University research rewarded during FAPC symposium
By Kylee Willard
FAPC Communications Graduate Assistant
(Stillwater, Okla. – Feb. 28, 2012) Oklahoma State University’s Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center, together with the Institute of Food Technology-Oklahoma section, held the annual FAPC/IFT-OK Research Symposium highlighting food and agricultural products research conducted by FAPC and other OSU researchers.
On Feb. 22, more than 100 students, research enthusiasts and industry representatives gathered at the FAPC for a day filled with oral and poster presentations, and keynote speaker.
“The event provided an opportunity for graduate students to make presentations of their work and for researchers to network with others in the food and agricultural field and possibly foster future collaborations among colleagues,” said Dr. Peter Muriana, FAPC food microbiologist and co-chair of the symposium.
Student awards were presented in both the oral and poster presentation categories. The top student winners were Dhiraj Gautam and Preetty Pranatharthiharan in the oral and poster presentations, respectively. Other winners were Karthic Dharman Ramachandriya, second place in the oral presentations, and Paul Vijayakumar, second place in the poster presentations.
Muriana serves as the advisor for both Pranatharthiharan and Vijayakumar. Dr. Jacqueline Fletcher and Dr. Li Maria Ma of the National Institute for Microbial Forensics and Food and Agricultural Biosecurity and department of entomology and plant pathology advises Gautam, and Ramachandriya’s adviser is Dr. Mark Wilkins from the department of biosystems and agricultural engineering.
The IFT-Oklahoma Section provided monetary awards for the winners. In the oral competition, first place received $250, followed by $150 for second place. In the poster competition, $150 was awarded for first place and $75 for second place.
In addition to the student competition, the keynote speaker, Dr. Roger Clemens, IFT president and chief scientific officer of Horn, presented “The Role of Food Science & Technology in Dietary Guidelines.”
“We were very excited to have such a high caliber scientist speak at our event,” said Chuck Willoughby, FAPC business and marketing relations manager and co-chair of the symposium. “Dr. Clemens’ talk on food science and dietary guidelines was invigorating and offered symposium attendees a wealth of information.”
Clemens is the founding and current columnist for the monthly Food, Medicine and Health column in Food Technology Magazine and is an associate editor for the Journal of Food Science, both published by IFT. He has been cited and interviewed by more than 500 domestic and international print and broadcast journalists’ on contemporary health, nutrition and food safety issues. Additionally, he has published more than 50 original manuscripts in nutrition and food science and participated in more than 250 invited domestic and international lectures.
“It is not easy to get the current IFT president to address your organization, but we were fortunate to have Dr. Clemens as our keynote speaker,” Muriana said. “His presentation offered valuable information to every individual in the audience.”
The keynote speaker video presentation, as well as video of the graduate students’ oral presentations, are available online at http://www.fapc.biz/researchsymposium.html.
The FAPC Research Symposium was held in conjunction with OSU Research Week. Sponsors of the FAPC/IFT-OK Research Symposium included National Steak and Poultry, 21st Sensory, Click’s Steakhouse and major sponsor, Clements Foods Co.
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