News: Students and Student Awards

Department of Food Science and Technology 2022-2023 Scholarship and Travel Support Awardees

American Association of Candy Technologists Scholarship:
Peter Chiarelli and Aria Morrill

Dorris A. Lillard Scholarship:
Justin Daniel, Maddie Franz, Emily Harris and Meghan Stewart

Ida E. and Maurice K. Horowitz Memorial Scholarship:
Carrie Dicks

Joe W. Andrews Scholarship:
Carrie Dicks

Dr. John C. Ayres Scholarship:
Jessie Sutko and Elizabeth Ward

Dr. Morrison Lowenstein Scholarship:
Sabrina Buck and Toshifumi Udo

Telliford-Tellico Inc. Scholarship:
Chelsea Afful

Virginia Dare Scholarship:
Chelsea Afful

Dr. John J. Powers Graduate Scholarship:
Gopinath Mummaleti and Amrit Pal

Dr. Manjeet Chinnan Graduate Student Support Award:
Jouman Hassan, Xueyan Hu, Minji Hur, Myungji Kim, Krishnaprabha, Nivin Nasser, Amrit Pal, Isa Reynoso, Amaryllis River-Santiago and Weifan Wu

Dr. Romeo Toledo Graduate Student Support Award:
Lida Araghi, Hema Sai Samhitha Chalamalasetti, Javier Cruz, Yaxi Dai, Jennifer Dorick, Azin Farmanfarmaee, Emine Ozen, Amelia Payne, Rawane Raad, Toshifumi Udo and Andrew Widmer

Student News

Ujjalpreet Dhatt and Aadeya Arora participated in the Institute of Food Technologists Carbohydrate Hackathon. The hackathon was based on sugar reduction in baked foods focused on technical aspects to reduce added sugar that solve for not only sweet flavor, but also mouthfeel, texture, and moisture issues that occur when sugar is removed. Our proposed idea included the incorporation of the sourdough technique using Leuconostoc citreum TR116 (mannitol production for sweetness) and the addition of tagatose & allulose (for functionality). Based on previous studies, a 100% reduction of sucrose is possible with the combination of these two solutions, and potentially reduce caloric content up to approximately 66% as well.

Mahima Jain was chosen as one of UGA's Emerging Leaders - Class of 2022/23. She reports, "This program taught me how to push myself to be the greatest leader I can be as a professional and amongst other graduate students. The program prepared me to transition into a workplace with a diverse workforce, career chances, and ever-growing responsibilities. Through this course, I gained personal insights about my working style in addition to understanding my professional goals and leadership approach. Together with 12 other graduate students from various departments, we took a fall retreat in the beautiful town of Dillard, Georgia. Thanks to our personality tests and our coach that helped us acquire information about our leadership preferences through numerous interactive sessions. I finished the program having made new friends and learning crucial things about myself and my leadership potential."

Revati Narwankar married on December 14, 2022 to her fiance and best friend. They had an extraordinary wedding in Mumbai thanks to all the hard work and blessings from their families.

Amrit Pal received Food Safety Auditing Scholarship and Education Travel Grant in Fall 2022. This scholarship was sponsored by the FMI foundation and given to students enrolled in food and agricultural science majors who have a true interest in the field of accredited food safety auditing. Amrit also received CAES World Food Prize Travel Award to attend 2022 World Food Prize Borlaug Dialogue.

Azin Farmanfarmaee was selected for a fellowship in the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) Research Participation Program at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

For the 2023-2024 school year, three Food Science undergraduates have been selected for the CAES Ambassador Team. In the coming year, Elizabeth Ward (rising Junior), Emily Harris (rising Senior) and Justin Daniel (rising Senior) will participate on the team. The will assist the at College and University sponsored events and have ample opportunity to network with alumni and potential new students.

The 2023 IFT First College Bowl Team came in second in the South Eastern Regional Competition. Team Captain: Sanket Vanare Team members include: Johana Lilian Muthiah, Gopinath Mummaleti, Krishnaprabha Na, Aria Morrill, Janny Hiew, Harsimran Kaur Kapoor, Ujjalpreet Kaur Dhatt and Justin Daniel.

Student Awards

Zhihan Xian’s innovative research into new methods of food origin tracing has been named this year’s winner of the Testing for Life Student Award by AOAC International, a nonprofit association that was established in 1884 and seeks to set standards of analysis to help ensure food safety globally.

Peter G. Chiarelli has been awarded a predoctoral fellowship from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) for his research on Georgia-caught cannonball jellyfish.

Jouman Hassan was named the first-place winner of this year's Jim Ayres Young Investigator Award by the Georgia Association for Food Protection.

Blanca Ruiz Llacsahuanga placed 2nd in the 2023 Jim Ayres Young Investigator Travel Award competition, as well as placing first in the J. Mac Goepfert Developing Scientist Award competition at the International Association for Food Protection's annual conference this summer in Toronto.

Jennifer Dorick was a finalist in J. Mac Goepfert Developing Scientist Award competition.

UGA Food Science Club was named Chapter of the Year for their “celebrating the Community" Promise at IFT FIRST 2023 in Chicago.

Food Science Club's Product Development Team was awarded an Honorable Mention in the Mars-Wrigley Product Development Competition at IFT First 2023.