I am a dad, husband, and engineer, in that order

Jacob Bordenjacob bordens

Trine University - Allen School of Engineering & Computing
BS Chemical Engineering, Rose Hulman Institute of Technology; MS Chemical Engineering, Auburn University; Masters of Business Administration, Spring Hill College; PhD, Northwestern University
260.665.4614 | email

 

I met my wife, Jessica, in college and we celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary in August of 2022. We have a wonderful son, Jackson.

I had two main technical roles prior to academia.  I was a process engineer at Degussa (now called Evonik), where I worked in two process units.  One unit made acrolein from the partial oxidation of propylene, and the other unit produced the amino acid methionine that is the limiting amino acid in chicken feed.  However, I left Degussa to pursue my PhD in 2003.

I had a second technical role after my PhD, working for the biofuels division of the oil major BP.  There I developed process and biological technologies to produce diesel from sugar, and to produce ethanol from native and engineered grasses.

I’ve been teaching since 2013, and at Trine since 2019, and it has become my passion.  The faculty at Trine in general and Chemical Engineering specifically have a welcoming and inclusive culture. Trine is truly a special place.

Outside of the halls of Trine, I enjoy good science fiction novels, grilling meat, and sports and sporting events, especially football.