FST News

The Ohio State University team of Ramesh Yettella (captain), Anand Subramanian, Megan Hoffer and Ashley Weatherington won the 2008 IFTSA College Bowl Competition held at the IFT Annual Meeting in New Orleans on June 30. OSU competed against teams from North Carolina State University, Brigham Young University, Cornell University, Texas A&M, University of Idaho, University of Nebraska and University of Georgia. Congratulations to our students for an outstanding performance!

IFT Graduate Paper Competition Winners

Gerald Sigua was awarded third place in the 2008 IFT Food Packaging Division Student Poster Competition. The title of his study was “Effect of high pressure, temperature and food stimulants on the mass transfer of Irganox 1076 from polyethylene films.” He is advised by Melvin Pascall.

Congratulations to Dr. Lynn Knipe for receiving the 2008 American Meat Science Association Distinguished Industry-Extension Service Award! He was honored at the Reciprocal Meat Conference in Gainesville, Florida on June 24. This award, sponsored by the American Meat Institute Foundation, was established in 1965 to recognize outstanding achievement in meat science extension and service to the industry.

OSU Food Science faculty, staff and students are presenting over 35 papers at the IFT Annual Meeting in New Orleans on June 29-July 1. To view a list of the presentations, please click on the word doc.

Niharika Thakwani, a graduating senior in food science, was recognized as a Top Scholar in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at the 55th Annual Recognition banquet held on May 8. This award recognizes outstanding academic achievement.

Professor David Min and former graduate student, Eunok Choe, were recognized by the editor of the Journal of Food Science for their paper entitled, "Chemistry and reactions of reactive oxygen species in foods" published in 2005 (70(9):R142-R159). This paper was the most highly cited paper in the Journal of Food Science in 2007. Eunok will receive the the Most Cited Paper Award from IFT at the Reviewers Reception during the 2008 IFT Annual Meeting.

Graduate student Yoon-Hee Lee was awarded the 2007-08 Department of Food Science and Technology Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award for her excellence in teaching. Yoon-Hee was nominated by the students in FST 601 Food Analysis.

Dr. Stephanie Smith was awarded the 2008 Professor Of The Year Award given annually by the Food Science Club. The recipient is selected by club officers and recognizes outstanding teaching, leadership, service, or extracurricular involvement.

Jareer Abu-Ali (Food Science, 2004) will receive the OSU William Oxley Thompson Award for superior career achievement by young alumni in September 2008. Three alumni are recognized each year. Jareer is currently the Research & Development Manager for Paramount Farms Inc.

The American Society for Microbiology Branch Lectureships Program annually selects an outstanding, scientifically diverse group of speakers who are available to participate in ASM meetings at the local and regional level. Dr. Hua Wang was selected as the lecturer for the 2008-2010 American Society for Microbiology Branch Lectureships (ASMBL, formerly Waksman Foundation for Microbiology Lectures) program.

Congratulations to Dr. V.M. (Bala) Balasubramaniam, Associate Professor, for receiving the 2008 Research Award of Merit given by Gamma Sigma Delta, the honor society of agriculture and related sciences. Dr. Bala will be recognized at the Gamma Sigma Delta annual awards program on May 30 at 3 p.m. in the Ag Administration auditorium.

Taylor Wallace, PhD student in Food Science, will be awarded the 2008 IFT Campbell's Excellence in Leadership Award at the IFT Annual Meeting Awards Ceremony on June 28 in New Orleans. Congratulations, Taylor!

Several FST faculty and students have recently been elected to executive positions in IFT sections and divisions:

Ohio Valley Section
Taylor Wallace - Student Representative
Valente Alvarez - Member-at-Large
Monica Giusti - Member-at Large

Food Engineering Division
Bala Balasubramaniam - Member-at-Large

Congratulations to Debra Van Camp, Food Science senior, for placing second in the OSU Denman Undergraduate Research Forum, Agriculture and Environmental Sciences Division for her poster titled "Food Transformation". She was advised by Y. Vodovotz and N. Hooker.

Hollis Ashman, Chief Strategist, Understanding and Insight Group from Powell, OH, has received the 2008 Meritorious Service to Students Award given by the College of Food Agricultural and Environmental Sciences for her valuable contributions to student programs. Ms. Ashman was nominated by the OSU Product Development Team and the Department of Food Science and Technology.

Dr. Jianrong Li, Assistant Professor, joins the Department of Food Science and Technology beginning May 1, 2008. Dr. Li was hired through the Targeted Investment in Excellence Public Health Preparedness Initiative and will work in the area of food safety, with a focus in virology. He has a joint appointment in FST (70%) and Environmental Health Sciences (30%) in the College of Public Health. Dr. Li comes to us from Boston where he worked as a researcher at the Harvard Medical School.

