Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture
Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences
A newsletter for faculty, staff and students
January-February 2006 • Vol. 32, No. 1
Table of Contents
WHO, WHAT,
WHEN, WHERE
• Notables
• Grants
• Articles Published
• New Projects
• New Publications
• Coming Events
• Dean reviews 2005 accomplishments
• 700-plus attend ‘Party of the Century’
• Food Science Building expanded
• Robert Bacon is CSES interim head
• Robertson to coordinate Apparel Studies major
• Food packaging, processing expert joins UA faculty
• AGCS adds digital media specialist
• Donors provide new scholarships and building funds
• Legislature applauds UA fruit breeding program
• Crop Biotechnology minor proposed
• Bumpers welcomes transfer students
• Magazine features U of A spinach breeding program
• Congratulations to fall graduates
• Poultry science students win national awards for research
• CSES students win ASA poster contest
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Vision Archive Index
All About Advising
• Monthly newsletter index
UA Agri LInks
• Division of Agriculture
• University of Arkansas
• Dale Bumpers College of
xxxAgricultural, Food and
xxxLife Sciences
• Arkansas Agricultural
xxxExperiment Station
• Cooperative Extension
xxxService
• Alumni and Development
• Future Students
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Vision Credits
Vision is published six times a year by the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station in the U of A System's Division of Agriculture and by the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences. It is produced by the Communication Services unit of the Department of Agricultural and Extension Education, 110 Agriculture Building, U of A, Fayetteville, AR 72701. 479-575-5647.
• Editor: Howell Medders, (hmedders@uark.edu).
• Web manager: David Edmark (dedmark@uark.edu).
• Writers and photographers: Fred Miller and Karen Eskew
• Editorial Assistants: Cassandra Cox and Amalie Holland
• Broadcast e-mail support: Arkansas Alumni Association
E-mail items for publication in Vision to ahollan@uark.edu
Food packaging, processing expert joins UA faculty
Ruben Morawicki, a senior scientist at Tyson Foods, will join the Food Science Department faculty February 13 as an assistant professor. He will develop a new teaching, research and extension program in food processing and packaging.
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Ruben Morawicki |
Food science department head Ron Buescher said, “Dr. Morawicki has conducted basic and applied research in processing and packaging systems. He will develop a new research program to complement our existing efforts to help the food industry enhance food safety and quality and minimize waste material in the environment.”
Buescher added that Morawicki will teach food processing and packaging courses and provide research opportunities for students majoring in food science, which currently includes 50 undergraduates and 40 graduate students. The UA recently announced the donation of state-of-the-art packaging equipment to the food science department by the Sealed Air Corporation.
After receiving a 6-year degree in chemical engineering in 1990 at Universidad Nacional de Misiones in Argentina, Morawicki joined a research group to help food companies improve food-drying capabilities, and he was an instructor at the university.
In 1997, Morawicki began a master’s degree program in industrial engineering at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He received an M.S. degree in 1999 and a Ph.D. degree in food science at The Pennsylvania State University in 2002. He was hired that year as a senior research scientist at Tyson Foods in Springdale.
Morawicki said his research interests include innovative process systems and packaging materials for sustainable industrial methods that minimize the environmental impact of food processing plants, increase profitability, and produce safe products.
He said some areas of new packaging technology he will address include
-- biodegradable polymers made from renewable resources,
-- packaging materials that contain natural antimicrobials and antioxidants,
--modified atmospheres with antimicrobial gasses to reduce pathogens in food products, and
-- use of nanocomposites to produce intelligent film coating materials.
In the food processing area, he said his interests include developing energy-saving industrial processes, new uses for agricultural commodities, and instruments for rapid, inline monitoring to assure food quality and safety.