Christopher McDowell named Joseph H. Collie Professor
Christopher McDowell, adjunct professor of chemical engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, was recently named Joseph H. Collie Professor of Chemical Engineering by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.
The Joseph H. Collie Endowed Chaired Professorship is awarded to a distinguished visiting professor who has extensive industrial experience and expertise in production, marketing, and sales of chemical products to introduce chemical engineering students to advanced business and marketing concepts in chemicals distribution management. The professorship was created in 1995 with a gift by its namesake, who received his bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Virginia Tech in 1950.
McDowell has extensive industrial experience in the production and business aspects of chemical and biochemical products since 1998 as well as significant industrial management experience. Since 2022, he has been the senior global technology manager in microbial production at Novozymes, leading the technology improvement, integration, and acquisition of Novozymes’ worldwide microbial production facilities. From 2017-22, he was the head of operations, managing Novozymes’ production and business operations in Salem, Virginia.
At Virginia Tech, McDowell has devoted himself to helping the Department of Chemical Engineering by sponsoring bio-related design projects and serving as the project advisor to nine to 12 graduating seniors every spring semester, teaching a special study course on biochemical engineering to seniors and graduate students, and collaborating with faculty and graduate students on machine learning research applied to industrial bioprocesses.
McDowell shares his 25 years of manufacturing and business experiences in chemical and biochemical production in teaching a course on business and marketing strategies for the chemical process industries to 18 graduating seniors majoring in chemical engineering and marketing. His teaching evaluations were above both department and college averages, demonstrating his skill in teaching the business and marketing aspects of chemical production.
McDowell received his bachelor's degree from Virginia Tech and a Ph.D. from North Carolina State University.
