COLUMBUS, Ohio -- V.M. (Bala) Balasubramaniam, professor of food safety engineering at Ohio State University, will be named a Fellow of the Institute of Food Technologists at its annual meeting in Las Vegas on June 25.
"This is the largest national and international organization that surrounds the food science discipline, and being named a Fellow is the highest distinction a professional member can receive," said Richard Linton, chair of Ohio State's Department of Food Science and Technology. "Bala was recognized for his national and international contributions and reputation in the area of food engineering, food processing, and, in particular, nonthermal processing techniques. The food science and technology department here at Ohio State is both excited and proud of his accomplishments."
Balasubramaniam's lab has pioneered innovative research on pressure-assisted thermal processing, and he is internationally known for his work in the field. In January, Popular Mechanics named the food preservation technique as one of the top 10 tech concepts for 2012.
At Ohio State, Balasubramaniam teaches the undergraduate Introduction to Food Processing and upper-level Principles of Food Processing courses, and supervises the research of numerous master's and doctoral graduate students. His government- and industry-funded research is supported by the Department of Defense, Midwest Advanced Food Manufacturing Alliance, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Center for Advanced Processing and Packaging Studies, among others. He also has appointments with Ohio State University Extension and the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC), the outreach and research arms of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
Balasubramaniam received OARDC's Distinguished Faculty Award in 2011.
Balasubramaniam joins six other faculty members in the college who have been named Fellows of the Institute of Food Technologists: Linton, who was inducted in 2008, John Litchfield (1980), Ken Lee (1998), Sudhir Sastry (2007), Steven Schwartz (2008) and Herbert Ockerman (2011).
-30-
Editor: Portions of this news release were provided by IFT.