Christopher Turner, an expert in electrical engineering, has been named a research assistant professor within Texas Tech University’s Department of Plant & Soil Science, according to officials at the Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources. He officially stepped into his new role on Jan. 1.

Turner will be based in the department’s Fiber & Biopolymer Research Institute (FBRI), where he will focus on developing software for capturing data from cotton testing equipment and relating it to fiber and yarn quality, as well as analyzing data generated from fiber testing.

 “As a graduate student in electrical engineering, most of my research involved applications related to fiber quality, textiles, and crop science,” Turner said. “I am grateful for the opportunity to continue to advance the state of the art in these areas and contribute to the mission and success of the Fiber & Biopolymer Research Institute.”

One of his goals at FBRI is to improve data mining and analytics to help improve fiber quality measurements. Turner has a strong history in data analytics, engineering research, multivariate analysis, data mining and computer programming.

Prior to joining Texas Tech faculty, Turner served as a postdoctoral research associate at FBRI, focusing on engineering and data analytics to improve cotton fiber quality measurements. He has acted as principal investigator on grants totaling $590,000. Funding sources include the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service and Cotton Incorporated, a Cary, North Carolina-based non-profit organization funded by U.S. cotton growers through per-bale assessments on producers and importers. 

He also worked as a research associate in Texas Tech’s High Performance Computing Center, and director of business application development within the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center. Turner received his bachelor’s degree in computer science and master’s degree in electrical engineering from Texas Tech. His doctorate in electrical engineering is also from Texas Tech.

Texas Tech’s FBRI is staffed and equipped to conduct both fundamental and applied research, ranging from small-scale testing to large-scale manufacturing. A fundamental objective is to foster greater use of natural fibers.

Activities revolve around researching, testing, and evaluating natural and man-made fibers, production and evaluation of yarns and fabrics, alternative textile processing systems, dyeing and finishing, special yarn and fabric treatments, development of bioproducts from cotton cellulose, and cotton cell wall biology/biochemistry.

Located some six miles east of the main campus, the FBRI occupies 110,000 square-feet of space allowing researchers to conduct testing and evaluation from the raw fiber stage through the finished textile product. Facilities include a multimedia classroom, conference room, biopolymer research laboratory, phenomics laboratory, short staple spinning laboratory, and ginning laboratory.

CONTACT: Glen Ritchie, Department Chair, Department of Plant & Soil Science, Texas Tech University at (806) 742-4325 or glen.ritchie@ttu.edu 

0115NM24