Dr. Rulande Rutgers
Lecturer
Department of Chemical Engineering
Phone: +61 7 3365 3528
Fax: +61 7 3365 4199
Email: rulander@cheque.uq.edu.au

Academic Background

PhD Chemical Engineering, University of Cambridge, UK
BSc + MSc Chemical Engineering, Delft Univ. Tech. Netherlands

Industrial Background

Research Scientist, Packaging Development Department, Procter & Gamble Health and Beauty Care-Europe, UK, 1991-1994
Associate, McKinsey and Company – Strategic Management Consultants, London, UK, 1998-1999
Technology Manager, Plantic Technologies, Melbourne, Australia, 2002-2004 (part time secondment from the University of Queensland)

Research Interests

Rulande Rutgers has research interests in the general areas of Rheology, Polymer Processing and Food Processing. Her research activities are mainly conducted within the Materials Characterisation and Processing Centre (MCP) of the Department of Chemical Engineering.

Her involvement in the Cooperative Research Centre for International Food Manufacture and Packaging Science has led her to take on a part time position as Technology Manager in Plantic Technologies, a start-up company developing biodegradable packaging materials from modified corn starch.

Current Projects

Extrusion and properties of starch
Microstructure, rheology and processing of soft solid foods
Residence time distribution and flow patterns in twin screw extrusion of starch

Selected Publications

N. Clemeur, R.P.G. Rutgers, B. Debbaut, "On the evaluation of some differential formulations for the pom-pom constitutive model, Rheol. Acta, Submitted April 2002

G. Nashed, R.P.G. Rutgers and P.A. Sopade, "The Plasticisation Effect Of Glycerol on The Gelatinisation of Wheat Starch," Starch/Starke, Submitted April 2002

R.P.G. Rutgers, T. Howes and J.D. Litster, "Product Design and Engineering at the University of Queensland", Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology, Submitted 28 February 2002

R.P.G. Rutgers, N. Clemeur, J. Husny, "The prediction of sharkskin instability observed during film blowing," International Polymer Processing, Submitted Nov. 2001, review received March 2002, resubmitted March 2002.

R.P.G. Rutgers, N. Clemeur, S. Muke, B. Debbaut, "Polyethylene flow prediction with a differential multi-mode Pom-Pom model," Korea-Australia Rheology Journal, 2002 (in press)

Halley P, Rutgers R, Coombs S, Kettels J, Gralton J, Christie G, Jenkins M, Beh H, Griffin K, Jayasekara R, Lonergan G, "Developing biodegradable mulch films from starch-based polymers," Starch-Stärke 53 (8) (2001) 362-367.

Rutgers R.P.G. and M.R. Mackley, "The effect of channel geometry and wall boundary conditions on the formation of extrusion surface instabilities for LLDPE," J. Non-Newt. Fluid Mech. 98 (2-3) (2001) 185-199.

Rutgers R.P.G. and M.R. Mackley, "The correlation of experimental surface extrusion instabilities with numerically predicted exit surface stress concentrations and melt strength for linear low density polyethylene," J. Rheol. 44 (6) (2000) 1319-1334.

Mackley M.R., R.P.G. Rutgers, D.G. Gilbert, "Surface instabilities during the extrusion of linear low density polyethylene", J. Non-Newtonian Fluid Mech. 76 (1998) 281-297.

M.R. Mackley, R.P.G. Rutgers, D.G. Gilbert, Chapter 2 "Surface instabilities during extrusion of linear low density polyethylene", in "Dynamics of Complex Fluids" by Adams, Mashelkar, Pearson, Rennie, Imperial College Press (1998)
M.R. Mackley, R.P.G. Rutgers, Chapter 5 "Capillary Rheometry" in "Rheological Measurement" by Collyer & Clegg, 2nd ed., Kluwer (1999).