The ultimate and long-term goal of the research program is to allow various industries to engineer appropriate assembly processes to generate biological structures based in the molecular nature of the ingredients and the environmental conditions involved. To achieve the above stated goal, the Department has begun to carry out a series of basic research projects that are funded by grants and contracts from various sources. In order to facilitate the research, the Department features a wide range of modern biophysical analytical techniques such as dynamic light scattering and zeta potential measurements, dynamic surface tension, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, fluorescence, scanning calorimetry, dynamic and optical rheology, and microscopy (confocal and optical). Different dispersion manufacturing technologies have been set up in the general pilot plant section of the Institute of Food Science and Biotechnology, including membrane homogenization, high intensity ultrasonication, high pressure homogenization, colloid milling and microfluidization. Moreover, to investigate the issue of functionality of ingredients, specifically antimicrobials, a food microbiology section was installed in 2009 which includes key food microbiology equipment such as a sterile bank, microtiter plate reader, culture freezer, various incubators, and spiral plater and plate reader.
Applied research projects are focused on the case of meat product formulation and fabrication. This is because the meat science and technology pilot plant contains on more than 2000 sq.ft all equipment required to produce and characterize meats and meat products including automated mixers and continuous high shear grinding systems. This allows the Department to focus on the emerging needs of the meat industry to increasingly design and build continuous production lines that can be used to produce yield high quantities of high quality meat products. To facilitate a closer connection with the industry, a remodeling of the entrance section has been done and an EU hygiene regulation approval has been gained by the beginning of 2011. Products can now easily be transferred to the industry and the public
