The Department of Food Science and Nutrition presents its fall 2023 seminar series featuring guest speakers Ragya Kapoor, senior scientist of ingredient innovation and plant-based applications at Ajinomoto Health and Nutrition, North America, and Ravi Kiran Tadapaneni, R&D commercialization manager at Ajinomoto Health and Nutrition, North America, who will give a presentation on “Approach to Solution and Ingredient Development in Diverse Food Applications.” This seminar is open to the public and will take place on Zoom from 12:45–1:45 p.m. on Thursday, November 9.

Abstract

This presentation will highlight Ajinomoto Health and Nutrition’s expertise in developing innovative ingredients and solutions that closely align with consumer trends and allow people to eat well and live well. The key themes include improving nutrition through sodium, sugar, and calorie reduction strategies, enhancing taste and texture within plant-based applications, and optimizing ingredients for cost reduction and clean label trends.

Bios

Ragya Kapoor earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Delhi, India, before pursuing her master’s degree at Cornell University in New York. During her time at Cornell, Kapoor specialized in the application of supercritical fluid technology to extend the shelf life of dairy products. Her academic journey continued with a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she conducted research in the field of plant protein modification and encapsulation technologies. Currently, Kapoor is working as a senior scientist in ingredient innovation and plant-based applications at Ajinomoto Health and Nutrition, North America.

Ravi Kiran Tadapaneni is an alumnus of Illinois Institute of Technology—both as a student and as a staff member. He graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering in Food Processing Technology from Sardar Patel University, Vallabh Vidyanagar in Anand, Gujarat, India; a Master of Science in Food Process Engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology; and a Ph.D. in Biological and Agricultural Engineering from Washington State University. During his professional career, Kiran Tadapaneni has worked in the R&D teams of Taylor Farms and Impossible Foods. In his present role, he is working as R&D commercialization manager at Ajinomoto Health and Nutrition, North America.