Teaching Program

Teaching activities include regular university level undergraduate and graduate courses as well as shortcourses and workshops (pls. see below). In teaching, lab members and collaborators are guided by four key principles that hopefully enable students and industry participants to have a great learning experience:

Motivation. Students that are interested in a subject and are motivated by their teacher have a natural desire to learn. A good teacher may bring out the childlike curiosity in all students. This curiosity, once ignited, only needs to be supported and nourished. This curiosity lends itself to a natural growth process in which students discover their own potential and develop a passion for the profession that they have chosen. As a consequence, traditional lecturing and memorization style of teaching is avoided and informal discussion groups are used whenever possible in combination with selected case studies from industry and academia to illustrate the need to have an in-depth knowledge of a subject in order to solve the selected problem. This can prepare students significantly better for the challenges that await them once they enter the work force since problem solving in the industry is an interactive process that involves discussion and collaboration with co-workers.

Enthusiasm. The teacher has to be enthusiastic about a subject. If the teacher himself isn’t convinced that the material is interesting, how can he try to convince the students that it’s fun to study the subject? Therefore, one should attempt to include as many topics and subjects about which he or she is him or herself intensely interested. This personal interest and emotional feelings about the subject of study should be conveyed as much as possible to build a bridge to the student.

Challenge. High goals need to be set for students. If we are to produce the best students possible, then we need to set the standards as high as possible. At the same time, we need to make sure that it is possible for the students to live up to the challenge. Since different people absorb material in many different ways, a personalized curriculum needs to be developed. Providing base material and spplementing with additional out of class materials based on each student’s interest and needs can help achieve that goal. Novel information technologies (interactive web pages and discussion boards) should be employed to deliver these supplementary materials and to encourage additional reading of research articles and current press releases. Exams should be designed so that a transfer of knowledge to a new problem is required.

Structure. A good course structure/outline is an essential requirement for students to follow the course. As in presentations, a “red line” is needed, that is a common structure that binds the different topics together. Familiar patterns also make it easier for the memory center in our brains to digest and store information.

Courses Taught at the University of Massachusetts

UMASS FS 265 – Survey of Food Science

Introduction to Basic Principles in Food Science and Technology with a focus on commodities, and the processing of base commodities to produce the final product. In the first week, a general overview over nutritional needs and food components is given, followed by introductions to cereals, dairy, meats, fats & oils, egg & fish products, fruits & vegetables, sugar & confectionaries, coffee, tea and instant beverages, cocoa & chocolate and finally alcoholic beverages. Finally, the course includes regular sensory testing of products produced or manufactured during laboratories and a number of field trips.

UMASS FS 561 – Food Processing (Ongoing, registered students click here to link to SPARK)

Fundamental Unit Operations and Associated Equipment in Food Processing. Specific topics include raw material preparation, thermal processing, cooling & freezing, evaporation, drying and mechanical processing. Laboratories focus on usage of pilot plant equipment to simulate unit operations.

UMASS FS 791F – Food Biophysics

Doctoral seminar series discussing food biophysics related research work. Specific topics include encapsulation systems for bioactive compounds, antimicrobials, biofilms, nanoscalar food structures, new processing techniques (ultrasound, electrospinning). Student presentations are discussed in work groups and recommendations for future research directions are given.

Courses Taught or Co-Taught at the University of Tennessee

UT FST 340 – Food Preservation and Packaging

Undergraduate course that teaches principles, methods and equipment used for preservation of foods. The course has four objectives: (1) to understand the processes and equipment used in processing, packaging, and distribution of foods (2) to understand the effects of various preservation techniques on the quality and safety of food products (3) To understand the role of food packaging in the preservation of food products and (4) to design and evaluate a processing procedure used to preserve a food product.

UT FST 410 – Food Chemistry

Senior level undergraduate and entry level graduate course on organic and inorganic chemistry in the context of agricultural and food systems. Key reactions of water, proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, mineral, enzymes, vitamins and additives in foods are discussed in detail.

UT FST 501/601 – Graduate Seminar

Graduate course in which seminars are presented by departmental graduate students and outside speakers. Graduate students present information on their research work or related topics. Outside speakers are invited from other universities, industry or governmental organizations. Goal of the course is to keep students and faculty abreast of current topics in food science and technology

UT FST 510 – Instrumental Analysis of Food

Graduate course that teaches modern instrumental methods for control of food manufacturing processes and analysis of complex food systems. The course is divided in three parts, (1) Physic Principles & Spectroscopy (2) Chromatography (3) Biological Methods. The course is a departmental requirement for all graduate students.

UT FST 515 – Food Carbohydrates, Proteins and Lipids

Advanced study of the chemical and physical properties of carbohydrate, protein and lipid components of foods, effects of components on production of safe and consistent quality food products; and changes during processing and/or distribution of food products.

UT FST 590 – Food Biopolymers

Advanced graduate course that teaches a polymer science approach to food science students. Specific topics include, fundamental molecular and colloidal interactions between food biopolymers, colloidal interactions between microscopic food structures, surface and interface science of food biopolymers, advanced rheology of food biopolymers and optical properties of food biopolymers.

Shortcourses and Workshop

A number of short courses are regularly held at the University of Massachusetts in which FBN participates. These courses include fundemental emulsion science, focus on w-3 fatty acid applications in food, hydrocolloids and nanotechnology. These courses are held irregularly in approx. 2 year interval ate either the University of Massachusetts, or at other locations such as the Annual Meeting of Food Technologists. Please inquire for upcoming course dates or click the link below for more details (if active).

Food Emulsions Shortcourse (click for last program)

This workshop which is held on approximately every 18-month presents the basic principles, concepts and techniques of emulsion science, and show how this information can help to understand, predict and control the properties of real food products and ingredients. The workshop was last held on May 24th/25th 2007 and organized by Prof. D. J. McClements with lectures being cotaught by Prof. J. Weiss and Dr N. Naouli (TIC Gums).

Health Benefits of Omega-3 Fatty Acids (click for last program)

This workshop which is held approximately every two years focuses on exploring the nutritional benefits of omega-3 fatty acids, and explores issues surrounding application challenges that industry faces when designing products containing omega-3 fatty acids such as lipid oxidation, incorporation in aqueous based food systems and others. The course was last held in November of 2007 in Shanghai, China and was organized by Dr. Eric A. Decker with lectures being given by a large variety of speakers including Dr. Y. Park and Dr. J. Weiss.

Food Hydrocolloids Short Course (click for last program)

This 1-day short course is held infrequently as demand arises and addresses the use of food hydrocolloids in the design of texture in a variety of food products. The course has a heavy focus on application challenges when using hydrocolloids such as pectin to allow food manufacturers to better formulate products with food hydrocolloids. The course was last held in Fall of 2006 and was organized by Dr. J. Weiss and co-taught by Dr. D.J. McClements.

Overall, the short courses draw on the extensive knowledge that professors in the Department of Food Science have in the areas of physicochemical properties of foods and food chemistry.