology Review magazine as one of the “Top 100 Young
Innovators in 2002.” She received the Distinguished Service Award from the AIChE Food,
Pharmaceutical & Bioengineering Division in 2009 and a Young Alum Achievers Award from
IIT Bombay in 2011.
Mallapragada lives at 1239 Idaho Court in Ames, with her husband, Balaji Narasimhan, and their
twins Avyay and Ananya.
Chemical and Biological Engineering
2114 Sweeney Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-2230
515 294-7407; 515 294-2689 (fax)
suryakm@iastate.edu
Balaji Narasimhan
Professor and Associate Dean for
Research and Economic Development
Balaji Narasimhan joined the chemical engineering faculty at Iowa State University as an assistant
professor in January 2001 and was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2003. From 2006 to
2007, he was the Director of the Institute for Combinatorial Discovery at Iowa State University. In 2007,
he was promoted to professor and also appointed the Associate Dean of Research and Economic
Development, ISU College of Engineering. He earned his B.S. degree from the Indian Institute of
Technology in Bombay, India in 1992 and the Ph.D. degree from Purdue University in 1996, both in
chemical engineering. After a postdoctoral stint at MIT and a visiting position at Purdue, Narasimhan
joined the chemical and biochemical engineering faculty at Rutgers University as an assistant professor in
1997. Narasimhan also spent time at the University of Naples, Italy, and Cambridge University, UK, as a
visiting scientist.
Narasimhan’s research program is focused on the molecular design of nanostructured polymer systems
and biomaterials to precisely control molecular architecture and functionality in these systems. The
overall goal is to answer critical questions related to organization and dynamics occurring on length
scales ranging from the nanometer to the micron-scale at surfaces of and interfaces between polymers,
inorganic materials (e.g., magnetite nanocrystals), cells, and biomolecules (e.g., proteins). The tools
utilized include novel synthesis methodologies, state-of-the-art characterization of nanostructure and
dynamics, and molecular modeling. His research directions can be classified into two broad themes:
engineered biomaterials for drug, protein, and vaccine delivery; and nanostructured polymers. Recent
research projects in the first area include engineered biomaterials for protein stabilization, single dose
vaccines with immunomodulatory capabilities, combinatorial and high throughput methods for
biomaterials design, and novel therapies for pneumonic plague targeting quorum sensing components. In
the second area, recent projects include bio-inspired polymer nanocomposites with superparamagnetic
properties, nanoscale interfacial crystallization effects on polymer adhesion, polymer nanocomposites
based on mesoporous materials, multi-scale simulation of nanoparticle aggregation, and nanostructured
interpenetrating polymer networks.
Narasimhan lives at 1239 Idaho Court in Ames, with his wife, Surya Mallapragada, and their twins Avyay
and Ananya.
Chemical and Biological Engineering
2035 Sweeney Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-2230
515 294-8019; 515 294-2689 (fax)
nbalaji@iastate.edu
Jennifer M. O’Donnell
Assistant Professor
Jennifer O’Donnell received her B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from Bucknell University
in 2001. She then joined Dr. Eric Kaler’s research group in the Department of Chemical
Engineering at the University of Delaware, where she earned her Ph.D. in 2007. After spending
18 months as a Postdoctoral Research Associate with Dr. Greg Warr in the School of Chemistry
at the University of Sydney, Australia, O’Donnell joined the Department of Chemical and
Biological Engineering at Iowa State University as an assistant professor in August 2008.
O’Donnell’s research focuses on uncontrolled and controlled free radical polymerizations at
interfaces and in confined nanostructures. Her group is currently pursuing two broad areas of
study: (1) the impact of molecular architecture and monomer content on liquid crystal
nanostructures; and (2) the kinetics of and microstructural evolution during polymerizations in
liquid crystals and microemulsions.
In January 2010, O’Donnell received a Department of Energy Early Career Research Program
Award for her work on templating of liquid crystal microstructures by reversible additionfragmentation chain transfer polymerization.
Chemical and Biological Engineering
2033 Sweeney Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-2230
515 294-1891; 515 294-2689 (fax)
jodonnll@iastate.edu
Michael G. Olsen
Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering (Courtesy)
Michael Olsen, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and of Chemical and Biological
Engineering, joined the faculty at Iowa State University as an assistant professor of mechanical
engineering in 2000 after earning his B.S. degree in mechanical engineering at the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1992 and his M.S. and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from
UIUC in 1995 and 1999, respectively. From 1999-2000, he was a post-doctoral research
associate at the Beckmann Institute for Advanced Science and Technology in Urbana, Illinois.
In 2006, he was promoted to associate professor of mechanical engineering, and in 2007 he was
appointed associate professor of chemical and biological engineering.
