DESIGNING AN UNDERGRADUATE FOOD PROCESSING LABORATORY FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO

Abstract

Food processing is one of the largest industries in the world, making it an attractive field for chemical engineering students to pursue. Currently, there is no food processing laboratory at the University of Waterloo. Consequently, students do not have an opportunity to link fundamental chemical and biological engineering concepts germane to the food processing industry to tangible applications. The solution is to design a versatile undergraduate food processing laboratory to enhance the engineering undergraduate experience. The laboratory would have three unit operations ubiquitous to the food industry. The three selected unit operations were spray drying, micro-encapsulation, and extrusion. Suppliers and/or providers of processing equipment, raw ingredients, and pest control services were identified with the consideration of health and safety recommendations. The food processing laboratory layout was created with consideration of minimizing workplace hazards and the risk of food contamination. The cost of running the laboratory for the first year along with equipment/materials procurement was estimated to be around $1 million CAD in an existing room at the university. By providing a food processing laboratory, chemical engineering students would be supplied a contained learning environment along with the incentive to consume their manufactured products.