Training in FE could be vital to helping address issues such as water availability
and quality, health and wellness, food safety, energy and sustainability. A number of 21st century developments
will drive this change, including world population growth and aging; the digital universe, ‘‘big
data’’ and informatics; personalization, food, health and wellness; food security, environment, sustainability
and social responsibility; and the innovation ecosystem (open innovation and partnerships). Food
engineering education will also have to change to keep pace with the extraordinary expansion of knowledge,
the availability of virtual tools, diminishing funding and laboratory resources, and the possibility of
creating partnerships between industry and academia. Studying inner transport phenomena, utilization
of new techniques, such as micro processing for modeling and simulation of the digestion system, bioavailability,
satiety, DNA predisposition, and nutrigenomics offer unique opportunities. The case of FE
in UK and Europe are addressed, where consortia involving different industries have been able to partner
to focus on problems with a common scientific theme to leverage their efforts. Finally, the experience of
one food company in hiring food engineers as well as chemical engineers is highlighted, together with
their interview processes and criteria. While this represents a collection of the opinions of the individual
authors, it is hoped that the discussion stimulates a more wide-ranging conversation about FE to enable it
to develop further into the 21st century.
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