IUFoST recognizes Lund and Lu; Fellows nominations still open

IFT presents candidates for Nominations & Elections Committee
IFT announces the candidates for the IFT Nominations & Elections Committee. Due to a vacancy on the current Nominations & Elections Committee, there will be two categories of committee candidates on the ballot: immediate term to fulfill the remaining 18 months of the vacant seat, and the annual vote to elect three members to serve the full three-year term.

The candidates for immediate term (one elected) are Danielle Robertson and Enrique Palou. The candidates for the full term (three elected) are Brian Farkas, Carmen L. Gomes, Hongda Chen, Nicolas Bordenave, and Sam Millar.

The election will be held Feb. 15 to March 15; president-elect and four members for the Board of Directors will also be chosen. Visit bit.ly/IFT_election_2016 for more information, and please forward any questions about the slate of candidates, petition process, or the online elections to Kate Dockins, staff coordinator for the Nominations & Elections Committee, at [email protected].

Click here for more information

HERB approves undergraduate programs
IFT’s Higher Education Review Board (HERB) announced that it has 61 approved undergraduate programs, including four new schools. They are Beijing Technology and Business University and Shanghai Ocean University in China, McGill University in Canada, and Universiti Sains Malaysia in Malaysia. Thirty-nine of the approved schools are located in the United States, and the other 22 are located within 11 countries.

Undergraduate students who wish to apply for IFT scholarships must be enrolled in an approved program. Click here to see the full list of approved programs.

IUFoST recognizes Lund and Lu
The International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST) recognized Daryl B. Lund with the Lifetime Achievement Award and Xianonan Lu with the Young Scientist Award.

The IUFoST Lifetime Achievement Award honors an individual for preeminence in and contributions to the field of food science and technology over his or her career. IUFoST recognized Lund’s more than 40 years spent in academia, industry, and government. His research in food engineering has resulted in 200 articles in scientific journals and 25 book chapters, and he has co-authored two textbooks, co-edited five books, made more than 200 presentations, and secured a U.S. patent. He has also served on numerous government and academic boards and committees, including as a reviewer for the U.S. National Science Foundation.

The IUFoST Young Scientist Award, meanwhile, recognizes an individual in the initial phases of his or her career for the potential to make outstanding scientific contributions to the field of food science and technology and the potential for future scientific leadership. Lu was recognized for the progress he has made in establishing a multidisciplinary research laboratory in food safety engineering. His lab integrates genomics in the fields of food science, analytical chemistry, molecular microbiology, and engineering, and with industry partners, he has developed portable instruments, chips, strips, and assays to detect food chemical and microbiological contaminants/hazards.

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Earn CFS contact hours for volunteering
The International Food Science Certification Commission recently approved certain IFT volunteer activities as eligible for Certified Food Scientist (CFS) recertification contact hours, retroactive to the date the certification was received. All Certified Food Scientists must earn at least 75 contact hours during their five-year certification period to maintain their credential.

Applicable volunteer activities must directly lead to the advancement of food science knowledge and directly tie to at least one of the CFS content domains. Examples of acceptable volunteer roles include serving as an exam item writer, reviewing IFT annual meeting session proposals, or helping as a Technical Research Paper reviewer. Volunteer activities that do not directly relate to the advancement of food science knowledge, such as organizing a local section golf outing, would not count.

For more information on upcoming volunteer opportunities, click here, and for more information about the CFS program, click here.

Fellows nominations still open
There is still time to nominate a friend or colleague to be a 2016 IFT Fellow. Completed nominations must be submitted by Feb. 26, 2016.

The IFT Fellows program recognizes food professionals from industry, academia, and government for their accomplishments in the areas of scholarly advancement, service to the food science and technology profession, inspiration of others to excel in the food science and technology field, primary responsibility for the success of a new food product, and/or improvement of the human condition via food science and technology.

IFT will honor the 2016 class of Fellows in July during IFT16 in Chicago.

Click here to learn more about the nominations process or to nominate a peer to be an IFT Fellow. Email Erin O’Connell ([email protected]) or Kate Dockins ([email protected]) with any questions.

FONA announces new positions
FONA International announced the promotions and hiring of several IFT members, including the appointment of Amy McDonald and TJ Widuch as executive vice-presidents. Together, they will lead overall revenue generation efforts for the company. McDonald was previously vice-president of sales, communications, and marketing, and Widuch was executive vice-president and managing director of international business.

In addition, FONA hired several new scientists. Samantha Gardiner will serve as innovation scientist; she holds an MS in food science and technology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Deborah Barber joined the company as senior flavorist, and she will focus on grain applications; she brings 32 years of experience to the role. Rosemary Sikora was hired as senior scientist; she holds an MS in food chemistry and BS in dietetics from Purdue University and comes to FONA with 37 years of experience in the food science field.

