NCIFT Student Industry Sponsor Night

NCIFT Student Industry Sponsor Night

The room was packed for the NCIFT Industry/Student sponsor night hosted at UC Davis! SPI Group has long supported this annual event, connecting Food Science students with industry members. As reported by the student representatives in the Food Tech Club and the Food Science Graduate Students Association, connecting with industry is one of their main goals, along with connecting to community and connecting with each other through fun events like culinary workshops, themed potluck nights, and tours of local breweries and food companies.

Dr. Lauren Shimek, Food Science innovator at IDEO, gave an inspiring talk entitled: Permission to play; design for food. After starting us off with a fun, interactive activity, she told us about IDEO, an international design and innovation company that works across many categories, one of which is food and beverage. Dr. Shimek encouraged us to think about how we might seek inspiration and illustrated how her company had worked to bring innovative food products to market.

It was great to see the scholarships awarded to the Food Science students, and we were happy to hear that the number of food science students in the department is over 200 now! We plan to stay in touch with the students we met tonight as they venture into their Food Science careers- and hoping that all students will continue to attend NCIFT events, including the upcoming Supplier’s Night in Pleasanton and the AMFE in Las Vegas.