Food Science Graduate Students Win Agricultural Engineering Competition Awards

Three food science students recently won awards in presentation contests at the recent American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers Annual International Meeting in Houston.

Faith Ouma Achieng, Abas Adekoyejo Oduola and Surabhi Wason, all graduate students in U of A's Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, placed in various categories.

Achieng, a master's degree student in food science, won the Outstanding Presenter award for an oral presentation on "Effect of High-Power Short-Time Microwave Heating on Inactivation of Microbes on Rough Rice."

Oduola, a doctoral student in cell and molecular biology with a food science concentration, won an Outstanding Presenter award for an oral presentation of "Growth and Aflatoxin Producing Potential of Model Aspergillus flavus NRRL 3357 Subjected to Radiant Infrared Heat Treatments."

Wason, a Ph.D. student in food science, won an Outstanding Presenter award in the Processing Systems Technical Community for a poster titled "In-package pasteurization of dried basil leaves using radiofrequency processing."

Achieng and Oduola are advised by food science associate professor and agricultural engineer Griffiths Atungulu, director of the U of A Rice Processing Program.

Wason is advised by Jeyam Subbiah, professor and head of the Department of Food Science.   

Atungulu and Subbiah are both researchers and scientists with the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, the research arm of the UA System Division of Agriculture.

ASABE is an educational and scientific organization dedicated to the advancement of engineering applicable to agricultural, food and biological systems with members in more than 100 countries. Agricultural, food and biological engineers develop efficient and environmentally sensitive methods of producing food, fiber, timber and renewable energy sources.

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. For more information about Bumpers College, visit our website, and follow us on Twitter at @BumpersCollege and Instagram at BumpersCollege.

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas' flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $2.2 billion to Arkansas' economy through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the top 3% of U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research News.