- Congratulations to Dr. Valente Alvarez on being named a 2026 IFT Fellow. The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Fellow designation is an honor bestowed upon an IFT member to recognize career excellence and significant service, leadership, and contributions to IFT and the profession. He will be recognized during the 2026 IFT First Meeting this summer in Chicago.
- Congratulations to Dr. Srilatha Kolluri who has received the 2026 North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA) Educator Award. This award recognizes individuals whose efforts represent the very best in agricultural higher education. Dr. Kolluri will be recognized during the NACTA Annual Conference this summer.
- The department had 2 staff members recognized at this year’s CFAES Awards celebration – Ran Tao received the Special Recognition Award and Dara Schwartz received the Key Values Award. Dr. Jessica Cooperstone was part of the Tomatoes and Human Health Team that was awarded the Distinguished Interdisciplinary Team Research Award. In addition, several faculty and staff were recognized with years of service to Ohio State: 5 Years of service: Thallia Blight and Bhavesh Patel; 10 Years of Service: Jessica Cooperstone; 25 Years of Service – Yael Vodovotz and Hua Wang; and 30 Years of Service – Sheryl Barringer.
- Congratulations to undergraduate student Jacob Ghosh Green who was named a Rank 3 Newcomb Scholar Award recipient. Among the college’s highest undergraduate honors, the Newcomb Scholar Award recognizes outstanding academic achievement, honoring students with the highest cumulative GPA and exceptional scholarly dedication at the end of Autumn Semester.
- Congratulations to this year’s Ohio Valley Institute of Food Technologists (OVIFT) scholarship recipients: Jenna Ainsworth, Shetty Hrithik, Thitima Kaothaisong, and Kartik Verma.
- The FoodSURE Undergraduate Research Program partnered with the Ohio Valley Section of the Institute of Food Technologists (OVIFT) to host a poster forum in the department. Congratulations to the following students who placed with their poster. Undergraduate winners: Jenna Ainsworth 1st, Anne Pan 2nd, and Annabel Kim 3rd. Graduate student winners: Harmeen Prasher 1st, Laura Castellanos-Suarez 2nd, and Mostafa Ali Abdelbary 3rd.
- Congratulations to Fiorella Ramon Ccana who placed 1st in the College’s Spring Research Poster competition.
- Several students were recognized during the Hayes Graduate Research Forum. Sochina Ranjit placed 1st and Gabriella Gephart received Honorable Mention in the oral competition. Hrithik Shetty placed 2nd, Manpreet Kaur placed 3rd, and Adam Chismar received Honorable Mention in the poster competition.
- Congratulations to the newly selected FST Peer Mentors for the 2026-2027 academic year. Emma Bracken, Reagan Niese, Caitlin Rigel, and Corrin Schorsten will join returning mentors, Hutson French, Katelyn Lazendorfer, Reaghan Norton, Sadie Rosenfeld, and Samara Whitmore. The FST Peer Mentors are instrumental in assisting our first-year and transfer students as they transition to OSU and serve as ambassadors for our department.
- Congratulations to Dr. Rafael Jimenez-Flores who was named Professor of the Year by the Food Science Club.
- FST graduate student Veeramani Karuppuchamy published work that was recognized as a top cited article in the Journal of Food Science. The title is “A review of food safety in low-moisture foods with current and potential dry-cleaning methods”
- Mostafa Ali Abdelbary and Gabriella Gephart have received an Outstanding Graduate Research Award. This award recognizes and celebrates graduate student success in publishing high quality research in a timely manner. Mostafa and Gabriella are advised by Dr. Ahmed Yousef.
- FST graduate student Carlos Porras Guardo was awarded a CFAES internal research grant. His grant proposal was titled “Efficient Production of Stable Plant-Derived Food Colorants Through Fermentation of Blueberry Pomace."
- FST graduate student Laura Castellanos Suarez received the Phi Tau Sigma Student Achievement Scholarship. The scholarship recognizes student members for exceptional scholastic achievement and dedication to the food science and technology honor society. Dr. Osvaldo Campanella and Dr. Rafael Jimenez-Flores are Laura’s co-advisors.
- Congratulations to Carlos Porras Guardado who placed first and to Harmeen Prasher who placed 2nd in the recent Phi Tau Sigma Three‑Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition.This challenge pushes finalists to distill complex research into an engaging, accessible three‑minute presentation using just one static slide. Both are PhD students and are advised by Dr. Monica Giusti.
- Post Doctoral Researcher Dr. Aishwarya Badiger was a speaker at the World of Coffee conference. Her lecture was titled “Influence of a virtual reality cafe context on specialty coffee consumers’ willingness to pay and purchase preference."
- FST graduate student Veeramani Karuppuchamy received a student travel scholarship to attend the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) Annual Conference this summer in New Orleans. Veeramani was also recognized by Ohio State’s Student Life with the Outstanding Student Organization Positional Leader Award for his leadership in the Phi Tau Sigma Buckeye Chapter. In addition, he was recently selected as a recipient of a Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) and the DFA Cares Foundation scholarship.
- Dr. Valente Alvarez and Fulbright Graduate Student Alberto Tuy presented research results on “Physicochemical and Rheological Properties of a Soy Yogurt-like Product Fermented by Yogurt Bacteria Co-Cultured with Exopolysaccharide-producing Lactic Acid Bacteria and Yeast” at the 20th Food Colloids Conference in Granada, Spain.
- Our Food Science College Bowl Team competed in the IFTSA Midwest Regional competition on the campus of Michigan State University. They had a great time and got a lot of competition experience. Out team members included Ruiya Bao, Fiorella Ramon Ccana, Stephen Hoggatt, Yong Ju Cho, Swetha Sarangarajan, Sayaka Iimura, Eleanor Shepard, Isabel Gugger, Kaden Havener, and Isha Patil.
- The Food Industries Center recently offered their semi-annual Better Process Control School. Lectures were from Dr. Valente Alvarez, Dr. Sheryl Barringer, Dr. Osvaldo Campanella, Dr. Melvin Pascall, Matt Papic, Steven Simmons, and expert industry collaborators. Daily lectures were offered in microbiology, acidified and low-acid foods, container closures and handling, thermal processing, and recordkeeping. This course satisfies the training requirements specified in both the FDA and USDA regulations designed to prevent public health hazards in low-acid and acidified low-acid canned foods.
- The Food Industries Center trained FDA, NOAA, U.S. Army, and state regulators through the FD152 Food Processing & Technology course. Dr. Valente Alvarez led a team of collaborators from FST and the food industry, including numerous staff and graduate students, and the following faculty: Dr. Osvaldo Campanella, Dr. Silvia De Lamo, Dr. Jen-Yi Huang, and Dr. Mary Kay Pohlschneider. The 5-day course provided an overview of the basic principles in food processing, technology, and awareness of associated equipment used to ensure the safety of manufactured foods.
Upcoming Events
May 8 FST Spring Semester Graduation Party
3:00 – 4:00 pm Parker Food Science Lobby
May 10 Spring Semester Commencement
May 20 Phi Tau Sigma Dr. Denny Heldman Memorial 5K Fun Run
Begins at 3 pm in front of Howlett Hall
June 9 – 12 Food Industries Center Workshop
Food Extrusion Workshop
To register and learn more: http://go.osu.edu/extrusion
August 11 – 14 Food Industries Center Training Course
Better Process Control School
To register and learn more: http://www.go.osu.edu/bpcs
