uc davis biological agricultural engineering graduate paper competition aoc

Ph.D. student Chang Chen honored in Graduate Student Paper Competition

By Noah Pflueger-Peters and Chang Chen

uc davis biological agricultural engineering phd student chang chen asabe aoc
Biological systems engineering Ph.D. student Chang Chen. Photo courtesy of Chang Chen.

Biological systems engineering Ph.D. student Chang Chen was honored for his research at this year’s American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) Annual International Meeting. His paper, “Energy and quality analyses of off-ground harvested almonds under hot air column drying” received third place in the Association of Overseas Chinese Agricultural, Biological and Food Engineers’ (AOCABFE, also known as AOC) Graduate Paper Competition Award.

Chang is part of the Food Processing Research Lab at UC Davis, run by adjunct Professor Zhongli Pan in the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering.

The competition recognizes outstanding papers submitted to the ASABE Annual International Meeting by AOC graduate student members. Submissions are graded on scientific and societal value, originality and presentation. Chang and the other winners received an award certificate.

“I would like to express my gratitude to Professor Pan for his support and mentoring on my research, as well as the help from my colleagues at Food Processing Lab,” he said.

His paper introduced a promising efficient drying method for off-ground harvested almonds using hot air in a deep-bed column dryer. The new drying technology greatly improved the drying efficiency, product quality and safety over the conventional methods with reasonably low energy cost. The findings from this research should be helpful to improve the sustainability of the almond industry in California.

The AOC is a professional organization that connects biological, agricultural and food engineers of Chinese origin around the world, facilitating collaboration in research and education and encouraging professional development. The organization is part of ASABE and holds its meetings and events in connection with the ASABE Annual International Meetings.

Learn more about research in the Food Processing Research Engineering Lab.

Primary Category