In Profile: Pawan Takhar brings international know-how to food science
As one of Texas Tech's leading food science researchers, Pawan Takhar is the personification of international expertise and cooperation within the university's respected International Center for Food Industry Excellence.
The Department of Animal and Food Sciences' associate professor brings a global perspective to his studies on improving food and bioengineering processes, along with boosting the quality and safety of products using computer simulations.
"Most food companies are global in nature," Takhar said. "My international experience has helped me to collaborate with faculty in other countries on projects that ultimately help both domestic and international consumers. It's also helped to enroll high-caliber international students to the program."
In simple terms, Takhar and his research team treat foods as porous materials, studying the transport of fluids and heat through them. Some examples include drying of foods, stress-crack formation, frying of foods and expansion of biopolymers during extrusion.
Takhar, who joined the Texas Tech faculty in 2005, previously served as an assistant professor of Food and Biological Engineering at University of Idaho. Prior to that he worked as a design engineer with Patkol Public Company's Research and Development Section in Bangkok, Thailand.
In addition, he served as a research assistant with the Asian Institute of Technology's Department of Agricultural and Food Engineering. Takhar received his bachelor's degree in agricultural engineering from India's Punjab Agricultural University, and his master's degree in post-harvest and food process engineering from Thailand's Asian Institute of Technology.
His doctorate in food and biological engineering is from Purdue University. He's a member of the American Association for Advancement of Science, American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
Written by Norman Martin
CONTACT: Pawan Singh Takhar, Associate Professor, International Center for Food Industry Excellence, Texas Tech University at 742-2805, ext. 258 or pawan.takhar@ttu.edu
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