Food Science senior, Sandra Zurbrugg, competed in the 2008 CFAES Undergraduate Research Forum on April 23. She won third place in the Animal Science and Nutrition division for her project "Galactooligosaccharides as an alternative ingredient to improve nutritional profile of chocolate truffles." Dr. Yael Vodovotz served as her adviser. Congratulations, Sandra!

Ruth Lucius was awarded the 2008 John Litchfield Graduate Scholarship sponsored by the Ohio Valley IFT. Undergraduates, Tessa Bowman and Jenny Wu, received OVIFT 2008 Undergraduate Scholarships. The students received the awards during the Supplier's Night meeting in Cincinnati on April 17.

Dr. V.M. (Bala) Balasubramaniam was recently elected Secretary of the IFT Non-Thermal Processing Division. Dr. Jeff Culbertson was elected to the Chair-Elect position of the IFT Education Division.

Congratulations to the OSU Product Development Team! Their product (the
"FruitZicle") was selected as one of six finalists from 24 entries in this year's IFTSA Product Development Competition. The students will prepare a final proposal and participate in the competition at the IFT Annual Meeting in New Orleans in late June.

The OSU College Bowl Team won the IFTSA Midwest Area College Bowl Competition held on April 5, 2008 in Columbus. Team members were Ramesh Yattella (captain), Anand Subramanian, Megan Hoffer and Ashley Weatherington. The OSU team competed against teams from Purdue University, University of Illinois, Michigan State University and University of Tennessee. The OSU team will move on to the national IFTSA College Bowl Competition to be held in New Orleans. Congratulations for a job well
done!

December 2007

Professor Ahmed Yousef is a finalist for the 2007 TopCat Innovation Award in the “Inventor of the Year” category. These awards, by TechColumbus, recognize outstanding achievements in technology leadership. A recognition ceremony will be held on Thursday January 17, 2008 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center.

December 2007

OSU Presidential Fellowship 2007-08 winner

Congratulations to Ph.D. student Anand Subramanian for winning an OSU Presidential Fellowship. This fellowship recognizes outstanding scholarly accomplishments of graduate students in the final phase of their dissertation research. Anand was nominated for this award by his dissertation adviser, Luis Rodriguez-Saona.

October 2007

AAAS Recognizes Functional Foods Researcher

Congratulations to Dr. Steven J. Schwartz for being elected as Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for his distinguished accomplishments in science and technology. He will be recognized at the AAAS Fellows Forum scheduled for February 16, 2008 in Boston, Massachusetts.

October 2007

Seminar Presentation for October 2, 2007

Dr. David Min will present a seminar titled “ Essential Information for the Effective Publication of Manuscripts” on Tuesday October 2 at noon in 118 Parker.

CFAES Outstanding Teaching Award

Congratulations to Dr. Ahmed Yousef, Professor, for receiving the 2007 College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Pomerene Outstanding Teaching Award!

CFAES Outstanding Advising Award

Congratulations to Dr. David Min, Professor, for receiving the 2007 College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Price Outstanding Advising Award!

September 2007

The 2007 Harris Award for Excellence in Food Science and Technology laureate, Dr Connie Weaver of Purdue University will present a seminar on Tuesday, September 25 at noon in 118 Parker Food Science Building titled "Roles of Calcium Nutrition and the food industry in bone health"

For more information about Dr. Weaver, please visit Harris Award

August 2007

The Department of Food Science and Technology is pleased to announce a new endowment - The Michael and Marilyn Mangino Food Science Scholarship. This endowment will support scholarships for undergraduate students in the department, with preference given to graduates of Columbus Public Schools. The department wishes to thank Mike and Lynn for their extraordinary generosity and longstanding commitment to students at The Ohio State University.

July 27-31 IFT schedule for presentations in Chicago

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June 2007 Two Faculty Positions in Food Safety (pdf) and Environmental Microbiology (pdf)

The Department of Food Science and Technology is searching for Assistant or Associate Professors in Food Safety and Environmental Microbiology. For more information contact Dr. Ahmed Yousef, Search Chair, at 614-292-7814 or yousef.1@osu.edu.

June 2007 Congratulations to Debra Van Camp, a Sophomore in Food Science, for being appointed as the new undergraduate member of the OSU Board of Trustees.

June 2007 Congratulations to Sarah Herringshaw, senior in Food Science, for being selected as one of the Top 20 Seniors in the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences for 2007.