Welcome to these faculty members who have joined us in recent months:
Meng Deng, Assistant Professor, Agricultural and Biological Engineering. Meng earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Tsinghua University in China and a doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of Virginia. He did postdoctoral research work in the Institute for Regenerative Engineering at the University of Connecticut Health Center where he focused on development of inductive material strategies for modulation of cell function and regeneration of musculoskeletal tissues. He was also a visiting scientist in the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research is based on the convergence of materials science, micro/nano-scale engineering, and cell biology/medicine. Of particular interest is to develop an integrated research program for both the fundamental understanding of cellular processes in tissue development and engineering effective biomaterial systems for treatment of various diseases such as tissue/organ loss and cancer.
Yuan H. “Brad” Kim, Assistant Professor, Animal Sciences. Brad earned his bachelor’s degree in animal products science from Konkuk University in Korea and was a visiting scholar in animal science at the University of California, Davis in 2002. He received his master’s in food science from Kansas State University in 2004 and doctorate in food science from Texas A&M University in 2008, specializing in fundamental myoglobin chemistry and myoglobin redox stability related to muscle color, meat processing and packaging. He continued his muscle biochemistry and meat processing career working as a postdoctoral research associate in a muscle biology group at Iowa State University, focusing on the calpain system and meat quality. Prior to coming to Purdue, Brad worked for AgResearch (New Zealand Government Research Institute) as a Senior Scientist at the Food Assurance & Meat Quality team, where he engaged with various stakeholders in New Zealand and Australia. He will further develop both fundamental and applied research in the muscle biology and meat science areas, teach undergraduate/graduate meat science courses and work closely with industry and various stakeholders at the regional, national and global levels.
Qin Xu, Research Assistant Professor, Food Science. Qin earned both her master’s and doctoral degrees in food chemistry at Purdue University. Her research focuses on biomass conversion and utilization of agriculture materials. She is developing a new processing concept and unique technology to process cellulosic materials (such as cornstalk, walnut shell) and grains (such as corn) for production of biofuel ethanol. She will study by-products usage after processing. The processes she is developing are all environmentally friendly economically feasible.
Bryan Young, Associate Professor, Botany and Plant Pathology. Bryan earned his bachelor’s degree in crop and soil science at Michigan State University and doctorate in crop science (specialization in weed science) from the University of Illinois. He comes to Purdue from Southern Illinois University, where he spent 15 years in a weed science faculty position with responsibilities in teaching, research, outreach, and administration. His research focuses on weed biology and ecology relative to developing effective management strategies in agronomic crops, herbicide application technologies for optimization and stewardship of herbicide use, and the physiological characterization of herbicide-resistant weed biotypes. His goal is to bridge the basic and applied aspects of weed management research to assist in delivering more effective weed management recommendations to crop producers and land managers.