MSI PI Shri Ramaswamy (Head, Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering) is part of the RAPID Institute, a new national manufacturing consortium. The goal of the Institute (RAPID = Rapid Advancement in Process Intensification Deployment) is to improve the productivity and efficiency of chemical and other manufacturing by reducing the number of process steps. Professor Ramaswamy is one of the lead researchers in the national pulp and paper team. A story about the RAPID Institute and the parts researchers from the University of Minnesota are playing appears on the U website: U of M’s CFANS and CSE to partner on bio-based industry projects.
Professor Ramaswamy uses MSI resources for studies of the 3D bulk structure of biomaterials. The work involves visualization and characterization of the pore structure of these materials as well as the development of computational tools to study and predict their properties.