Purdue Agriculture Research Works

PURDUE AGRICULTURE Purdue Agriculture Research WORKS Annual Statistical Report 2006-2007 Read the full report on the Web www.ag.purdue.edu/arp/stat_report_06-07 1 Purdue Agriculture Research WORKS 2006-2007 Annual Report Food. Feed. Fiber. Fuel. Sustainability. Environmental concerns. Food price- inflation. Riots in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The debates are visceral and, sometimes, even violent. Purdue Agriculture is helping find solutions for these often competing interests. Our faculty, staff, and students are making significant advances in genomics and proteomics, informatics and statistics, biophysics, molecular genetics, breeding, genetic engineering of plants and animals, human and animal health, nutrition, nanotechnology, youth and family issues, and other areas. This is creating unprecedented opportunities to develop new and sustainable systems, with minimal impact on the environment and husbanding of natural resources. This annual report of the Purdue agricultural research enterprise provides an overview of the people, their efforts to address issues, and the metrics. Through Discovery, Learning, and Engagement, our faculty are making a difference to more effectively address questions related to human and animal health, environmental and natural resource management, the bioeconomy, food security and food safety, and enhancing agricultural competitiveness. We thank you for your support of our efforts and hope this report gives you an overview of the Purdue Agricultural Research Programs. Sonny Ramaswamy Director of Agricultural Research Programs Associate Dean of Agriculture PURDUE AGRICULTURE 2 Contents Features Food safety invention wins team award . 4 Waste to watts . 5 College recognizes million-dollar grants . 6 New era at Purdue still steeped in land-grant history . 6 Team award winners know your business . 7 Growth Industry . 8 Group Dynamics . 8 A bumpy road to energy independence . 9 Turning waste into wattage . 9 Gerald E. Shively—2007 Agricultural Research Award. 10 From fat to fit . .11-12 Financial Awards Summary Statistics Expenditures . 14 Expenditures Chart . 15 Federal Formula Projects Summary . 16 Federal Formula Projects . 17-24 Award Amounts Departments . 26 Non-Academic Units . 27 Federal Grants Federal Competitive Awards Summary . 29 Federal Competitive Awards . 30-36 Non-Federal Grants, Contracts, and Support Corporations, Foundations, and Individuals . 38-46 State and Other Agencies . 47-48 Faculty Activities Faculty Expertise . 50-57 Faculty Honors . 59-61 Journals . 63-65 Faculty Publications . 67-93 Sponsored Programs . 95-113 3 Features Food safety invention wins team award By Susan Steeves An interdisciplinary team of scientists who are inventing new ways to protect our food supply from potentially deadly food pathogens has garnered the 2006 Purdue Agriculture Team Award. The Biosensor Detection Team’s research focuses on rapidly deter- mining whether such microbes as Listeria monocytogenes or E. coli exist in food, particularly meat and milk products. The technologies the team has developed include a biochip about the size of a fingernail that analyzes very small amounts of food and does it faster and less expensively than current methods. The researchers also have found a way to take large samples of foods and concentrate the microorganisms into small volumes to inject onto the chip. “The technologies that the Biosensor Detection Team has devel- Faculty members of the team are food science professors Bhunia oped are a major step in protecting food throughout the supply and Richard Linton and associate professors Bruce Applegate and system from accidental or purposeful contamination by potentially Mark Morgan; agricultural and biological engineering distinguished deadly pathogens,” says Randy Woodson, Glenn W. Sample Dean of professor Michael Ladisch and assistant professor Nate Mosier; Agriculture. Rashid Bashir, professor of electrical and computer engineering and biomedical engineering; J. Paul Robinson, professor of biomedical The diagnostic method that includes the biosensor and the cell engineering and biology; and Dan Hirleman, William E. and Flor- concentration technology has decreased detection time from two ence E. Perry Head and Professor of Mechanical Engineering. or three days to a few hours. The research provides a first important step toward a prototype integrated system for testing in industry. Other members of the team are Padmapriya Banada, food science postdoctoral research scientist; Debra Sherman, manager, hor- “We could not have achieved the same results if just one research ticulture department life sciences microscopy facility; Shu-I Tu, specialty had been involved,” says Arun Bhunia, a microbiologist in supervisory research chemist, USDA