Michael Olsen's research expertise is in experimental fluid mechanics, primarily in laser-based
flow measurement techniques such as particle image velocimetry, microscopic particle image
velocimetry, and laser induced fluorescence. His research interests include chemically reacting
turbulent flows (both at the macro- and microscale), chaotic mixing in microscale flows, and
flows generated by rotating machinery, such as automotive superchargers or centrifugal fans.
Current research collaborators include Rodney Fox, James Hill, Dennis Vigil, and
Francine Battaglia (ME).
He was a recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER Award in 2002 and also of the
Iowa State University College of Engineering Young Engineering Faculty Research Award in
2006.
Michael and his wife, Jennifer, live at 1404 Panoramic Court in Ames. Jennifer is a school
psychologist with the Prairie Lakes Area Education Agency.
Mechanical Engineering Department
3025 Black Engineering
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011
515 294-0073; 515 294-3261 (fax)
mgolsen@iastate.edu
Nicola L. Pohl
Professor, Chemistry
Professor, Chemical & Biological Engineering
Chemistry Professor Nikki Pohl joined the chemical and biological engineering department this
semester, holding a joint position within the Colleges of Engineering and Liberal Arts and
Sciences. Pohl is the Wilkinson Professor of Interdisciplinary Engineering.
She received her BA degree from Harvard College in 1991 and her Ph.D. in chemistry from the
University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1997. Following an NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship in the
Department of Chemical Engineering at Stanford University, she joined the faculty at Iowa State
University in the fall of 2000 to study protein biocatalysts/metabolic engineering, synthetic and
analytical methods, and carbohydrates.
Pohl has already mentored students in her research group with chemical engineering
backgrounds and collaborates with CBE faculty. “This appointment will formalize such activities
as well as provide a more structured setting for future activities,” she said.
She will continue to be part of the chemistry department’s curriculum committee and plans to
join the equivalent committee in CBE to better integrate the CBE curriculum for students and
even spawn new classes, or broaden the audience for current classes, at the undergraduate and
graduate level in both colleges.
Chemistry Department
3101B Hach Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-3115
515 294-2339; 515 294-0105 (fax)
npohl@iastate.edu
Peter J. Reilly
Anson Marston Distinguished Professor
Peter Reilly has been at Iowa State University since 1974, after four years at E. I. du Pont de
Nemours & Company in Deepwater, New Jersey, and six years at the University of NebraskaLincoln. A New Jersey native, he earned an AB in chemistry from Princeton in 1960 and a
Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 1964.
Reilly’s research interests are in biochemical engineering and enzymology, specifically in
computing enzyme structure and function, and determining cellulase three-dimensional
structures. He coordinates ISU’s exchange program with the Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology–Lausanne and the University of Lausanne in Switzerland.
He won the Wilton Park Award for International Service in 1986, the National Faculty Award
from the Phi Beta Delta Honor Society for International Scholars in 1995, the David R. Boylan
Eminent Faculty Award in Research from the ISU College of Engineering in 1996, and an ISU
Faculty Citation in 1997. He became a Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers
in 1991 and an Anson Marston Distinguished Professor in Engineering in 1992.
Reilly’s spouse, Rae, is a former faculty member in Iowa State University’s Department of
Textiles and Clothing and is now a volunteer on church projects, at Worldly Goods on Main
Street in Ames, and at the Brunnier Art Museum. He has twin daughters, Diane, an associate
professor of art history at Indiana University, and Karen, a library branch manager in San Diego.
Chemical and Biological Engineering
2031 Sweeney Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-2230
515 294-5968; 515 294-2689 (fax)
reilly@iastate.edu
Derrick K. Rollins
Professor in Chemical & Biological Engineering
Professor-in-Charge of Community-Based Recruitment and Transition
Programs in the College of Engineering
Derrick Rollins received three advanced degrees at the Ohio State University: the M.S. degree in
chemical engineering (1987), the M.S. degree in statistics (1989), and the Ph.D. in chemical
engineering (1990). Since 1990, he has combined his two technical interests at Iowa State
University, first as assistant and then professor in two departments: chemical engineering and
statistics. In January, 2008, Dr. Rollins was appointed the Assistant Dean for Diversity in the
College of Engineering. Prior to this, he worked at E.I. du Pont de Nemours from 1979-1986.
Rollins is active in many activities on campus including serving as an advisor on diversity to the
President's cabinet. His awards are numerous. In 2003 Rollins received an ISU Minority
Student Affairs Certificate of Appreciation, an ISU AIChE Student Chapter "You Make This
Class Bearable" award, was selected both Spring and Fall semesters as one of ISU's most
outstanding faculty members by the Interfraternity Council, and received an Appreciation Plaque
from the Kansas State Multicultural Engineering Program. He was nominated VEISHEA 2001
Outstanding Faculty Member at Iowa State, received the 2001 NAACP Vanguard Award, the
2000 Iowa State University Presidential Service Award, and was featured in the ISU commercial
"Hero" in 1997. He was given the American Association for the Advancement of Science
Mentoring Award (October 1996). In 1994 he received the prestigious National Science
Foundation Presidential Faculty Fellows Award and the ISU Foundation Award for early
achievement in teaching. In addition he was given the ISU Women in Science and Engineering
Anna Pate Mentoring Award. Students also recognized his efforts with the Engineering Student
Council Outstanding Professorship in Chemical Engineering (1995-1996), LAMPOS Professor
of the Year Award (1995-1996), and honorary membership in the Golden Key National Honor
Society (1994).
