Nikos Mavroudis is a Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader in Food Science and leads the laboratory of Food Engineering & Separation of Actives (FoESA) in the Dept. of Applied Sciences in Northumbria University at Newcastle. Previously Nikos was a Research Scientist and Project Leader for Unilever R&D for 9 years and has been responsible for developing the separation expertise within Unilever R&D Vlaardingen, the Netherlands. His research interests are focused on Food Security & Food Safety, particularly relevant is his interest on bacterial flow cytometry and surface decontamination. Nikos has published 10 research articles in peer review journals and 12 patents/patent filings and his work has attracted ca 325 citations excluding self-citations.

Food Safety: Surface decontamination of intact agricultural commodities and fresh cut fruit and vegetables. Bacterial flow cytometry as method for microflora enumeration and assessment of physiological states of Bacillus spores. Assessment of spore viability in GIT. Food Security: Generation of functional ingredients from agricultural commodities and agri-food waste streams. Application of biorefinery concepts for waste/by-product stream valorisation.

Michael Granvogl has completed his PhD as well as postdoctoral studies at the Chair for Food Chemistry (Technical University of Munich) under the supervision of Prof. Peter Schieberle. Actually, he is an ”Associate Professor” at the same facility. He has published about 30 papers in peer-reviewed journals and has been serving as a reviewer for about 20 different journals. Furthermore, he is well-known as a presenter around the globe participating in the most important conferences about flavor chemistry, Maillard chemistry, and food safety related topics.

Food Safety, Food Chemistry

Lucia Aquilanti born in February, 14, 1976. Obtained Master Degree in 2000 Biological Science (marks 110/110 with honours) at Università Politecnica delle Marche (UNIVPM) (formerly University of Ancona) – Italy and also in Ph.D. in Applied Biomolecular Sciences at Università Politecnica delle Marche – Italy in the month of February 2005.
Associate Professor in Agricultural Microbiology at the Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences (D3A), at Università Politecnica delle Marche (UNIVPM). Associated Editor of “Food Microbiology” (ELSEVIER (http://www.journals.elsevier.com/food-microbiology/) and “Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis (IJEMA) (http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/j/ijema) (Science Publishing Group). Member of the Doctoral Doctoral School Committee in “Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences” at the Università Politecnica delle Marche. She is author of 1 deposited patent.

Her Research activity is focused on topics dealing with molecular biology and microbiology and, mainly, with:
• development, optimization and use of molecular tools (end-point PCR, real-time PCR; PCR-DGGE) for the study of microbial communities in environmental samples and fermented foods;
• molecular typing of food-borne and environmental microorganisms (RAPD, RFLP, inverse PCR, PFGE)
• technological characterization of bacteria and yeasts for the selection and production of starter and/or adjunctive cultures destined for the dairy, salami and bakery industries
• occurrence and spread of antibiotic resistances in food chains of animal origins (including edible insects) as well as in food-grade microorganisms (mainly lactic acid bacteria)
• design and exploitation of DNA tracers for the monitoring of groundwaters
• biotechnological processes for vat dying with natural dyes
• biofouling of building materials assessed by accelerated laboratory growth tests
• bioconversion of agricultural waste and waste waters
• indoor air biofiltration
• innovative and traditional fermented foods
The research activity is documented scored as follows by WEB OF KNOWLEDGE- Thomson Reuters - Web of Science: (i) reviewed publications (years 2003 - 2016): 59; (ii) citations: 642; (iii) h-index: 14 (last up-date 27-09-2016).

Marco Iammarino is a Food Technologist and Chemical Surveyor. Since 2002, he is a Researcher of Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Puglia e della Basilicata (IZS-PB) of Foggia (Italy). Currently, he is employed as Principal Investigator at National Reference Centre for Detection of Radioactivity in Feed and Foodstuff of IZS-PB

He deals about food quality and safety, analytical chemistry applied to food analysis, research & development and analytical methods validation. In particular, he has developed several analytical methods (HPLC, HPIC, CE, LSC, TLC, ELISA) for the determinations of food additives (nitrites, nitrates, sulphites, polyphosphates, organic acids, etc.), radionuclides, mycotoxins, pesticides and drug residues in foods and feed materials. He has published more than 100 articles in peer-reviewed and Academic Journals, Congress Proceedings and books. He has carried out the activity of reviewer for 40 International Journals.

Nitaigour Premchand Mahalik (BE, ME, PhD, Postdoctoral), Professor in the Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, California State University Fresno, USA, has more than 25 years of experience in the field of Mechatronics, Automation and Control, and Distributed Control Systems (DCS). His research work includes smart sensors and actuators, applications of soft-computing to Fault Detection and Isolation (FDI), Life-Cycle Data Acquisition, sensor network, real-time systems, and DCS simulation software. He has taught such courses as Mechatronics, Sensor Signal Processing, Information Theory and Coding, Embedded Systems, Microprocessors, Industrial Process Control, Automated Systems, Electricity and Electronics, Signal Processing, Technology and Society, and Research Methodology

He has authored and edited 5 Books, 12 Book Chapters, and about 150 publications. Dr. Mahalik has guided and co-guided 6 PhD Theses, 12 MS Theses, and more than 100 MS and BS Projects. Dr. Mahalik is the Chief-Editor of the International Journal of Automation and Control and Associate Editor of IEEE Sensor Journal. He was the recipient of Overseas and Brain Korea-21 Fellowships for Ph.D. and Postdoctoral research abroad, respectively. He was a member of several professional societies including ATMAE, ISA, ASABE, IAE, IEEE, and ISTE

Spiros Paramithiotis graduated from the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition of the Agricultural University of Athens, Greece, in 1996. In 1998 he received a scholarship for post-graduate studies from the State Scholarship Foundation of Greece and in 2002 he received the PhD degree in Food Microbiology from the Agricultural University of Athens. In 2003, he joined the Agricultural University of Athens, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Laboratory of Food Quality Control and Hygiene as a member of the scientific personnel where he works until today.

