Making News | BFTV Cluster News

Luxin Wang and jelly ice product mentioned in NYT story on plastic packaging

In 2021, FST's Luxin Wang and a team of colleagues developed a reusable jelly ice product that was lighter than ice, didn't melt, and could be reused multiple times and then disposed of in green waste or trash. The invention was covered widely at the time. We're pleased to see the jelly ice get a recent mention in the story "So Much Produce Comes in Plastic.

Nitin part of UC Davis project selected by DOE for Industrial Decarbonization Initiative

Food Science and Technology

The U.S. Department of Energy, or DOE, has selected a University of California, Davis, collaboration to receive $1.98 million in funding as one of 49 projects aimed at decarbonizing the industrial sector and moving the nation closer to a net-zero economy.

Product Development Team Finalists for 2023-2024

Food Science and Technology

Presenting our Product Development Team Finalists for 2023-2024! We're proud of them for making it to the final level, and we wish them well in their respective competitions. You can read about each competition below. Congratulations, teams!

Integrative Center for Alternative Meat and Protein to Launch at UC Davis Jan. 17

Food Science and Technology

(Chris Simmons, Food Science and Technology Department Chair, is working with Integrative Center for Alternative Meat and Protein Director David Block to make sure that FST faculty are well-positioned to engage ICAMP resources for cultivated meat research and production.

UC Davis Scholars Receive $225K for ‘Food Justice’ Seminar

Food Science and Technology

(This article by Maria Sestito, March 20, 2024 is cross-posted from Letters & Science Magazine, UC Davis College of Letters and Science.)

Greenwood and Parikh win prize in the 2024 Little Bang! Competition

Food Science and Technology

The idea to participate in the UC Davis Little Bang! Pitch + Poster Competition started from a very casual conversation between Brittany Greenwood and Shruti Parikh, grad students in Chris Simmons’ lab, which focuses on waste degradation and sustainable agricultural practices. With a shared background in microbiology and interest in biotechnology, there was no question that a partnership would produce something fruitful. Their “PlasticEaterPro” team was one of eight teams that won a prize of $1000 in the competition, held February 1, 2024.

Ben Montpetit New Viticulture and Enology Chair

Viticulture and Enology

Montpetit to Focus on New Educational Offerings, Diversity and Investment

Ben Montpetit, a yeast geneticist and biochemist, is the new chair of the Department of Viticulture and Enology at the University of California, Davis.

Montpetit joined UC Davis in 2016 and became department vice chair in 2021.

In his new role, he plans to enhance student offerings, continue to advance diversity efforts and foster investment in students, faculty, staff and department operations.

Enhancing Student Learning with Virtual Reality

Food Science and Technology

In a peach processing facility, the air might be filled with the sweet aroma of ripe peaches and the sound of equipment humming as it carries out the canning process.

Comstock's features UC Davis breast milk science

Food Science and Technology

In a Comstock's Magazine article from Dec. 4, 2023, FST Distinguished Professor and Chemist J. Bruce German shares how a visit to the UC Davis Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in the early 2000s provided the emotional and motivational underpinning for the study of breast milk science at UC Davis since then. The article describes the formation of the Milk Bioactives Program within the Foods for Health Institute, and also features Assistant Professor of Cooperative Extension in the Department of Nutrition Jennifer Smilowitz, as well as FST Distinguished Professor David Mills.

Recent Awards & Honors

Viticulture and Enology

DEPARTMENT NEWS

The UC Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology Broadening Horizons Program was recently selected as one of the Gérard Basset Foundation 2023 grantees. The Gérard Basset Foundation supports global diversity, equity, and inclusion for wine, spirits, and hospitality professionals by funding education, learning, and career-enhancing programmes.