Studying Food Science in New Zealand
UT Research Partnership with New Zealand to Promote Food Innovation, Sustainability, and Workforce Development
As the global population continues to grow, the food industry faces an urgent need for emerging talents equipped with innovative skills. Considering food is a vital commodity, having a talented workforce in place to help enhance food production capacity and quality is essential to support humanity.
Aspiring engineers aren’t always aware of the opportunities available in the food industry unless they are directly exposed to it during college. The University of Tennessee is providing students with the chance through an International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) program that is focused on food innovation and sustainability.
Funded by a National Science Foundation grant, the three-year project is a collaboration between the United States and New Zealand to train engineering students in interdisciplinary food science and innovation research. Each summer for the next three years, selected engineering students will travel to New Zealand to conduct research, gain hands-on research experience, and learn about the food ecosystem in New Zealand.
The US partners are the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (CBE) at UT and the Department of Food Science at the UT Institute of Agriculture (UTIA). The New Zealand partner is the University of Otago in Dunedin.
The inaugural UT cohort, which includes four CBE students and two biosystems engineering students, is scheduled to leave for New Zealand at the end of May. The group will spend eight weeks working with professors in the Department of Food Science at the University of Otago and engaging with graduate students and postdoctoral researchers.
“New Zealand is widely respected for its excellence in food innovation, sustainability practices, and safety standards, earning a global reputation as a leader in the food industry,” said CBE Professor and Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs Michael Danquah, who is the principal investigator for the program. “Food is a major driver of the New Zealand economy, so the students will gain extensive knowledge about the food industry and food research, while being exposed to a variety of unique experiences.”
Preparing for new experiences
The IRES program runs through the spring, summer, and fall for each cohort. The spring semester at UT is focused on workshops that introduce students to various topics in food science, such as food chemistry, food product development and innovation, advanced food manufacturing and processing techniques, data analytics in food safety, and artificial intelligence in the food industry.
Once the students return from New Zealand, they will spend the fall doing additional research, outreach to K-12 schools, and professional development workshops. The students will present their research at the Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement (EURēCA) at UT, as well as at regional and national conferences.
Reece Hutchens, a junior chemical engineering major, enrolled in the IRES program because he wanted to immerse himself in research practices and standards of the food industry.
“I’ve been interested in that for quite a while. It kind of goes back to taking AP human geography in high school and learning about all these agricultural revolutions that helped bring food to the masses, with GMOs and pesticides and things like that,” Hutchens said. “Now we have new science that says that a lot of those probably weren’t all that great. So now we have to kind of reverse that and make all our food sustainable.”
Lily Mize, a sophomore biosystems major, wants to use the IRES program to explore innovative solutions to improve food systems to optimize the nutrients human can consume to fuel their bodies without overtaxing the planet.
“I was searching for an opportunity to study internationally over the summer during college, so this program was perfect for me as a biosystems student,” Mize said. “I’ve never worked in a lab setting before, and we get to cycle through two different projects so I can get as much exposure as possible. I can’t wait for that.”
Cross-cultural research
Along with their research in New Zealand, the UT students will get to explore the island country through tours and outreach visits. They will learn about the Māori, who are the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand.
“It’s going to be fun and rewarding to be traveling halfway around the world, seeing a new culture, and seeing how their food industries are different,” Hutchens said. “We’re going to be able to do some tours of food facilities and then have a chance to participate in other cultural engagement activities.”
Throughout their spring “bootcamp” at UT, the students met with professors from New Zealand and Australia to introduce them to food innovation and sustainability practices. They balanced the IRES work with their normal academic load with no complaints.
“It’s been impressive. The students have been very engaging, and they are really excited about the opportunity to go to New Zealand and learn more about the food industry,” Danquah said. “I think they see it as a new opportunity that they can pivot right into once they graduate. I believe this is something that every engineering student should be exposed to.”
Contact
Rhiannon Potkey (865-974-0683, [email protected])