Darrell Donahue

Darrell DonahueDarrell Donahue is a professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Maine. He received his BS, MS and PhD degrees from North Carolina State University. With a background in process engineering and industrial statistics in industry and academics, his research interests are in the development of in-process-line sensors as well as quantitative risk assessment.

These projects have been supported by the USDA, NSF, EPA and DOD as well as private industry funding. Dr. Donahue’s experiences related to risk assessment and modeling are: National Academies of Science Committee, Scientific Criteria for safe food (2001-2003); US-EPA, Science Advisory Board, Computational Toxicological Framework for Risk Assessment (2003), Microbiological Risk Assessment for drinking water (2004-present); US Army-CHPPM, task force for anthrax threat models (2003-present); and an AOAC International, Best Practices for Microbiological Methods (2004-2007).

In these risk assessment venues, Dr. Donahue contributes his expertise to the exposure assessment and dose response portions of risk assessment where he can capitalize on his strengths in statistics and Monte Carlo simulation modeling. He has developed and taught leadership methods in academics, industry and as a volunteer. At University of Maine, he teaches courses on process engineering and statistical process control and analysis.

My Research

I investigate the use of near-IR spectroscopy methods to analyze process stream extracts from wood processing as part of the forestry bio-refinery process. When developed, these spectroscopy methods will enable near real-time determination of process chemistries so that these processes can be economically optimized.

In Other Words

I am developing ways to use light to examine the chemical make up of liquids that come from the wood refining process. With near-IR spectroscopy we may be able to quickly assess various kinds of chemical properties in wood extracts and decide what outcomes and products would be most efficient and economical to produce.

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My Publications

Contact Information

5737 Jenness Hall, Room 309
University of Maine
Orono, ME 04469
tel: (207) 581-2728
E-mail: ddonahue@umche.maine.edu