Rollins and his spouse Anita live at 4610 Twain in Ames. They have five children and one
grandchild. His personal interests include coaching kids’ sports, Christian fellowship, and
minority recruitment and retention.
Chemical and Biological Engineering
1033 Sweeney Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-2230
515 294-5516; 515 294-2689 (fax)
drollins@iastate.edu
Ian C. Schneider
Assistant Professor
Ian Schneider began his studies at ISU, where he graduated with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering
in the spring of 2000. He entered the graduate program at North Carolina State in the Chemical
Engineering Department and earned an M.S. in 2002 and a Ph.D. in 2005. In October 2005 he
moved to the Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) in La Jolla, CA as a postdoctoral research
associate. In 2006 he was named a Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation fellow and
remained at TSRI until joining the chemical and biological engineering faculty as an assistant
professor in January 2009.
Schneider’s research is aimed at understanding how physiological or pathological states in whole
organisms are driven by molecular and cellular processes by applying engineering analysis and
modeling. Schneider’s group uses various materials approaches to engineer environments for
cells. They also quantitatively measure protein localization, chemical reactions and mechanical
forces in and around cells using fluorescent biosensors and high-resolution light microscopy
techniques. These data drive the development of predictive mathematical models that govern the
kinetics and transport of molecular signals. One current project includes understanding how
cells make decisions when multiple migrational cues are given simultaneously. During cancer
progression, various spatially inhomogeneous cues are presented to cells. Often times these cues
give contradicting instructions. Schneider’s group is engineering environments to systematically
tune multiple cues simultaneously and measure whole cell and subcellular responses.
Understanding if and where cells migrate under these situations will allow for the quantitative
evaluation of biopsies in the context of cancer diagnostics and rational design of tissue
engineering matrices in the context of organ regeneration.
Schneider and his wife Maria live in Ames, IA with their daughters Sophia and Colette.
Chemical and Biological Engineering
3053 Sweeney Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-2230
515 294-0450; 515 294-2689 (fax)
ians@iastate.edu
Brent H. Shanks
Steffenson Professor and Director of the NSF Center for
Biorenewable Chemicals
Brent Shanks joined the Iowa State University faculty in 1999. He graduated from Iowa State
University in 1983 with a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering and subsequently earned M.S.
and Ph.D. degrees from the Chemical Engineering Department at the California Institute of
Technology in 1985 and 1988, respectively. In 1988 he joined Shell Chemical Company as a
research engineer in the area of heterogeneous catalysis and became Department Manager of the
Chemical Catalysis Department at the Shell Chemical Company technology center in 1997.
His group is interested in the rational molecular design of heterogeneous catalysts guided by the
underlying chemistry of the desired reaction. The approach is manifest in tailoring specific
reaction domains within catalyst systems. An example is the synthesis of mesoporous organicinorganic hybrid catalysts with uniform pore dimensions in which the metal oxide serves as a
support for the organo-functional groups. Much of his group’s work focuses on the application
of unique catalyst systems for the conversion of biorenewable feedstocks to chemicals and fuels.
Brent has been actively involved in initiating multi-investigator efforts at Iowa State University
in the biorenewables area. In 2008, he led the effort to create the NSF Engineering Research
Center for Biorenewable Chemicals (CBiRC), which is led by Iowa State University. He serves
as Director of the center. He is a founding member of the Bioeconomy Institute and was
involved in the building committee for the new Biorenewable Research Laboratory, where his
group moved in 2010.
Brent, his spouse, Jackie, and their two children live in Ames.
1140L Biorenewables Research Laboratory
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-2230
515 294-1895; 515 294-2689 (fax)
bshanks@iastate.edu
Jacqueline V. Shanks
Manley Hoppe Professor
Microbial Metabolic Engineering Thrust Leader
Jacqueline (Jackie) Shanks joined the chemical engineering faculty at Iowa State University as professor
in the summer of 1999. She received her B.S. degree in chemical engineering from Iowa State in 1983
and her Ph.D. degree in chemical engineering from the California Institute of Technology in 1989. She
joined the faculty in the chemical engineering department at Rice University as an assistant professor in
1988 and was promoted to associate professor in 1993. She was promoted to full professor at Rice in the
bioengineering and chemical engineering departments in 1999. She is still affiliated with Rice as Adjunct
Professor in the Department of Bioengineering. In March 2009, Jackie was named the Manley R. Hoppe
Professor in Chemical Engineering. She is Leader of Research Thrust 2 of CBIRC, the NSF Engineering
Research Center for Biorenewable Chemicals.
