Meet Our Team Members
Principal Investigator
Dr. Ahmed Hammam
Dr. Ahmed Hammam earned his B.S. in Dairy Science from Assiut University, Egypt, in 2012, where he also served as a Teaching and Research Assistant. He completed his M.S. (2019) and Ph.D. (2022) in Dairy Manufacturing at South Dakota State University. His graduate work included teaching and coaching the SDSU Dairy Products Judging Team, which placed third nationally in 2022.
Dr. Hammam has industry experience in dairy processing, product development, and quality improvement, with a focus on innovation and sustainability. In 2024, he joined the Department of Animal Sciences and Industry at Kansas State University as an Assistant Professor in Dairy Foods Processing.
Adjunct Professors
Dr. Lloyd Metzger
Dr. Lloyd Metzger earned his B.S. in Dairy Manufacturing and M.S. in Dairy Science from South Dakota State University, and his Ph.D. in Food Science from Cornell University. He served for over two decades as a faculty member at South Dakota State University and the University of Minnesota, and as Director of the Midwest Dairy Foods Research Center, overseeing a nationally recognized, industry-funded research program. Dr. Metzger has extensive experience in dairy processing, product development, and applied research, and currently serves as Vice President of Quality and Technical Services at Valley Queen, where he leads quality assurance, process improvement, and technology initiatives in cheese manufacturing.
Graduate Students
Omar Abdelsater
Omar Abdelsater earned his B.Sc. in Dairy Science from Assiut University, Egypt, in 2021, where he also worked as a Teaching and Research Assistant from January 2022 to July 2025. He is currently pursuing his M.Sc. in Food Science at Kansas State University, where he serves as a Graduate Research Assistant in the Department of Animal Sciences & Industry. His research focuses on dairy food processing, particularly membrane filtration, milk protein concentration and fractionation, and developing clean-label cheese products with improved functionality. His research interests also include dairy protein functionality, cheese manufacture, and dairy product quality and evaluation.
Vijay Sundaram
Vijay Sundaram earned a B.Tech (2009) and M.Tech (2011) from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University and completed a Ph.D. in Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering from South Dakota State University in 2016. He worked as a Research Associate at South Dakota State University from 2015 to 2023, gaining extensive experience in dairy processing, dairy product analysis, pilot plant operations, and dairy research. His professional interests include dairy processing and manufacturing, dairy ingredients, membrane technology, dairy analytics, laboratory management, and scientific research. He is currently pursuing a master's degree in food science with specialization in dairy processing.
Mohamed Djema
Mohamed Djema earned his B.Sc. in Process Engineering from M'Hamed Bougara University, Algeria, in 2019, followed by an M.Sc. in Food Engineering from the same institution in 2021. He furthered his academic training in 2024 at El Camino College, where he completed coursework in STEM. He is currently pursuing his M.Sc. in Food Science at Kansas State University, where he serves as a Graduate Research Assistant in the Department of Animal Sciences & Industry. His research focuses on whey protein functionality and dairy protein processing, with a current emphasis on whey protein denaturation. His research interests also include whey protein fractionation and purification, and clean-label approaches to dairy product development.
Md Sayed Hasan
Md Sayed Hasan earned his B.Sc. in Animal Husbandry from Patuakhali Science and Technology University, Bangladesh, in 2019. During his undergraduate studies, he worked as an Undergraduate Research Assistant in the Department of Dairy Science. He completed his first M.S. in Dairy Science at Bangladesh Agricultural University in 2021, where he also worked as an M.S. Research Fellow in the Department of Dairy Science. In 2026, he earned his second M.S. in Animal Science from the University of Idaho, where he worked as a Graduate Research and Teaching Assistant in the Department of Animal, Veterinary, and Food Sciences. He is now pursuing a Ph.D. in Food Science at Kansas State University and working as a Graduate Research Assistant in the Department of Animal Sciences and Industry. His research focuses on dairy food processing, particularly membrane filtration, sustainable food manufacturing, and the development of clean-label cheese with enhanced functionality.