School of Food Science and Engineering

Introduction

School of Food Science and Engineering was founded in January 1999, based on the combination of the former Departments of Food Engineering, Oil and Fat Engineering and Food Science and Engineering. As one of the earliest-established schools/departments, it has strong teaching and research capacity and has made many achievements in scientific research. In recent 30 years, School of Food Science and Engineering has trained more than 5000 undergraduates and over 150 postgraduates.

There is a teaching and administrative staff of 52 in the school. 42 of them are full-time teachers, 21 with the academic title of professor, 14 with the title of associate professor, 19 with doctor’s degrees, 11 with master’s degrees. 1 teacher is a state-level expert who has made outstanding contributions. 3 teachers are enjoying special allowances granted by the State Council. There are 2 teaching masters of Hubei Province, 2 members of the Ministry of Education Steering Committee for Light industry and Food Science Teaching and Learning, 2 candidates for the New Century High-Level Talents Engineering, 1 candidate for the National BaiQianWan Talents Engineering. 3 positions are open to Hubei Province “Chutian Scholars.”

Three undergraduate specialties are offered in the school: Food Science and Engineering, Grain Engineering, and Food Quality and Safety. Food Science and Engineering was ranked in the list of first featured specialties of the state-level by the State Ministry of Education and Ministry of Finance in 2007. Food Factory Designing is a superior-quality course of the state-level. Food Chemistry is a superior-quality course of Hubei Province. Grain & Oil Science and Engineering Demonstration Experimental Teaching Center is of the provincial level. Food Science and Engineering, a first-class discipline authorized to grant master’s degree, is a provincial key and superior discipline. Cereal, Oil and Vegetable Protein is an innovative discipline with remarkable achievements in provincial institutions of higher learning and also a discipline authorized to build Doctor’s degree program. Various platforms for disciplines and specialties construction have been established, including the Engineering Technology Research Center for Comprehensive Development of the State Food Bureau Grain & Oil Resources, the Key Lab of Hubei Province Agro-Products Processing and Transformation, the Engineering Technology Center for Hubei Province Paddy Rice Processing, the Research Center for Developing and Extending Generic Technology in Agricultural and Sideline Products Processing of Hubei Province Small & Medium-sized Enterprises, and the Oil & Fat Technology Work Group of the National Grain & Oil Standardization Committee.

In recent three years, School of Food Science and Engineering has undertaken 166 projects, including National Natural Science foundation projects, National Projects for Tackling Key Scientific and Technological Difficulties, 863-Subprojects, and various provincial or city-level projects for tackling scientific and technological difficulties. The total amount of funding for scientific research reaches 50 million yuan. It has won 54 prizes of provincial (ministerial) level or above in scientific research and teaching (3 second prizes of national scientific and technological advancement, 2 first prizes, 4 second prizes, 18 third prizes of provincial/ministerial-level or above. It has published over 400 academic theses (42 into “Three Major Indices” – SCI, EI and ISTP) and over 23 monographs and textbooks, and received 13 patents.