Biosystems Engineering Features

Raman Receives Young Educator Award

Ottawa, Canada -- From the American Society of Agricultural Engineers (ASAE) annual International Meeting:

D. Raj Raman, P.E., is the recipient of the A.W. Farrall Young Educator Award for his dedication and commitment to excellence in educating engineering students.

Raman, an associate professor in the Biosystems Engineering & Environmental Science department at the University of Tennessee, has been involved in a wide breadth of engineering education endeavors. He says that his efforts to provide quality classroom education "have been motivated by a desire to expose students to the joys of our discipline, which uniquely blends engineering, biology, and systems-level approaches."

Using competitive grant funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and working with his colleagues, Raman developed a summer internship program that evolved into a nine-credit hour capstone design course. As chair of ASAE Committee P-121 (G.B. Gunlogson Environmental Student Design Competition), he has worked with other ASAE members to develop a high-visibility venue for ASAE pre-professionals to demonstrate skills in the area of environmentally relevant design.

Engage Freshmen Engineering

Other educational endeavors have included student recruitment, departmental curriculum review, chairing the departmental graduate committee, hosting minority high-school students in his lab to acquaint them with career opportunities in science and engineering, and serving as an instructor in the NSF-sponsored Engage freshmen-engineering program.

Raman's research specialization includes instrumentation and environmental bioprocessing. His current research topics include the automated measurement of flying insect populations, and quantification and minimization of estrogen flows from animal agricultural operations. His publications have included 14 refereed journal articles, one encyclopedia chapter, and 15 meeting papers and proceedings on topics from engineering education, to biological wastewater treatment, to instrumentation.

A 12-year member of ASAE, in addition to chairing the P-121 committee, Raman is associate editor of the Structures and Environment division, and member of the P-120 Student Organizations committee.

The Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station previously presented him with the T.J. Whatley Outstanding Distinguished Young Scientist award, while the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources awarded him with the W.F. and Golda Moss Outstanding Teaching award and the Neal and Tracie Peacock Teaching/Learning Merit certificate. The Biosystems Engineering & Environmental Science department has awarded him three Outstanding Teacher awards, a Superior Service award, and an Outstanding Faculty award.

Joel Lown