Springdale Students Discover Food Science With Help From Bumpers College

Photo by Robin January

Students at the Springdale School of Innovation learned about food science careers and participated in a few demonstrations at a recent "Real World Wednesday" featuring Bumpers College faculty and staff.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Department of Food Science professor Ya-Jane Wang and food processing specialist Steve Seideman from the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences at the University of Arkansas recently attended a "Real World Wednesday" at the Springdale School of Innovation.

The Springdale School of Innovation is a technology-based STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) school. "Real World Wednesday" introduces students to various careers through visits by guest speakers.

Seideman, Wang and Robin January, student relations coordinator for the Food Science Department, visited with around 200 eighth and ninth graders.

January and Seideman gave a brief overview of food science, career opportunities and how to become a food scientist.

Wang conducted a demonstration of carbohydrate chemistry, and tested students to see if they could tell the difference between cookies made with table sugar and cookies made with honey.

Wang also explained molecular gastronomy, the physical and chemical transformation of ingredients that takes place during cooking. She explained how gels can be made instantly with an alginate and calcium chloride as sodium ions are exchanged with calcium ions and polymers become crosslinked.

Students were allowed to make and taste their own gel creations.

About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.