Food Processing Engineering (with Advanced Practice) MSc

On successful completion of the taught modules, you proceed to a 60-credit advanced research project. The aim is to bring together all elements of the course to address a relevant food industry problem. The project provides you with the opportunity to develop original knowledge in a specific area of food science and biotechnology, enabling you to demonstrate your ability to challenge orthodoxy, demonstrate originality, plan and organise with significant autonomy and operate ethically in potentially unpredictable situations. You must produce a dissertation report and a poster as an assessment.

You are provided with the option to either undertake a vocational internship with an outside organisation or an internal research internship, for one semester as part of your programme. This allows you to enhance your employability and academic experience. The extended duration allows a longer period for you to develop educationally and experience the wider benefits of study. The module is assessed on a pass or fail basis and does not contribute to degree classification. When passed, the module is acknowledged on your transcript and the degree title. You must produce a reflective report as assessment.
You are supported by the course team, the placement officer and university careers service to identify suitable advanced practice placements. You are encouraged to show initiative by finding an organisation of your own choice and contacting them after consultation with staff. Usually, acceptance on to an advanced practice placement is after a successful interview. You are responsible for securing a placement. Your learning is monitored by the Placement Officer and academic staff visiting the organisation.

Develop knowledge of the chemical analysis of food, together with the major chemical changes during food processing and how these impact the quality and safety of food. Enhance your problem-solving abilities using food chemistry-related scenarios. You develop your knowledge and practical experiences of food chemical analysis using traditional and modern analytical techniques.?Delivered through lectures, seminars and practical sessions to support both the analysis of the scientific literature relating to this discipline and problem-solving.

You are introduced to the food product development process, and you explore the development of food manufacturing processes. Experience connecting with the real world by developing a new food product, either through an industrially based or linked project. Encounter challenges similar to those in the launch of a new food product from laboratory to table, including the consideration of full economic costs and the development of a business plan. Lectures are supported by a series of practical sessions where you integrate graduate research skills and develop entrepreneurship.

Develop the fundamental concepts of food processing including the basic principles of the mass and energy balance, designing a realistic process flow, the principles of hygienic design, and balancing the capacity, efficiency and cost to successfully plan a new food manufacturing plant. Explore a variety of strategies and methodologies, including the use of design software such as Visio and CAD, taking food production from benchtop production to a full-scale automated manufacturing process. Explore issues such as health, safety, environment and ethics facing the food production managers in the workplace.

Develop fundamental knowledge of food processing technologies, including primary food processing, raw ingredient preparation, ambient-temperature processing, thermal processing and preservation processing. Study the principles and development of novel food technologies from real-life research cases developed by our research scientists. Lectures and integrated tutorials/seminars are used to deliver the core concepts of the module – principles of existing and novel food processing technologies, discuss their advantages, limitations, and applications through case studies. Laboratory practice demonstrates your theoretical knowledge in practices and supports you to learn and develop the skills required by professionals working in this field.

A range of traditional and emerging technologies employed to ensure the safety of food are introduced. Explore a range of current food-related safety issues, including the analysis of risk, and review current hygiene practices in the food industry. Examine the implementation, auditing and evaluation of appropriate processes and procedures or controls to affect the safe processing of foods. This module also enables you to synthesise and critically appraise different aspects of food safety technologies and management in complex contexts.

You are introduced to the structure of food supply chains and food systems in our sociality, and you explore the pathway of ‘Farm to Fork.’ Evaluate the resources and impact of the food supply chain, and analyse the impact of food policies on health, environment and economy. Understand the basic compositions of key food commodities, their impacts on human nutrition and society development, and the factors influencing these compositions throughout the food supply chain. The core content is delivered through lectures, with seminars used to facilitate student-directed debates on contemporary topics related to food supply chain and food systems.