Food Processing & Engineering
About Us
Our research group applies the principles of engineering to food manufacturing and operations to preserve or improve the quality attributes of the food. In particular, we focus on food ‘process systems engineering’ and food processes that involve special functional components. Our food engineering research areas include process modelling, optimisation, and control of food processes. For food processing, we have major research efforts in baking, dairy and organic food processing, on top of other state-of-the-art food processes. Our group is also interested in functional foods and the associated processing technologies.
Current Research Projects
- Process modelling: Neural network modelling, hybrid neural modelling, CFD modelling, mechanistic modelling
- Process optimisation: Response surface methodology (RSM), application of fractals to food property characterisation, multi-objective optimisation, soft sensors, online sensors, sensors for special operating conditions
- Control of food processes: Multivariable control, robust control, nonlinear model-based control, generic model control, passivity systems, L2 gain, time-delay compensation, and constraint handling
- Food Processing: Baking processes; dairy processes; drying processes; high pressure processing; ultrasonic processing; LED technology; nano technology in food packaging
- Functional Foods: Effect of food processing on functional components in food; innovative processing technologies for next-generation functional foods, oral processing and in vitro digestion
- Biopolymers and materials: Sustainable synthesis and modification of biopolymer-based colloids; Innovative processing and assembly techniques for structuring functional foods and food packaging materials
Our Group Members
Latest Publications
Please refer to the links below for our researchers’ latest publications.
Computation-guided Green Extraction Enables Simultaneous Recovery of Functional Ingredients from Spent Coffee Grounds
Supported by Singapore Food Story R&D Programme project grant, researchers developed a sustainable two-step strategy combining enzymatic hydrolysis and natural deep eutectic solvent extraction to simultaneously recover functional ingredients from spent coffee grounds.
Authors: Yuxing Ge, Chengxin He, Weibiao Zhou
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2025, 73, 51, 32577–32587
Scientists Discovered Sustainable food-grade serum-reducing biomaterial: Plant protein hydrolysates for scalable cultivated meat manufacturing
Supported by a Singapore Food Story R&D Programme project grant and the Bezos Centre for Sustainable Protein at the National University of Singapore, researchers developed a low-cost strategy for producing cell culture media that offer a sustainable solution for cultivated meat manufacturing.
Authors: Jiaqi Mi, Zhini Guo, Hanqi Qian, William R. Birch, Vinayaka Srinivas, Weibiao Zhou
Chemical Engineering Journal, 519, 164496 (2025)