Teagasc researcher Dr Norah O’Shea talks about digital transformation as a recipe for fulfillment within the agrifood sector.
Superior applied sciences have the potential to boost meals high quality, security and sustainability, “thereby strengthening Eire’s innovation capability”, Dr Norah O’Shea tells SiliconRepublic.com.
O’Shea is a senior analysis officer within the Meals Chemistry and Expertise Division on the Teagasc Meals Analysis Centre at Moorepark in Cork.
She has a BSc in meals enterprise, and an MSc and PhD in meals science and expertise from College School Cork. Her early work examined novel makes use of of meals by-products and the formulation of gluten-free merchandise.
Her present analysis focuses on growing and making use of course of analytical applied sciences (PAT), robotics and laptop imaginative and prescient to watch and management dairy and meals processes in actual time. And he or she has just lately expanded her work to incorporate 3D and 4D meals printing, exploring how formulation, construction and processing affect product behaviour and sensory qualities.
Inform us about your present analysis.
I’m presently exploring how course of analytical expertise (PAT) can be utilized to measure moisture in dairy powders in actual time, serving to to optimise the spray-drying course of. This builds on my earlier analysis on measuring focus viscosity and understanding the way it influences drying efficiency. The information from these sensors feed into superior analytics, offering data-driven insights that enhance course of effectivity and consistency.
This work types a part of a collaborative PhD undertaking involving researchers from my division and VistaMilk, which focuses on how improved knowledge assortment and evaluation can improve course of understanding and help the digital transformation of the dairy sector.
One other a part of my analysis seems at 4D meals printing, which grew from my long-standing curiosity in 3D printing applied sciences developed throughout my postdoctoral work. After preliminary help from the Division of Agriculture, Meals and the Marine, we secured Analysis Eire funding for the 4DSnacks undertaking. This examine examines how printed meals can change texture, color and form over time, providing new potentialities for sensible and sustainable meals design.
Each tasks contain shut collaboration with business companions, making certain the analysis interprets into sensible functions for Eire’s meals sector.
In your opinion, why is your analysis necessary?
My analysis is necessary as a result of it helps the digital transformation of meals manufacturing within the agrifood sector, serving to to make manufacturing extra environment friendly, constant and sustainable.
By utilising PAT for processes equivalent to spray drying and membrane filtration, I purpose to supply on-time knowledge that improves product high quality whereas decreasing waste and power use.
In parallel, my work on futuristic 4D meals printing opens new potentialities for personalised diet and useful product design.
Collectively, these tasks strengthen Eire’s capability for innovation in superior meals processing.
What impressed you to turn out to be a researcher?
From a younger age, cooking and baking had been all the time inspired by my mam, sparking my curiosity about how elements and processes create totally different outcomes. My ardour for meals science actually started with Miss O’Neil, my residence economics trainer, who launched us to primary meals science and diet and confirmed how science connects to on a regular basis life.
Throughout my MSc and PhD, I used to be impressed by feminine researchers who had been my supervisors and colleagues, whose creativity and willpower helped form my profession path.
By my PhD work, I turned fascinated by the intersection of meals and digital applied sciences, and the way sensors and knowledge can be utilized to make meals processes smarter and extra sustainable.
What are a number of the largest challenges or misconceptions you face as a researcher in your area?
A typical false impression about meals analysis is that it’s nearly recipes, when in reality it’s about understanding what number of various factors, equivalent to ingredient performance, formulation, temperature, construction and stability, have an effect on how meals behave throughout and after processing. The meals matrix is a posh system the place all these components work together, influencing each how a product is made and its last high quality. Through the use of digital instruments like sensors and knowledge analytics, we are able to monitor these adjustments and uncover new insights.
In your opinion, what’s the largest improvement or innovation in science over the past 30 years that has had essentially the most influence on you?
For me, one of many largest developments in science over the previous 30 years has been the development and accessibility of analytical devices. Immediately’s instruments are much more delicate, exact and user-friendly, permitting researchers to extract richer datasets and achieve a a lot deeper understanding of complicated processes. In my very own work, this progress means we are able to measure extra parameters in actual time and visualise knowledge in ways in which make patterns and relationships clearer. This data-driven functionality additionally permits us to discover rising areas equivalent to synthetic intelligence, opening new potentialities for course of optimisation and innovation in meals and dairy analysis.
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