Werner Mühlbauer received his master's degree (Dipl.-Ing.) in 1969 and doctoral degree (Dr.-Ing.) in 1974 in mechanical engineering from the University of Stuttgart, Germany and has been working in the field of drying agricultural commodities since 1970. His research covers almost all aspects of drying technologies (physical properties, drying theory, drying simulation, drying kinetics, impact of drying on quality, energy saving, development of drying methods, dryer testing and evaluation, etc.). Prof. Mühlbauer developed high accuracy test benches and standardized procedures to measure drying curves to predict drying behaviour and impact on quality of most important drying products (cereals, root and oil crops, vegetables and spices, stimulants, fruits and medicinal plants. He has published 353 papers in national and international scientific journals; he holds 6 patents and gave more than 250 presentations at scientific conferences in 25 countries, mainly on drying of agricultural products. He supervised 31 PhD-theses, 168-MSc theses and 95-BSc theses. He is author of the Handbook on Grain Drying (in German), the only book on this topic worldwide containing all aspects of drying from drying theory to practical applications. Since his retirement in 2004, Prof. Mühlbauer is working as scientific adviser to a leading German drying company.
Joachim Müller received his master's degree (Dipl.-Ing. agr.) in 1985 and his doctoral degree (Dr. sc. agr.) in 1992 at the University of Hohenheim, Institute of Agricultural Engineering in the Tropics and Subtropics. In 2001, Prof. Müller was appointed as full professor to the Department Agrotechnology and Food Sciences, Farm Technology at the Wageningen University (NL) and held this position until 2004. In 2004 he was appointed as full professor at the University of Hohenheim, Institute of Agricultural Engineering, where he has since been head of the Tropics and Subtropics Department. He has functioned as General Director of the Institute of Agricultural Engineering from 2012-2016. In 2018 he has been additionally appointed Academic Director of the State Institute of Agricultural Engineering and Bioenergy at the University of Hohenheim. He is Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Applied Research of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants and is a member of the editorial board for several other journals as well as a member of the scientific advisory council of the fiat-panis-foundation. He also acts as reviewer for the German Science Foundation (DFG), the Alexander-von-Humboldt Foundation and the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). He is also a member of the Committee of Experts in Food Technology of the German Agricultural Society (DLG). Prof. Müller contributed chapters to three books in German and five books in English, amongst them the chapter Solar Drying in Modern Drying Technology, Vol. 4 Energy Savings, Wiley (2012). He is author or co-author of 180 international, peer-reviewed publications. Twenty PhD-theses, 149 MSc-theses and 67 BSc-theses have been completed under his supervision. He is currently supervising 29 doctoral students. Under his guidance, five patents were issued between 2003-2015 and another four patent applications are pending.
