Funded Projects

Fall 2024

  • Beenish Saba (OSU) – Techno-economic analysis of food waste valorization through microbial electrosynthesis

Spring 2024

  • Minliang Yang (NCSU) – Comparative sustainability analysis of food waste utilization and valorization pathways towards circular economy
  • Deepti Salvi (NCSU) – Enhancing cold brew coffee safety through cold pasteurization using ultraviolet lights
  • Thaddeus Ezeji (OSU) – Microbial electrosynthesis: Food waste valorization to produce biochemicals, and biohydrogen

Spring 2023

  • Katrina Cornish (OSU) – Industrial food processing waste characterization and valorization
  • Deepti Salvi (NCSU) – Far- Ultraviolet-C (220 nm) for inactivation of Cronobacter sakazakii surrogate in low moisture powder foods

Spring 2022

  • Dr. Praveen Kolar (NCSU) Conversion of food wastes into energy storage devices
  • Dr. Deepti Salvi (NCSU) Plasma activated water (PAW) as a cleaning in place solution (CIP) in a continuous model piping system
  • Dr. Josip Simunovic (NCSU) Electrification of advanced thermal and aseptic processing evaluation of solid state technologies for continuous flow heating and cooling

Spring 2021

  • Dr. Dennis Heldman (OSU) Multiscale investigation of fouling and cleaning in milk-based and plant-based beverages
  • Dr. Deepti Salvi (NCSU) Plasma activated water as a cleaning in place solution for fouling removal and microbial inactivation

Spring 2020

  • Dr. Dennis Heldman (OSU) Management of waste streams from food and beverage manufacturing operations
  • Dr. Deepti Salvi (NCSU) Plasma-activated water for inactivation of mixed-species biofilms – 2 year
  • Dr. Nathalie Lavoine (NCSU) High performance biodegradable transparent films: the first step towards green aseptic food packaging
  • Dr. Ahmed Yousef (OSU) Air decontamination by destruction of aerosolized biological hazards using ozone based filter

Fall  2019

  • Dr. Natalie Lavoine (NCSU) Biodegradable and recyclable paper-based alternative to single use beverage plastic products

Spring  2019

  • Dr. Katrina Cornish (OSU) Bio-based waterborne adhesive from guayule natural rubber with bio-epoxide as a curing agent for flexible packaging applications
  • Dr. Deepti Salvi (NCSU)Plasma treatment for inactivation of bacteria and bacterial biofilm on conveyor belt surfaces
  • Dr. Ameer Taha (UC Davis) Examining the effects of processing and storage on lipidomic markers of oxidation
  • Dr. Ahmed Yousef (OSU) Food ingredients and additives suitable for combating dehydration tolerant Salmonella for safer low and intermediate moisture foods

Fall 2018

  • Dr. Ameer Taha (UC Davis) Use of lipidomics to understand how lipid oxidation in oils is initiated
  • Dr. Deepti Salvi (NCSU) Validation of a surrogate for plasma activated water, a novel surface disinfectant for food
  • Dr. Yael Vodovotz (OSU) NR containing water based laminating adhesive

Spring 2018

  • Dr. Gail Bornhorst (UC Davis) Impact of processing and composition of nutrient digestibility in snacks
  • Dr. Dennis Heldman (OSU) Flexible processing system for understanding product fouling and cleaning
  • Dr. Abby Snyder (OSU) Sanitation procedure optimization for control of polyculture biofilms: balancing quality and safety outcomes with efficiancy and cost
  • Dr. Yael Vodovotz (OSU) Development and assessment of bio-based films from PHA and natural rubber for food packaging applications

Fall 2017

  • Dr. Valente Alvarez (OSU) Thermodynamic characterization of the interactions between casein and b-glucan as a functional ingredient in a model food system
  • Dr. Abby Snyder (OSU) Inactivation and growth of polyextremotolerant black yeast and microcolonial black fungi

Spring 2017

  • Dr. Juliana Leite Nobrega De Moura Bell (UC Davis) Effects of extraction and recovery methods on almond protein functionality
  • Dr. Rachel Kopec (OSU) The effect of pulsed electric field and ohmic heating on carotenoid and vitamin E bioavailabity from tomato juice
  • Dr. Yael Vodovotz (OSU) Development and assessment of food trays from blend of PHBV (with 2% HV) and natural rubber intended for microwave packaging applications
  • Dr. Ahmed Yousef (OSU) Sensitizing Bacillus and Clostridium spores to heat by natural peptidoglycan degrading agents for enhancing the safety and shelf life of moderately processed food

