Lam in Food Science Selected for Ingredion Summer Internship

Photo by Rosa Buescher

Wing Shun Lam earned her bachelor's degree in English but after pursuing a healthier lifestyle, is now working on a master's degree in food science.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – U of A graduate student Wing Shun Lam has been selected for a summer internship with Ingredion Inc., one of the largest starch modification and ingredient solution companies in the world.

Lam is a master's degree student in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Science's Department of Food Science.

Ingredion produces sweeteners, starches, nutrition ingredients and biomaterials used by consumers in every day products such as food, beverages, paper and pharmaceuticals.

"I will be using enzyme technology research to modify carbohydrates for the production of novel compounds," said Lam, who was born in Hong Kong and grew up in Las Vegas. "I obtained my bachelor's degree in English literature from the University of Nevada at Las Vegas and was set on becoming an English professor. However, as I began to adopt a healthier lifestyle, I found myself gravitating toward the science behind exercise and the function of food in the human body. Now I'm finishing my master's degree in food science with an emphasis in nutrition. It has been a fulfilling journey with unexpected detours, but folloing my passion led me to this prestigious program and laid the groundwork for many more opportunities to come."

Lam's internship is in Bridgewater, New Jersey, from June 4 to Aug. 24.

She works with associate professor Sun-Ok Lee, focusing on how dietary phytochemicals and bioactive components in foods and natural extracts exert human health benefits.

The program focuses on the identification and purification of bioactive components in functional foods and natural extracts; the effects of dietary phytochemicals in the prevention of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity; the bioavailability and bioefficacy of dietary phytochemicals/bioactive components in humans; gut microbial metabolism of dietary phytochemicals; and food toxicology.

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.