Microbac promotes Stawick
Bradley A. Stawick was promoted to vice-president of quality at Microbac, where he had served as director of microbiology since 2011.

“Brad has a unique focus on nonconformance and adherence to root cause analysis,” says Robert Crookston, Microbac president and COO. “He has proven achievement in development of quality systems from the ground up, proven experience with process improvement and management of personnel, and demonstrates extensive microbiology experience with a focus on the food industry.”

Prior to joining Microbac, Stawick, a professional member of IFT, served as director, quality and safety/chief microbiologist at Eurofins Scientific before forming his own company, Stawick Laboratory Management. He earned his MS in food science and a BS in biology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is a Certified Food Scientist.

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AAK hires Reddy, Petrak
AAK, a manufacturer of specialty vegetable fats, hired Ramesh Reddy and Bryan Petrak as members of its innovation team.

Reddy, a professional member of IFT, joins AAK as customer innovation manager and leads customer innovation activities for the Chocolate and Confectionery Fat (CCF) segments. He is responsible for the fats and oils chemistry lab in Port Newark, N.J., as well as the new AAK Innovation Center scheduled to open in 2016 in Edison, N.J. Reddy comes to AAK with nearly seven years of experience in confectionery, lipid chemistry, and health research, and he most recently served as R&D manager for the Institute for Food Safety and Health. He holds a BS in food science and technology from A.N.G.R. Agricultural University in India, an MS in food science and technology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and a PhD in food science and nutrition from The Ohio State University.

Petrak, a member of IFT, joins AAK as customer innovation applications specialist, where he will provide further support to customer innovation activities for the CCF segment through development and formulation of value-adding vegetable oil solutions. Petrak is a Certified Food Scientist and Culinologist, and he brings more than a decade of experience to AAK from companies like H.J. Heinz and Tsudis Chocolate. Most recently, Petrak led the R&D department at Nugo Nutrition in formulating new products such as nutritional bars and snacks. Petrak holds an associate degree in culinary arts from Johnson and Wales University, a BS in biology from Harding University, and an MS in food science from Kansas State University.

Santy joins Wixon
Wixon hired Renee Santy as a food scientist in the company’s Consumer Products Lab. In her role, Santy, an IFT member, will be responsible for creating new products based on private label customers’ requests. She has more than seven years of experience specializing in R&D and product applications for a variety of food categories, including roles as color scientist at Chr. Hansen and associate food scientist at Newly Weds Foods.

“We are excited to have Renee’s technical expertise and enthusiasm as she works with our consumer products clients, developing innovative, on-trend solutions that exceed their customers’ expectations,” says Leda Strand, Wixon’s vice-president of research and development.

Santy earned both her MS in food chemistry and BS in food science from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Have some news to share about yourself or another IFT member? Email [email protected].

Getting to Know Lu Ann Williams
Each month, we meet one of IFT’s valued volunteers.

As Lu Ann Williams’ experience shows, volunteering with IFT can lead not just to professional development and networking opportunities: it can also create lasting friendships. “I was on the Wellness Conference organizing committee for several years, and this was one of the events where I developed some good friendships that turned IFT into more than just an industry event for me,” she says. “One friend I made there has become a very good personal friend and we even vacation together.”

In general, Williams’ experiences volunteering with IFT—which have ranged from roles on the Nominations & Elections Committee and the Annual Meeting Scientific Program Advisory Panel to involvement in the Marketing Division—have provided opportunities to expand her horizons. “Working in all these groups has given me a lot of opportunity to interact with people I might not normally meet, and the exchange of ideas has been very valuable,” says Williams, who is director of innovation at Innova Market Insights. “It’s also a good way to build your network. The food industry is really quite small, and I meet so many people I know everywhere I go all over the world.”

It seems that Williams was meant to do the work she does. “When I was 15 years old, a teacher made us write down what we’d be doing when we were 30,” she recalls. “She mailed those letters to us when we were 30, and mine said I’d travel the world and be an international business woman. I was right! Sometimes I describe very good data analysis as like having a crystal ball. Perhaps I have always been good at seeing what’s coming next!”

Section meetings

Southern California
March 10: Suppliers’ night. Anaheim, Calif.
Click here.

Western New York
March 29: Food industry expo. Rochester, N.Y.
Click here.

In Memoriam
Richard Aust passed away Jan. 5. He had served as director of technical services for iTi Tropicals since 2013. Aust was previously director of research and development at Bolthouse Farms, where he developed the company’s beverage line, and served as vice-president of manufacturing and technology for Sambazon. He earned a BS in physics from Seton Hall University.

IFT also notes the passing of the following member: Sharon G. Roscoe