"[...] I highly recommend the SCI to all post-graduate researchers who are looking to expand their professional connections and meet with peers in their research fields."
My current research focus is on macro to nano length scale characterisation and application of alternative food proteins and sustainable fungal biomass from precision fermentation. I am interested in characterising the interaction-structure-function relationship of alternative materials and their optimisation for a wide-range of specialist applications such as foods and bio-based materials..
How did you first get involved with SCI?
At the start of 2021, SCI’s formulation forum created an opportunity for student members to join the forum. An academic mentor at my university recommended this valuable opportunity. Since joining the formulation forum committee, I have also become a member of SCI’s Food group. SCI’s events and meetings have immensely developed my professional network and helped me get in touch with industrial and academic experts in my field of interest.
I highly recommend the SCI to all post-graduate researchers who are looking to expand their professional connections and meet with peers in their research fields.
SCI aims to be ‘where science meets business’. What is the potential commercial application of your research?
An example of my multi-disciplinary research is in-depth understanding of interactions of fungal biomass with added proteins and how those interactions impact on the final product structure. This is a crucial component of delivering sustainable alternative food materials and reformulations that are sustainable and acceptable to the consumer. This knowledge is transferrable to systems consisting of biomass, alternative proteins and fermentation materials.
What do you hope to gain from your involvement with SCI?
I hope to foster career long professional and personal development by working closely with experts and peers in SCI committees. Also, by volunteering at events and for a variety of group specific roles, I have gained confidence, professional exposure and a wealth of knowledge. I look forward to future opportunities.
Mary Okeudo-Cogan
University of Leeds, Centre for Doctoral Training in Molecules to Product, School of Chemical and Process Engineering.
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