The 19th European PhD Workshop on Food Engineering and Technology brought together 19 highly talented PhD students and recent postdoctoral researchers from across Europe, along with their supervisors.
The workshop, held on April 28 and 29, was organized by the Food Section of the European Federation of Chemical Engineering (EFCE), and saw young researchers present their work, exchange ideas, and build valuable connections with both academic peers and industry leaders.
Supported by an industry board including Alfa Laval, Bühler, Elea, GNT, Nestlé, and Yili, the event highlights the critical role of cross-sector collaboration in driving innovation and addressing future challenges in the global food industry. Hosting the workshop showcases Alfa Laval’s commitment to engaging with students and academia in finding solutions to feed the world’s growing population.
“We are proud and delighted to have welcomed such a knowledgeable and dedicated group of researchers,” says Johan Agrell, Strategic Business Development Manager at Alfa Laval. “Engaging with young talent is essential to advancing innovation, and this workshop created a valuable space for collaboration, learning, and the exchange of new perspectives between academia and industry.
“The industry faces significant challenges ahead in meeting global food demand, and we can only succeed by fostering the development of future talent and pioneering solutions in processing technology.”
One of the highlights of the event was the presentation of the EFCE Food Engineering Awards, recognizing the most outstanding research contributions. The awards reflected the high scientific quality, creativity, and innovation demonstrated throughout the workshop.
The winner of the first prize was Kate Waldert, BOKU University, Austria, whose outstanding research on tailored design for ohmic baking of wheat bread received glowing praise from the judges. In a high-quality field, Felix Ellwanger, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany, won the second-place award for his study in mechanistic understanding of twin-screw extrusion of plant proteins. Julia Baumgartner, ETH Zürich, Switzerland, and Koen Wetterauw, Wageningen University, The Netherlands, shared the third prize for their in-depth analysis of microalgal lipid droplets as functional ingredients for food and mechanistic foundation for dry fractionation respectively.
Henry Jäger, professor at BOKU University and co-chair of the workshop, says: “This year the standard of research and the talent of those participating was extremely impressive with a diversity which highlighted the variety and breadth of the challenges ahead.
“The quality of the research entries shows that the study of food engineering and technology is in good hands as we head into the future and I look forward to seeing how these ideas and innovations are integrated into the industry to make a real difference in boosting the global food supply.”
The first European PhD Workshop on Food Engineering and Technology took place in Germany in 2007 and has since been held across many European destinations before this latest successful event in Sweden.
