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Dirk Maier named head of K-State's Department of Grain Science and IndustryKansas Dirk Maier, professor and associate head of Purdue University's Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, has been tapped to lead Kansas State University's Department of Grain Science and Industry. He will begin his duties at K-State on April 1. "With the innovations occurring in grain processing seemingly every day, this is an exciting time in the grain business," said Fred Cholick, K-State dean of agriculture and director of K-State Research and Extension. "We are so pleased to have someone of Dirk Maier's caliber joining us to take the lead in educating our students to take on the challenges and opportunities in industry and to help guide research and extension that will benefit Kansas and U.S. grain producers." Maier, who earned bachelor's, master's and Ph.D. degrees in agricultural engineering from Michigan State University, has been a professor and extension agricultural engineer at Purdue since 1991, and associate head since 2005. He is a Purdue University Faculty Scholar for 2005-2010, and was a DAAD Guest Professor at the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart-Hohenheim, Germany in June, 2004. He was a guest professor at the University of Torino, Italy in 2003 and a Fulbright Scholar at the Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata in Balcarce, Argentina in 2000. Maier's research has focused on engineered technologies for the protection of stored products and the delivery of identity-preserved, traceable and biosecure quality grains to the food, industrials, biofuels and feed processing industries. He has secured more than $9 million in research, technology transfer and extension education grants. He has been the recipient of numerous awards including the 2007 The Andersons/NC-213 Cereals and Oilseeds Award of Excellence in Research. In addition to his research, Maier has demonstrated a commitment to extension work, Cholick said. He was the co-founder of the Purdue Grain Quality Team, which offers free grain composition analysis to Indiana producers, elevators and processors. He was also a key initiator of the Purdue Post-Harvest Education and Research Center. He currently serves as the director of the GEAPS-Purdue Grain and Biorefinery Operations Distance Education Program. "Dirk has an outstanding record of providing scientific information to his colleagues and to industry," Cholick said. At K-State, Maier will lead a department that is known worldwide in the baking, milling, feed production, and grain handling industries. It is the only place in the United States that offers college degrees in baking, feed and milling science and management. It also is currently expanding its reach into biorefinery/biofuels operations management. The program grants bachelor's, master's and Ph.D. degrees in those areas. In addition, K-State's grain science department trains industry professionals who come to campus for short courses designed to help with research and training support. The department also has a strong international program focused on educating international consumers of Kansas and U.S. cereal products on their utilization and value. Under Maier's leadership, the department intends to expand its outreach effort through distance education. The grain science department is home to a new 16-acre K-State Grain Science and Industry Complex, which was begun in 2002. The complex includes the International Grains Program Conference Center, the Bioprocessing and Industrial Value-Added Program, and the new Hal Ross Flour Mill. A proposed feed mill/bioprocessing facility and a building with lab and classroom facilities for research and teaching will complete the complex. Maier will succeed former grain science department head Richard "Dick" Hahn, who came out of retirement last year to serve as interim grain science department head while the university conducted the national search that led to Maier's hiring. More information about K-State's grain science program is available by calling 800-355-5531, e-mailing grains@ksu.edu or accessing the Web at www.grains.ksu.edu. 2/4/08 Date: 1/29/08
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