Dr. Ramani Narayan, Ph.D. has been a director of NTIC since November 2004. He is Professor of Chemical & Biochemical Engineering in the Department of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science at Michigan State University, E. Lansing, MI where he has 105 refereed publications in leading journals to his credit, 18 patents, edited three books and one expert dossier in the area of bio-based polymeric materials. His research encompasses design & engineering of sustainable, biobased products, biodegradable plastics and polymers, reactive extrusion polymerization and processing, studies in polymer biodegradation and composting. He is on the Board of Directors of ASTM International and the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI), North America. He serves on the Technical Advisory board of Tate & Lyle. He has won the Governors University Award for commercialization excellence; Michigan State University Distinguished Faculty Award, 2006, 2005 Withrow Distinguished Scholar award, Fulbright Distinguished Lectureship Chair in Science & Technology Management & Commercialization (University of Lisbon; Portugal); First recipient of the William N. Findley Award, The James Hammer Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award, and Research and Commercialization Award sponsored by ICI Americas, Inc. & the National Corn Growers Association.