DAY 1: October 12, 2006

08:00-9:00 Registration

09:00 Opening Address and Welcome

SPEAKER(S):
Dr. Steve Cross, Vice President, Georgia Institute of Technology and Director, Georgia Tech Research Institute
Ms. Lucita C.G. Moenir Alam, Consul General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands

SESSION 1: How does nanotechnology apply to the food industry

The applications of nanotechnologies to the food industry are often misunderstood and suffer under exaggerated market numbers and unwarranted fears. This session will place the applications of nanotechnologies into their proper context both in terms of their real commercial impact and where, if any, concerns may be justified.

Food manufacturers will discover the ways in which nanotechnologies can improve productivity within established processes, as well as identifying positive impacts on health and taste.

Companies and organizations working, researching and producing within the Nanotechnology space will be able to find out first hand how the needs and commercial dynamics of the food industry can inform and drive the need for their products, both now and in the future..

09:10 Nanotechnology and Food: Separating Fact from Fiction

SPEAKER: Vijay K Arora, PhD, Kraft Foods Fellow, Kraft Foods R&D Center

09:45 Why is the food industry turning to nanotechnology for improving their business? What are the questions the food industry has?

SPEAKER: C. Ann Hollingsworth, PhD, President and Principal, Better Built Foods

10:20 Coffee break

10:50 What can nanotechnology deliver? Examining the real-world and near-future applications of nanotechnology in the food industry. New materials, equipment and techniques.

SPEAKER: Dr. Frans Kampers, Programme Manager, Bio-Nanotechnology Centre for Food and Health Innovations

SESSION 2: Nanotechnology for Food Quality and Safety

This session will offer insight into the significant impact that the latest microscopy and sensor innovations will have in food quality and safety.

It will highlight the potential for the food industry to benefit from newly developed materials with novel properties, and new functional tools and methods whose benefits could range from the detection of the presence of pathogens to improving the ability to keep food fresher for longer.

It will also highlight the development of better-performing materials that can enhance product shelf-life and secure food from contamination. It will also examine tracking devices that help reduce transportation and production costs.

11:25 USDA Research and Development of Nanotechnology for Better Food Quality and
Safety.

SPEAKER: Hongda Chen, Ph.D., National Program Leader, Bioprocessing Engineering,
USDA/CSREES

12:00 Nanoscale biosensors for pathogen detection and diagnosis.

SPEAKER: Dr. Mahadevan Iyer, Research Director, Georgia Tech's Packaging Research Center

12:35 Creating automated and ubiquitous quality control in food processing with nano-scale sensors

SPEAKER: Bosoon Park, Ph.D., Research Scientist, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service.

1:10 Lunch break

SESSION 3: Food Processing

Nanotechnology has the potential to revolutionise processing methods in the food chain. But to what extent and in what ways will it help improve industrial processes in order to obtain the desired structures, stability and functional characteristics of food products? Which technologies will have the greatest impact in this area?

This session will highlight the major process applications and assess how nanotechnology is progressing with regards to the needs of the industry.

2:30 Exploiting Nanotechnology For Improving Separation Technology

SPEAKER: Dr. Antonio Garcia, Professor of Bioengineering, Arizona State University

03:05 Food Material Science at the Nanoscale

SPEAKER: Pieter Stroeve, Professor of Chemical Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of California, Davis

3:40 Coffee break

4:10 Nanotech to material science with application to food processing particularly to food packaging

SPEAKER: John D. Floros, Professor & Head, Department of Food Science, The Pennsylvania State University

4:45 End of Day One