Fall 2016

  • Dr. Dennis Heldman (OSU) Application of in-line raman spectrocopy during clean in place procedures
  • Dr. Yael Vodovotz (OSU) Assessment of PHA or PHBV high molecular weigh natural rubber food trays
  • Dr. Farnaz Maleky (OSU) Oleocolloids of oleogel and protein designed for high protein food
  • Dr. Gail Bornhorst (UC Davis) Protein digestibility of alternative proteins in protein enhanced beverages as influenced by processing
  • Dr. Yael Vodovotz (OSU) Effect of microwave heating on water dynamics in a gluten sucrose model system
  • Dr. Rafael Jimenez-Flores (OSU) Supercritical CO2 treatment of food proteins to modify functionality

Spring 2016

  • Dr. Simunovic (NCSU) Hydrophobic fabrics applications in advanced thermal processing
  • Dr. Alvarez (OSU) Development of a dairy high protein beverage enhanced with oat b glucan to meet the FDA health claim for cardiovascular disease risk reduction
  • Dr. Bell (UC Davis) Immobilization of a novel enzyme for pilot scale recovery of bioactive n glycans form dairy streams
  • Dr. Yousef (OSU) Inhibition of spore germination and growth of alicyclobacillus

Fall 2015

  •  Dr. Gail Bornhorst (UC Davis) Protein digestibility and polyphenol bioaccessibility in protein-enhanced juices as influenced by thermal and high pressure processing
  • Dr. Josip Simunovic (NCSU) Enhancement of continuous flow cooling using hydrophobic surface treatment
  • Dr. Dennis Heldman (OSU) Investigation of dosing protocols for control of CIP cleaning cycles
  • Dr. Yael Vodovotz (OSU) Effect of microwave heating on water dynamics in a wheat starch/sucrose model system
  • Dr. N.Nitin (UC Davis) Bubble formation during microwave heating of starches

Spring 2015

  • Dr. Katrina Cornish (OSU) Bio-based composites for food packaging
  • Dr. N. Nitin (UC Davis) Bio-inspired approaches for encapsulation and controlled release
  • Dr. N. Nitin (UC Davis) Food powder analysis and design
  • Dr. Gail Bornhorst (UC Davis) Increasing nutrient bio accessibility in fruit and vegetable juices through processing
  • Dr. Melvin Pascall (OSU) Effect of micro-topography on the attachment and survival of food borne microorganisms on food contact surfaces
  • Dr. Farnaz Maleky (OSU) Olegels for nutritionally enhanced food products
  • Dr. Dennis Heldman (OSU) Improving the efficiency and effectiveness of CIP detergent solutions

Fall 2014

  • Dr. Monica Giusti (OSU) Effect of process on color quality stability of fruit and vegetable juices
  • Dr. Dennis Heldman (OSU) Reclamation and reuse of waste streams from CIP operations
  • Dr. Chris Simons (OSU) Right sizing the technology requirement for sensory immersive instillations
  • Dr. Sophia Kathariou (NCSU) Assessment of novel synthetic and naturally occurring compounds to inhibit and disperse biofilms by spoilage and pathogenic bacteria of concern to the food industry
  • Dr. N. Nitin (UC Davis) Imaging approaches to characterize surface composition of spray dried powders

Spring 2014

  • Dr. Ahmed Yousef (OSU) Selection of antimicrobial agents, suitable for food applications, from natural sources using large-scale metagenomic screening approach
  • Jane Caldwell (NCSU) The hydroxyl radical as accelerant in rapid shelf life evaluation
  • Dr. Farnaz Maleky (OSU) Low fat, saturated and trans-fat free cheese products, enriched with essential unsaturated fatty acids

Fall 2013

  • Dr. N. Nitin (UC Davis) – Novel metal ion chelation strategies for limiting oxidation in food systems.
  • Dr. KP Sandeep and Ms. Jane Caldwell (NCSU) – Mitochondrial DNA as molecular indicators of thermal processing efficacy.
  • Dr. Bala Balasubramaniam (OSU) -Development of a superior high pressure processing fluid.
  • Dr. N. Nitin (UC Davis) – Novel encapsulation concept: HHP facilitated encapsulation of bioactives in inactivated yeast and isolated plant cells for enhanced stability.
  • Drs. Kamran Shavezipur and Melvin Pascall (OSU) – Residue-free polymer adhesives for food labeling and package closure
  • Dr. Katrina Cornish (OSU) – Production, assessment, and improvement of bio derived and bio-degradable blown films for food packaging application
  • Dr. Chris Simons (OSU) – Improving hedonic assessment data using immersive technologies

Spring 2013

  • Dr. Josip Simunovic (NCSU) – Acoustically enhanced continuous flow cooling
  • Dr. Katrina Cornish (OSU) – Assessment and improvement of the physic-chemical properties of bio-based composites for food packaging
  • Dr. Bala Balasubramaniam (OSU) – Impact of pressure based alternative technologies on nutrient stability of model liquid beverage systems
  • Dr. Mary Ann Lila (NCSU) – Binding health protective, immune-enhancing bioactive compounds from fruits and vegetables in a shelf stable food ingredient for combat rations
  • Dr. Farnez Maleky (OSU) Structured lipids with improved barrier characteristics