Our research group applies the principles of engineering to food manufacturing and operations to preserve or improve the quality attributes of the food. In particular, we focus on food ‘process systems engineering’ and food processes that involve special functional components. Our food engineering research areas include process modelling, optimisation, and control of food processes. For food processing, we have major research efforts in baking, dairy and organic food processing, on top of other state-of-the-art food processes. Our group is also interested in functional foods and the associated processing technologies.
Process optimisation: response surface methodology (RSM), application of fractals to food property characterisation, multi-objective optimisation, soft sensors, online sensors, sensors for special operating conditions
Control of food processes: multivariable control, robust control, nonlinear model-based control, generic model control, passivity systems, L2 gain, time-delay compensation, and constraint handling
Food Processing: baking processes; dairy processes; drying processes; high pressure processing; ultrasonic processing; LED technology; nano technology in food packaging
Functional Foods: effect of food processing on functional components in food; innovative processing technologies for next-generation functional foods, oral processing and in vitro digestion