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| Dr. Olga Padilla-Zakour with students and members of the faculty in front of Thomas Aquinas Research Center(TARC) Auditorium. Photo by: Jobie Tuscano |
Selected Chemical and Industrial Engineering students, along with some graduate school students and members of the faculty gathered at the Thomas Aquinas Research Center (TARC) Auditorium last August 24 for Dr. Olga Padilla-Zakour’s presentation about Cornell University.
Dr. Zakour spent a week in the university as a visiting professor from the Department of Food Science, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS) of Cornell University. The Dean of the Faculty of Engineering herself, Prof. Philipina A. Marcelo has spent her time and conducted one of her researches in the said university. During Dean Marcelo’s opening remarks, she has expressed her elation in meeting the latter, who visited the university to help in the infusion of entrepreneurship in science and technology curricula of engineering and food science. As the Director of Cornell Institute for Food Systems, Dr. Zakour also aims to help the university in its plans to have self-sustained research innovations in the food industry.
Hosted by Engr. Ayesha Duavis, Dr. Zakour’s presentation gave insights on what it is like to study in one of the 8 Ivy League Schools in the US, where “Knowledge for the Greater Good” is valued the most. She opened her presentation by sharing a snippet of her journey at Cornell University, saying, "You'll never know what lies ahead of you. Keep your options open", and ended with stories about students who had their humble beginnings in Cornell University who are now successful in consumer food production and are involved in addressing sustainability issues in food production.
Ranked No. 1 in the world for School of Hotel Administration, an Ivy League member, and No. 18 best university in the world, this is only few of many of the sources of pride Cornell University has to offer. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, this private university opened in 1868 located at Ithaca, New York. It is a federal land-grant institution and commits to public mission by promoting a good quality of life not just within the state, but also the world. It currently has a total of 21,904 students from the undergraduate, graduate and professional school and has 1,684 professors from the teaching body. Home of the Big Red Bear school mascot, this outstanding university has 14 colleges and school: seven undergraduate units, four graduate and professional units in Ithaca, two medical graduate and professional units in New York City and one in Doha, Qatar. Some of the engineering courses offered are Applied and Engineering Physics, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Other departments include Africana Studies, Molecular Medicine, and Food Science, where our speaker is currently a professor and the chair.
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Dr. Olga I. Padilla-Zakour is the Director of the Northeast Center for the Food Entrepreneurship at Cornell University. She studied at the University of Costa Rica in 1983 and earned her degree in Bachelor of Science in Food Science while her master's and doctorate's degree were obtained at Cornell University during the years 1988 and 1991, respectively. Her areas of expertise are Food Entrepreneurship, Food Processing, Food Safety, and Fruit and Vegetable Processing, etc. She dedicates most of her time teaching at the University while at the same time doing research for the food industry. Her research focuses on improving processed foods, increasing the economic viability of farm-based ventures and doing further studies on the safety of foods. Since public mission is one of the center focuses of Cornell University, Dr. Olga is also involved in outreach programs such as promoting entrepreneurship in food industry and training food entrepreneurs. Her achievements include IFT Fellow at Institute of Food Technologists and Elizabeth Fleming Stier Award at the Institute of Food Technologists.
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