Kasiviswanathan Muthukumarappan

Dr. Kasiviswanathan Muthukumarappan is the Klingbeil Endowed Department Head and Distinguished Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering at South Dakota State University (SDSU). He holds leadership roles in standards development for food and bioprocessing, and has authored/coauthored over 200 peer-reviewed publications. His research focuses on value addition to crops, biorefinery systems, and renewable energy. He serves as associate editor of Transactions of the ASABE and has contributed to multiple ASABE standards.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Agricultural Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison
• M.S. in Food Engineering, Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand
• B.S. in Agricultural Engineering and Mathematics, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University and University of Madras, India

Research Interests:

Dr. Muthukumarappan’s work emphasizes biofuels, biochemical conversion, and biorefinery systems to enhance energy security and rural economies. His projects include supercritical pretreatment of biomass, cheese melt property analysis, and extrusion processing of distillers grains. He collaborates internationally on food safety and bioprocessing innovations.

Awards & Honors:

• 2012 ASABE Fellow Award
• 2009 Evelyn E. Rosentreter Standards Award
• Multiple SDSU research excellence awards

Grants & Collaborations:

He leads grants funded by DOE, USDA, and others for biorefinery logistics, biomass densification, and biochar utilization. Collaborations include SDSU’s interdisciplinary bioprocessing initiatives and international projects.

Labs & Teams:

He oversees SDSU’s bioprocessing research teams and the Center for Bioprocessing Research and Development, fostering innovation in agricultural and food engineering.