His research interests lie mainly in the field of food fermentations, with particular emphasis on microbial taxonomy, metabolism, physiology, symbiotic patterns and the underlying molecular mechanisms. He has participated in several research projects funded by the EU, the Greek Secretariat of Research and Technology as well as food industries. He has co-authored 40 publications in peer-reviewed journals, 22 book chapters, over 80 publications in national and international conference proceedings and has received more than 700 citations.

Malik Altaf Hussain is a food microbiologist at the Department of Wine, Food and Molecular Biosciences, Lincoln University New Zealand. He is also an associate director at the Centre for Food Research and Innovation (CFRI). He holds a doctorate in Food Microbiology and Biotechnology from the University of Melbourne Australia and a master in Food Technology from University of Agriculture Faisalabad Pakistan with distinction. Dr. Hussain is leading food microbiology research group at Lincoln University. He is involved in a variety of industry led projects on the development of functional foods (probiotics), food safety and security and microbial proteomics. As associate director of Lincoln’s Centre for Food Research and Innovation, his efforts are focused to expand international linkages and developing research programs at the centre. He is a committee member of IJFST2015 conference being held at Lincoln University. Recently he was awarded OECD Fellowship 2014 to work on a collaborative research project with Dr. Qi Wang - Guelph Food Research Centre, Canada.

His Research interests include : Microbial biotechnology,probiotics,food borne pathogens,food safety and security,and microbial stress responses using advanced techniques such as proteomics,metabolics and genomics.

Maristela Martins Pereira completed PhD in Food Science from the Federal University of Santa Catarina - UFSC - Florianópolis - Brazil. Professor at the Department of Agricultural Engineering and Soil, Faculty of Agrarian Sciences, from the Federal University of Amazonas - UFAM - Manaus - Brazil

She is working on the development of food products, quality control, and toxicology of Amazon food, such as Brazil nuts, Cashew nuts and Guarana

Garcia-Zapateiro received his B.S. in Food Engineering from University of Cartagena, Colombia in 2005, his MSc degree in Formulation and Product Technology, applications in the Chemical Industry, Agri-Food and Pharmaceutical and his PhD degree in processes and chemical products from University of Huelva (UHU), Spain, in 2007 and 2013, respectively.
He has worked in the department Chemical Engineering in the research group the complex fluid from University of Huelva (Spain). He has been a director, head of department unit operations and Professor to Food Engineering program. Actually he works as Head of Department of Postgraduate Faculty of Engineering of the University of Cartagena (Colombia), and also he is the director of the research group IFCRA. He conducted extension projects support supervision of school feeding programs and food safety. His main expertise in food product design, complex fluid and rheology. The principal investigations and publication are in vegetable oils, estolides, lubricant and biodegradable greases. In the food product has performed emulsions, hydrocolloids from tropical fruit, isolated protein from fish and vegetable seeds such as beans.

Garcia-Zapateiro research areas of interest include: food materials science, rheology, food design and texture, emulsions, food gels, formulation and processing lubricants from vegetable oils and by-products (biopolymers) of Agri-Food

Kipchumba Cherono is a holder of a B.Sc. in Biomechanical and Processing Engineering and B.Sc. in Agricultural Engineering from the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. He also holds an MSc. in Agriculture and MSc. in Agricultural engineering from the University of Pannonia and University of KwaZulu-Natal, respectively. He is currently a final year doctoral candidate at the university of KwaZulu-Natal’s department of Bioresources Engineering

Kipchumba Cherono is a holder of a B.Sc. in Biomechanical and Processing Engineering and B.Sc. in Agricultural Engineering from the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. He also holds an MSc. in Agriculture and MSc. in Agricultural engineering from the University of Pannonia and University of KwaZulu-Natal, respectively. He is currently a final year doctoral candidate at the university of KwaZulu-Natal’s department of Bioresources Engineering

Teresa Del Giudice obtained in degree in Agricultural Science, Technical and economics. University of Naples Federico II.Obtained Master's degree in Agricultural Economics and Policy. 1995-1996 academic year. Postgraduate Centre and Agricultural Economic Research for the South, existing Centre for Training in Economics and Policy for Rural Development Arcades, 2000. European Master in Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness. University of Wageningen, The Netherlands in 2001. Visiting Scholar at University of Newcastle, July-August 2001. Teresa Del Giudice completed PhD in Agricultural Economics and Policy. University of Naples "Federico II". Department of Agricultural Economics and Policy, Portici from 1999-2001.The owner of a check-year research, in 2001-'03

Areas of research and interest: - Quality in the food sector - Analysis of the preferences - Economics of the organic sector conducted Courses: Practical Course of Agricultural Economics and Policy II

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