Her research interests include plant metabolic engineering of natural products in medicinal plants and of
seed composition in crop plants as well as microbial metabolic engineering for production of
biorenewable chemicals. Her work is collaborative with molecular biologists, agronomists, biochemists
and biochemical engineers. Most of her work focuses on quantifying carbon flow in reaction networks in
plant and microbial systems.
Her honors include the National Science Young Investigator Award in 1992, Professional Progress in
Engineering Award from Iowa State in 1994, Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological
Engineering in 2000, the Van Lanen Award for the Biochemical Technology Division in the American
Chemical Society in 2004, ISU Foundation Award for Outstanding Achievement in Research in 2005, the
Women of Innovation Award for Research Innovation and Leadership by the Technology Association of
Iowa in 2008 and AIChE Food, Pharmaceutical and Bioengineering Division, Area 15c Plenary Award in
2010 and . She is on the editorial boards of Biotechnology Progress, Metabolic Engineering, and Current
Opinion in Biotechnology. In 2011, she was appointed to the DOE Office of Biological and
Environmental Research (BER) Advisory Committee (BERAC). She was a member of the National
Research Council Committee on Biobased Industrial Products and co-author of the NRC Biobased
Industrial Products report published in 2000. In the American Chemical Society she served as ChairElect, Chair, and Past-Chair for the Biotechnology Division for the years 2000-2002.
Jackie, her husband, Brent, and their teenage son reside in Ames. Their daughter is a freshman at
University of Wisconsin-Madison, majoring in Geology.
Chemical and Biological Engineering
3031 Sweeney Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-2230
515 294-4828; 515 294-2689 (fax)
jshanks@iastate.edu
Cory K. Stiehl
Lecturer
Cory Stiehl joined the chemical engineering department as a lecturer in January 2004. She
earned her B.S. degree from the University of Rochester in 1985, and her Ph.D. from the
University of Massachusetts in 1990. Her graduate research was in the area of advanced process
control.
Dr. Stiehl spent over ten years at NASA Ames Research Center, where she developed and lead
research efforts in the area of system engineering of advanced life support systems for the
manned space program. Her research focused on the study of system design and integration
issues and control and operation strategies for regenerative life support systems, necessary for
long-duration space missions. Improvements in these areas will lead to increased system
reliability and reduced launch and operational costs. Dr. Stiehl also spent several years with
Fisher Controls, where she performed controls research in the advanced technology department.
Cory lives in Marshalltown, Iowa, with her spouse and five children. In addition to performing
in several music groups, both instrumental and vocal, she enjoys horseback riding with her
Arabian mare.
Chemical and Biological Engineering
3063 Sweeney Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-2230
515 294-5825; 515 294-2689 (fax)
cstiehl@iastate.edu
R. Dennis Vigil
Associate Professor
Dennis Vigil is a native of Los Alamos, New Mexico, where his father was a nuclear engineer at
Los Alamos National Laboratory. He earned his B.S. degree in 1985 at the University of
New Mexico in Albuquerque. He worked in the Exploratory Catalysis division at Amoco’s
research center in Naperville, Illinois, before beginning his graduate studies in chemical
engineering at the University of Michigan under the guidance of Professor Robert Ziff. His
doctoral work was centered on studying the behavior of systems undergoing simultaneous
coagulation and breakup using analytical, numerical, and experimental approaches. After
receiving his Ph.D. in 1990, Vigil was a lecturer (chemical engineering and physics) and
research associate (physics) at the University of Texas in Austin until 1992, working with
Professor Harry Swinney in the Center for Nonlinear Dynamics. While at Texas, he was
awarded a Ford Foundation post-doctoral fellowship to carry out studies in chemical pattern
formation. He and his wife, Susan Cross (psychology), joined the ISU faculty as assistant
professors in 1994.
Vigil’s current research interests include mathematical modeling of aggregation and breakage
processes, experimental and numerical investigation of instabilities in liquid-liquid flow, reactive
precipitation, and Monte Carlo simulation of targeted drug delivery.
He lives in Ames with wife Susan and two sons, Daniel (15) and David (12). He enjoys hiking
(especially in the mountains), photography, and playing trumpet.
Chemical and Biological Engineering
3037 Sweeney Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-2230
515 294-6438; 515 294-2689 (fax)
vigil@iastate.edu
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age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, sex, marital status, disability, or status as
a U.S. veteran. Inquiries can be directed to the Director of Equal Opportunity and Diversity,
3680 Beardshear Hall, 515 294-7612.