Potential Focus Areas

Final and intermediate products: chocolate, gels, foams, spreads, slurries, pastes, spreads, ice cream,

Material properties/rheology: non-Newtonian, elastoviscoplastic and visoelastic material models: Modelling the control of viscosity with emulsifiers and the structural properties of food

Manufacturing processes: spray drying, granulation, seasoning, filtering, coating, baking, brewing, sprinkling, dipping, mixing, stamping, injecting & tailing, extrusion, slicing, crushing/breaking/milling, microwaving, pasteurisation, sterilisationandfreezing, frying, air-popping, ovens, product expansion, roll compaction. Maximising yield/cost effectiveness and product line management via ROMs,

Education: Working with food scientists, understanding regulations, and demonstrating compliance with simulation.

Compliance: Interpreting the compliance requirements in simulation work, need to work with regulatory bodies to define new criteria

Packaging: cartons, crates/trays, sealing, packaging manufacture

Consumer product perception: impact of processing on texture/taste/smell/experience.

Storage & Transport: hoppers, refrigeration, pumping, sterilisation, freezing/thawing, conveyors.

Delivery systems: dispensers, nozzle design, pouring, air, sprays

Product microstructure: characterisation, evolution in a processing operation, phase changes, solidification & melting, crystallisation, moisture and temperature sensitivity.

Democratization: Democratization is important and the question of how you grow modelling & simulation within an organisation? How do you get new people (e.g. product developers, food/nutrition scientists) to leverage the power of modelling

Future challenges: minimise thermal loads and water usage, combining 1D/2D/3D data in a food processing system, the connected home, optimisation in food, minimise packaging and use of plastics, exploiting in-line sensors for real time control, validating simulations and also process optimisation.