Agricultural Research Service; the Department of Food Science. “The interdisciplinary work not and laboratory technicians Kiya Smith from food science, David only has enabled us to produce these new technologies, but it also Taylor from chemical engineering, Jennifer Sturgis from veterinary has helped us better teach and train undergraduate and graduate medicine’s Department of Basic Medical Sciences, and Xingya Liu students in biology, microbiology and engineering.” from the Laboratory of Renewable Resources Engineering. Approximately 76 million cases of foodborne illness occur annu- Other team members from that laboratory are Miraslav Sedlak, ally in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease senior research scientist; bioprocess research engineer Tom Huang, Control and Prevention. This results in 5,500 deaths and 325,000 also of the Department of Chemical Engineering; and Linda Liu, people being hospitalized. laboratory supervisor. The USDA Agricultural Research Service has funded the work Reprinted with permission from Fall 2006 Connections through a cooperative agreement with the Purdue Center for Food Safety Engineering. 4 Waste to watts Scientists create mobile, trash-fueled generator By Doug Main The problem with garbage is just that — it is waste, and it use- lessly takes up space. But what if you could turn garbage into something useful? Scientists at Purdue are turning this science-fiction hypothetical into reality: They have created a portable refinery that efficiently converts food, paper and plastic rubbish into electricity. The machine, designed for the military, would allow soldiers to con- vert field waste into power at remote locations anywhere in the world, and could have widespread civilian applications in the future. “This is a very promising technology,” says Michael Ladisch, a profes- Photo by Tom Campbell sor of agricultural and biological engineering who leads the project. Professor Nathan Mosier fine-tunes the tactical biorefinery that Purdue scientists helped develop for the U.S. Army to turn waste “In a very short time, it would be ready for use in the military, and I into electricity think it could be used outside the military shortly thereafter.” or low-grade propane and methane. The gas and the ethanol then The “tactical biorefinery” processes several kinds of garbage at once become the fuel for a modified diesel engine that powers a generator. and converts it into fuel via two parallel processes — and then The only residue from the two processes is a small amount of ash burns the different fuels in the same diesel engine, which powers that must be removed from the biorefinery every two or three days. a generator and which initially powered the conversion of some of In November, the researchers fired up the machine and demonstrated the materials into fuel. that it produced 90 percent more energy than it consumed, Warner Roughly the size of a U-Haul trailer, the biorefinery could provide said. The U.S. Army subsequently commissioned the tactical biorefinery, soldiers with electricity in remote locations while simultaneously signifying that the team had successfully completed a functional disposing of waste. This would alleviate the expense and potential prototype. In December, Army officials presented Army Certificates danger associated with transporting waste and fuel. And, by elimi- of Appreciation to the researchers, including Ladisch and Nathan nating trash, it could also protect a military unit’s security, since Mosier, a professor of agricultural and biological engineering. garbage may reveal valuable information about a unit’s location, The next steps are to improve the existing prototype and build a movement and activities. second, after which the devices will be tested on-site at an overseas “We’ve designed a device that converts military field waste into location. electrical energy, and we’ve shown that it works very well,” says Ladisch foresees a time when the biorefinery could be used at a Jerry Warner, founder of Defense Life Sciences LLC, a collaborating variety of factories, restaurants or stores. company based in McLean, Va. “I believe the biorefinery could be of immediate use to our military personnel after we complete the “The biorefinery could probably be used to generate a little extra fine-tuning process.” electricity at any place that generates a fair amount of food and scrap waste,” he says. “This could help reduce electricity costs, and Ladisch and Warner say they could see the biorefinery used in a you might even be able to produce some surplus energy to put back disaster situation such as Hurricane Katrina or any crisis in which onto the electrical grid.” people are stranded in areas without power. The machine could turn debris such as wood chips,

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