Iowa State University Chemical Engineering graduates Dr. Michael Determan (BS ChE/Econ’01, PhD ChE’06) and Dr. Venkat Raman (PhD ChE’03) have been named recipients of the university’s Professional Progress in Engineering Award (PPEA). They were honored in a Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering reception and at the annual Iowa State University Marston Club Dinner.
Determan, the son of two Iowa State graduates, was born and raised near the farming community of Haverhill, Iowa. After completing his ISU undergraduate degree – which included internships at Fisher Controls Inc. in Marshalltown, Iowa and the Dow Chemical Company in Midland, Mich. – he continued his graduate studies in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. Studying under Dr. Surya Mallapragada, he graduated in 2006 with a Ph.D. after completing his dissertation on “The Synthesis and Characterization of Stimuli Responsive Amphiphilic Pentablock Copolymers.”
Determan accepted a position as a polymer chemist at General Electric Plastics in Mt. Vernon, Ind. in 2005. In 2006 he moved to 3M in St. Paul, Minn. as a senior research scientist in the corporate materials research laboratory where he focused on pressure sensitive adhesive materials for optical electronic and health care applications. He is a co-author on 11 granted patents with 13 applications pending, seven journal articles and a book chapter. In 2009 Determan was awarded the 3M corporate level Circle of Technical Excellence and Innovation award in recognition for his work on Gentle to Skin Silicone Adhesive technology. He is currently a technical manager in the pressure sensitive adhesive and release materials cluster of 3M’s corporate research laboratory.
He is married to Iowa State graduate Dr. Amy Determan (BS CBE’01, PhD CBE’06). They live in Mahtomedi, Minn. with their two children.
Dr. Raman is an Associate Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Michigan. He was a NASA/Center for Turbulence Research Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University from 2003-2004, and a research associate in the Center for Integrated Turbulence Simulations from 2004-2005. From 2005-2014 he was on the faculty of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics Department at The University of Texas at Austin, initially as an assistant professor (2005-2011) and later as tenured associate professor (2011-2014).
Raman received an NSF CAREER award in 2008, a distinguished paper award at the International Combustion Symposium in 2013, and the Moncrief Grand Challenge Award in 2013. He held the Eli. H and Ramona Thornton Centennial Fellow in Engineering at UT Austin from 2013-2014. At Iowa State he studied under Dr. Rodney Fox, Chemical and Biological Engineering.
He is married to Iowa State graduate Shikha Marwah, (PhD Econ‘04). They live in Ann Arbor, Mich. with their two daughters, Anika and Anya.
