Dirk Maier

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Dirk Maier’s research program focuses on post-harvest engineering applied to grain and feed operations and processing. Projects involve post-harvest loss and food waste reduction and prevention, food and nutrition security, grain operations management, feed technology, post-harvest engineering (crop handling, drying, storage, processing and loss prevention), value-added processing of agricultural crops and food/feed products, ecosystem modeling, stored products protection (IPM, fumigation, ozonation, cold plasma), alternative crop storage systems (grain chilling, hermetic storage), dehydration of biological products, bulk material (grain, feed) handling and segregation (IP), quality assurance of agricultural crops and biological products, and facilities planning and design (including safety, entrapment rescue, dust explosion prevention, system simulation). Maier’s international outreach program focuses on crop post-harvest handling, drying, storage, processing and loss prevention, global food and nutrition security, and continuing education and credentialing of industry professionals in the global grain and feed industry. For many years, he provided leadership to establishing and operationalizing the GEAPS Continuing Education and Credentials Program. He continues to teach a number of onsite and online courses in grain operations, feed technology, and quality preservation offered by the Iowa Grain Quality Initiative, Agribusiness Association of Iowa, Middle East and Africa Feed Technology Training Center (Tunis, Tunisia), East African Grain Council (Nairobi, Kenya), and others. Learn more:

• Dirk Maier profile
• Dirk Maier CV
• Google Scholar

Profile

Maier established the ISU Feed Technology Program and serves as the director of the ISU Feed Mill and Grain Science Complex, a $25 million state-of-the-art grain handling, drying, storage and feed processing facility. Its mission furthers ISU’s teaching, research, service, extension, and industry and international outreach in support of the global grain and feed industry. He also serves as the director of the Consortium for Innovation in Post-Harvest Loss and Food Waste Reduction, which brings together experts and thought leaders to advance a common research agenda for gaining efficiencies within the global food system. It represents key expertise, knowledge, and innovation in PHL-FW reduction from anchor institutions in the Americas, Europe, Middle East, and Africa, and across sectors (public, private, and non-profit) to promote research, outreach and capacity building that increase the quality and quantity of food and nutrition in the world. He formerly served as the associate director of the Global Food Security Consortium at Iowa State University and as the lead principal investigator and founding director of the USAID-funded Feed the Future Innovation Lab for the Reduction of Post-Harvest Loss. Maier is a registered professional engineer and a member and officer of several academic, professional and scholarly societies. He has served on two EPA FIFRA Scientific Advisory Panels related to the assessment of genetically modified grains. He has traveled extensively throughout the world as a speaker and participant in many national and international industry meetings and scientific conferences. Prior to joining Iowa State University, Maier was professor and head of Kansas State University’s Department of Grain Science and Industry (2008-2015), where he was responsible for leading the department’s teaching, research and outreach programs. He also served as the director of Kansas State’s International Grains Program Institute and was the senior post-harvest engineer. Prior to joining Kansas State University, he was professor, associate head and extension agricultural engineer at Purdue University (1991-2008), where he led the establishment of the GEAPS Continuing Education and Credentials Program in 2005 which provides continuing education to grain and feed industry professionals around the world. He was the co-founder of the Purdue Grain Quality Team, key initiator and director of the Purdue Post-Harvest Education and Research Center, and director of the Purdue Grain Quality Laboratory. He received his bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and doctoral degree in agricultural engineering from Michigan State University. To find out more about Maier’s current collaborative and multidisciplinary research and outreach programs, visit www.extension.iastate.edu/grain and www.reducePHL.org.

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