Winner keen to grasp bursary
opportunity
Irfan Ahmad Ansari from
the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, West Bengal,
India, was recently awarded with the 2004 Seligman APV Bursary.
Here is a report of his experiences.
 It
was the first opportunity of my life to visit the UK and I
feel extremely proud to be the guest of SCI. The experience
gained by me professionally and personally can hardly be summarised
in this brief report. However, I would be happy to put forth
some of the outcomes of this bursary.
The bursary period was for one month and was well organised
by SCI. Several visits to academic and research organisations
were arranged. I was based at the School of Food Biosciences
at the University of Reading. I subsequently visited the University
of Cambridge (Department of Chemical Engineering), University
of Bristol (Department of Mechanical Engineering), University
of Birmingham (Department of Chemical Engineering) and Campden
and Chorleywood Food Research Assocation (CCFRA). These visits
gave me an opportunity to interact, discuss and share the
experiences of reputed scientists.
At Birmingham, I attended the SCI meeting ‘Careers in
the Food Industry’, which gave me an exposure to UK food
manufacturing industry.
The visits to Cambridge and Bristol universities gave me
an opportunity to learn about advanced food processing operations
and cleaning and hygienic aspects of the food industry. Dr
Ian Wilson of Cambridge University explained in detail about
thermal processing and milk fouling, which is a major problem
in the dairy industry.
The visits to CCFRA introduced me to thermal processing and
the latest emerging technologies such as High Pressure Technology
and Pulsed Light Technology, which are used in product and
process development. It was here that Dr Tucker spoke to me
about various modern food processing equipments available
at CCFRA. I also learned about the Time Temperature Indictor,
normally used for validation of thermal processing.
These visits have undoubtedly given me much-needed exposure
to the international institutions that are providing first-class
research and teaching. They have also given me an opportunity
to visit London, Cambridge, Birmingham and Bristol.This bursary
will help me immensely in building up my professional career.
Finally, I want to take this opportunity to thank SCI for
awarding me this bursary. I also wish to express my sincere
gratitude to Dr Ashok Khare, of the University of Reading,
for his wholehearted help and support during the tenure of
this bursary.
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