November 2021
Dr. Awika new head of Texas A&M’s Department of Food Science and Technology
Joseph Awika, Ph.D., is the new head of the Department of Food Science and Technology at Texas A&M University. He started Nov. 1.
Awika, a professor at Texas A&M since 2008, led the Cereal Quality Lab within the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences in the university’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. As head of the Cereal Quality Lab, he worked with multiple stakeholders to advance the quality and value of cereal grains to benefit grain producers, food processors and consumers. More…
July 2021
Dr. Suresh Pillai named ASM Distinguished Lecturer
The American Society for Microbiology (“ASM”) chooses Dr. Suresh Pillai as one of its Distinguished Lecturers for the ASMDL roster. Only the most distinguished lecturers and researchers are chosen through a competitive nomination process. Lecturers present at ASM Branch meetings throughout the U.S. ASMDL lecturers also participate in career development and mentoring activities at Branch meetings that benefit students, postdocs and early career scientists.
Mar. 2021
Congratulations to Allison Brenner, Bethany Gawalis, Paloma Hernandez, Nooran Riaz, Jacob Webster-Jones, and Kelly Young!
Recipients of the 2021 Longhorn IFT Scholarships, recognizing their academic achievement, leadership, and a demonstrated commitment to the field of food science & technology.
Mar. 2021
Food Science professor recognized for his outstanding contribution towards International Food Security
Joseph Awika named recipient of the prestigious 2021 IFT achievement award for International Food Security
Nov. 2020
Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center leader recognized for visionary leadership
Congratulations to our Fall 2019 Graduates
Food Science & Technology Students win 2nd Place at South Central Area College Bowl Competition 2019
Congratulations to the Food Science and Technology students on the Institute of Food Technologists Student Association College Bowl team for winning second place in the South Central Region competition on March 30, 2019.
Since 1985, the IFTSA College Bowl Competition has tested the knowledge of student teams from across the United States in the areas of food science and technology, history of foods and food processing, food law, and general IFT/food-related trivia. The College Bowl is designed to facilitate interaction among students from different universities, stimulate the students’ desire to accumulate and retain knowledge, and provide a forum for students to engage in friendly competition.
Ariela Thomas Wins 1st Place in Student Research Week (April 2019)
Ariela Thomas is a graduate food science student. Ariela won first place poster presentation in the Agriculture and Life Sciences category at Student Research Week. The title of her poster was “Synergistic interaction between palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) and quercetin in the reduction of inflammation”.
For more information on Student Research Week, click here.
First Place at 2018 South Central Regional IFT College Bowl
Congratulations to the Food Science students on the College Bowl team on winning first place in the South Central Region competition on April 13, 2018. Their next competition will be competing next at Nationals Chicago!
Since 1985, the IFTSA College Bowl Competition has tested the knowledge of student teams from across the United States in the areas of food science and technology, history of foods and food processing, food law, and general IFT/food-related trivia.
The College Bowl is designed to facilitate interaction among students from different universities, stimulate the students’ desire to accumulate and retain knowledge, and provide a forum for students to engage in friendly competition. Teams for IFT Student Chapters in eight geographical areas of the Student Association compete in area competitions prior to the IFT Annual Meeting. The winning teams from the eight areas then compete in a final competition at the Annual Meeting.
Food Science Students Compete for National Title
Congratulations to the 2018 Texas A&M College Bowl Team! Gig ‘em Aggies!
Since 1985, the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Student Association has hosted the College Bowl Competition to test the knowledge of food science student teams. Divided into 8 regions across the North American continent, College Bowl teams compete for a regional championship and then meet at the IFT Annual Meeting to compete for a national title. College Bowl is designed to facilitate interactions from students across the North American continent and to demonstrate students’ knowledge and acumen in a unique quiz game format that rewards correct answers and penalizes for incorrect answers. Oral and visual questions are categorized into numerous areas of expertise including food analysis, chemistry, law, microbiology, nutrition, packaging, processing, biotechnology, food service, sensory and toxicology, along with IFT knowledge, food history and current events. The Texas A&M College Bowl team is formed in early January each year and members study and train weekly for the regional competition in which they prevailed as 2018 South-Central champions. The team traveled to Chicago for the IFT18 Annual Meeting in July and competed against 7 other regional champions. After multiple rounds of intense competition, the Texas A&M College Bowl Team tied for 4th place in front of 300 food science students from across the continent.
Food Science Student Wins Awards and Scholarships
Zahra Mohammad, a PhD candidate working under Dr. Alejandro Castillo received multiple awards.
Zahra Mohammad and her team received the Grand Innovation Challenge Award for her innovative idea to increase productivity and drought tolerance in wheat by using beneficial bacterial strains. This is a team-based completion; each team presents an innovative idea or solution to improve human feed, health, or environment. The winning team will go to Brazil in July for global completion.
She has also received the 4th Annual International Livestock Forum Student Fellowships in January 2018.
Zahra Mohammad, received multiple awards and scholarships from three professional organizations. She received the 2018 International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) Travel Scholarship, which covered all travel expenses to the conference. Zahra was also awarded the 2018 ASM Research Capstone Fellowship and outstanding graduate and postdoctoral scholarship from American Society for Microbiology. In addition, she was awarded a Feeding Tomorrow Scholarship from the Institute for Food Technologists. These awards allowed her to present three researches at three professional organizations.