A final year engineering research project from The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus (UNMC) titled, “The reaction kinetics of cocoa polyphenols degradation during drying” was awarded with the Food and Drink Undergraduate Prize under the highly commended category by the Institution of Chemical Engineers (UK) Food and Drink Special Interest Group.
Last year UNMC students were awarded the Food and Drink Undergraduate Prize for 2014 by the Institute of Chemical Engineers (UK) Food and Drink Special Interest Group.
This year’s research was conducted by UNMC final year chemical and environmental engineering students, Queena Teh Tzyy Mei, Loo Siew Mei, Grace Tan Li Yin and Fitriyah Zainor Azhar under the supervision of Dr Hii Ching Lik, Associate Professor of Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at UNMC and Chartered Engineer of UK Engineering Council. The research is to investigate the chemical reaction kinetics of polyphenols compound inside cocoa beans during drying for purpose of preservation.
The research projects carried out on topics related to food and drink processing at The University of Nottingham, Malaysia Campus, an IChemE-accredited institution.
This award recognises research projects of undergraduate students from an IChemE accredited institution on topics related to food and drink processing.
“This is a prestigious award which gives students the opportunity to participate in international level competition and research and once again, our students have shown research excellence and their efforts to be recognised with this prestigious award,” said Dr Hii.
Last year’s winners from UNMC were Khoo Phey Yeong, Koh Ming Wee and Lim Gaik Lin on their project “Osmotic Dehydration of Tropical Fruits” The research is a study of a dehydration process that uses salt and sugar solutions to remove the water content from the fruits to produce dried fruit snacks.
UNMC's 15th Anniversary
One of the world's truly global universities, with campuses in Malaysia, the UK and China. 2015 marks the 15th year since setting up as UK's first full-fledged international campus in Malaysia and all three campuses continue to enrich the lives of students across the world through global education, ground-breaking research and community engagement.
(Image caption:from left to right: Loo Siew Mei, Fitriyah Zainor Azhar, Queena Teh, Grace Tan and Dr Hii Ching Lik.
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For more information, please contact Dr Hii Ching Lik on +6 (03) 8924 8714, Ching-Lik.Hii@nottingham.edu.my and Josephine Dionisappu, PR & Communications Manager on +6 (03) 8924 8746, josephine.dionisappu@nottingham.edu.my.
The University of Nottingham has 43,000 students and is ‘the nearest Britain has to a truly global university, with campuses in China and Malaysia modelled on a headquarters that is among the most attractive in Britain’ (Times Good University Guide 2014).It is also the most popular university in the UK among graduate employers, in the top 10 for student experience according to the Times Higher Education and winner of ‘Research Project of the Year’at THE Awards 2014. It is ranked in the world’s top one per cent of universities by the QS World University Rankings.
Impact:The Nottingham Campaign, its biggest-ever fundraising campaign, is delivering the University’s vision to change lives, tackle global issues and shape the future.
Posted on 10th March 2015