Midweek Mixer: Habits and rituals

Join us for a panelist-facilitated conversation on professional and personal habits that could help you advance your research and work. Everything from the importance of tools to stay up-to-date on the latest research to how to maintain a balance between work and personal life to the need for a cup of tea are fair game for this conversation.

Our panelists will share their long-standing and newly-developed habits with you. The goal is also for attendees to share their habits – who knows your practice may be adopted by a fellow attendee.

AOCS Midweek Mixers provide an excellent opportunity for networking and learning with your peers.

This Midweek Mixer will occur on February 3 at 4 p.m. CST (UTC–06/Chicago, USA). Registration is free for all, including those who are not AOCS members! 

Learn about past and upcoming Midweek Mixers!

Meet the panelists

Yang Lan is a post-doctoral research fellow in North Dakota State University. He received his doctoral degree at last year in cereal and food science program from North Dakota State University. Yang has published 11 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals and received 11 awards from IFT and AOCS, such as AOCS honored student award. His major research interest is pulse protein modification targeting improving plant protein functionality via physicochemical methods, like complex coacervation, protein phosphorylation, and solid dispersion technologies. He is currently the AOCS Student Common Interest Group Education and Career Development Liaison.

Nandika Bandara is an Assistant Professor & Canada Research Chair in Food Protein and Bioproducts at the Department of Food and Human Nutritional Sciences, University of Manitoba. He is a certified food scientist (CFS) and material scientist with interdisciplinary research experience in food protein chemistry and technology, macromolecular chemistry, nanotechnology, biomimetics and biobased/renewable polymer applications bioproducts and biomaterials. In addition to his current role as Canada Research Chair, he serves as an Associate Editor for Food Chemistry Journal (Elsevier) and as Chair Designate for the Food Chemistry Division in the Institute of Food Technologist (IFT).

Abbey Thiel is a lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the Food Science Department. This past June she earned her PhD from University of Wisconsin-Madison by studying the effect of different ingredients on the fat networks within ice cream and whipped toppings. In her free time, Abbey enjoys creating content for her blog and YouTube Channel, which both focus on educating the public about food science.

Lilian Were is a professor in Chapman University’s Food Science Program. Her lab group is currently examining the role of chlorogenic acid-amino acid interactions and their relationship to color, flavor, and nutritional quality.  In a separate project, they are studying mushroom’s preservative effects in ground beef.  She is the 2020 past chair of the Institute of Food Technologists Muscle Foods Division. In 2021, she is co-organizer of the Southern California Food Industry conference and incoming chair of the Southern California Institute of the Food Technologists.

Mattew Fhaner earned his Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from Michigan State University and then spent 10 months in a post-doctoral position working at the United States Department of Agriculture - ARS in Peoria, IL under the guidance of Dr. HongSik Hwang. He is currently an Associate Professor of Analytical Chemistry and the primarily undergraduate institution of University of Michigan - Flint where his primary teaching duties include a two-semester analytical chemistry series and acting as the Curriculum Coordinator for the general chemistry laboratory series.

Nana Baah Appiah-Nkansah is a technical service scientist with Novozymes North America. For the past 2 years, Nana has enjoyed visiting vegetable processing and grain processing plants, getting to know customers, and helping them solve problems and make improvements. He has also played leading roles in process development and applications for oils and fats. Nana obtained his Bachelors in Ghana, Masters in Japan, and doctorate in Biological & Agricultural Engineering at Kansas State University.

Ronald Marquez is a postdoctoral scholar at the Department of Forest Biomaterials, North Carolina State University. He holds a Ph.D. in Applied Sciences from the Universidad de Los Andes, Venezuela. His research has focused on physicochemical formulation of surfactant-oil-water systems, including their characterization through interfacial rheology techniques. He has been a researcher at FIRP Laboratory for more than 14 years, receiving the best original paper award in the Journal of Surfactants and Detergents in 2018. He is a member of AOCS and TAPPI. Nowadays he is working on a project to transform textile waste into bio-based building blocks, which will help to upcycle textile waste into value-added products.

Hongbing Fan is a Ph.D. candidate under the supervision of Dr. Jianping Wu in the Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Sciences at the University of Alberta in Canada. His research interests include functional foods and bioactive peptides. Prior to joining the University of Alberta, he did his M.Sc. research on food preservation, specifically aquatic products, at China Agricultural University. His primary research interests are Protein Chemistry and Function Foods. Hongbing joined AOCS in 2018 and has since worked closely with the AOCS community. Currently, he volunteers as the Chair of the Student Common Interest Group and the student representative in the Canadian Section of AOCS.

Stéphanie Marty-Terrade studied food science and engineering at the National School of Chemistry and Physics (France). She then joined Professor Alejandro Marangoni’s lab at the University of Guelph (Canada) to complete a Ph.D. on "Oil Migration in Confectionery Applications". In 2007, she joined Nestle Research in Germany and is currently a Lipid Expert at Nestlé Research in York (UK) where she is responsible for confectionery lipids and palm oil for the whole Nestlé group. With 17 years of experience, Stephanie has expertise that covers application of lipids in diverse product categories and a strong knowledge of material science, lipid technology and lipid nutrition. Stéphanie has also developed a strong scientific reputation outside Nestlé with regular invitations to speak at international conferences or give guest lectures and the publication of 20 papers including seven peer-reviewed papers, three patents and one book chapter.

Clare Flakelar is a chemistry lecturer at Australian Catholic University (ACU), Brisbane, Australia. Clare currently lectures in chemistry and biochemistry and coordinates the placement units offered to biomedical science students. She graduated with a Ph.D. from Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga Australia in 2017, carrying out research on lipid-soluble bioactive components in canola oil. As an early-career researcher, Clare is currently involved in lipid research with a mass spectrometry research group at QUT, Brisbane. She has been part of the Australasian Section of AOCS leadership committee since 2016.

Register to reserve your spot to network and connect with your hosts and gain insights into what habits and rituals you can adopt to help you succeed. This event will occur on February 3 at 4 p.m. CST (UTC–06/Chicago, USA).