The face-to-face meeting of the Council of Deans of Faculties that teach Food Engineering of the CRUCH Universities, held at the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso (PUCV), was described as a milestone. The event was attended by the dean of the Faculty of Agricultural Engineering of the University of Concepción, Dr. María Eugenia González; and the vice-dean, Dr. Christian Folch.
The Council of Deans aims to join forces to strengthen the training and positioning aspects of the Food Engineering degree, under the auspices of the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH).
The meeting was chaired by the rector of PUCV, Dr. Nelson Vásquez, and by Dr. Carolina Astudillo, dean of the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences of PUCV, who has chaired the Council of Deans since its establishment in December 2022.
Also in attendance were Dr. Carolina Lizana, dean of the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences at the Universidad Austral de Chile (UACH); Dr. Pablo Richter, dean of the Faculty of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Chile; Dr. Gipsy Tabilo, director of the Department of Food Engineering at the University of Bío-Bío; Dr. María Angélica Ganga, director of the Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of Santiago de Chile; Dr. Kong Shun Ah-Hen, director of the School of Food Engineering at the UACH; and Dr. Jéssica López, academic secretary of the School of Food at PUCV.
Collaborative effort
According to the dean, Dr. María Eugenia González, from UdeC, “this instance of collaboration between the different universities is crucial for the positioning of Food Engineering, a career that is extremely important for the country. When we declared ourselves, a long time ago, as an agro-food power, we understood that food production at a national level is fundamental as an economic sector for Chile.”
He also acknowledged that “positioning has been difficult, it is not one of the traditional careers, so the work we are doing is different.”
Dr. González stated that “there is still a lack of awareness of the potential of the career and the impact it can have at a national level in the transformation of the productive matrix and in the innovation that we can generate in the food sector.” She commented that “perhaps we have not been so efficient in attracting young people to the career, but once they learn regarding it, they fall in love with it and see the potential it has.”
For her part, Dr. Carolina Astudillo, President of the Council, highlighted the face-to-face nature of the meeting: “We had met the first time, when we established this Council of Deans, and now the idea is to hold these face-to-face meetings twice a year. The next one will be in November, at the University of Chile, in Santiago.”
Dr. Astudillo explained that there is a low recruitment of students and that is why it is necessary to strengthen training and positioning aspects. “Our goal is to position Food Engineering in the place it deserves, both within our universities and by doing external work, with public and private organizations,” she said.
Dean Dr. Pablo Ritcher, from the University of Chile, stated that, “We want to strengthen this career, so that the professional has a clear idea of the areas in which he can be inserted, in what type of institutions, public or private, in addition to the academic field; that is why the role of this council is very relevant, so that we have to coordinate at a national level, so that this career can penetrate more strongly into the development of the country.”
Likewise, Dr. Carolina Lizana, from the UACH, valued the milestone of the meeting and explained that, “the strengthening of the career, which has to do with the dissemination of the work of the food engineer and attracting students to train more professionals in the area, is one of the most important concerns of the Council, but, of course, we would also be very interested in being able to positively influence the policies and guidelines on food safety and security.”
Reopening of the race
Dean Dr. María Eugenia González, announced that the Faculty is working to reopen, in the short term, the Food Engineering degree at the University of Concepción (it was taught between 2009 and 2022 at the Chillán Campus).
The Dr. González recalled that, in 2022, a market study was conducted by the Vice Dean of Agricultural Engineering at UdeC, Dr. Christian Folch, with the support of UdeC Asesorías and a consulting firm, “and we have very good prospects: the study confirmed that there is a need for this type of professionals in the country.”
In this regard, Dr. Folch pointed out that, “in the current scenario of the food industry, the food professional will assume an active role in the development of new products, transforming raw materials into foods with added value, through sustainable processes, highlighting territorial characteristics and cultural heritage, with a main focus in health and safety.”
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