Monday, January 31, 2022

Congratulations to newly minted Emeritus AOCS member: Sanjay Trivedi

Each year the AOCS Governing Board has the honor of approving long-term members for Emeritus status. Emeritus Members are those members who either meet qualifications for Retired Member and have completed 35 years of membership in the Society or are Retired Members who have served as a past President, won the AOCS Award of Merit winner or A.R. Baldwin Distinguished Service Award winner, and have been accepted as an Emeritus Member with the approval of two-thirds of the Governing Board.

AOCS membership dues are free for the rest of Emeritus members' lives.

In 2022, 23 AOCS members achieved Emeritus membership. We will be spotlighting many of them throughout January.

Meet Sanjay Trivedi

Dr. Teruyoshi Yanagita

Sanjay Trivedi is a chemical engineer who set up manufacturing facilities for specialities and surfactants immediately after graduation. In his 46-year journey, he established several companies and businesses. His focus remains on specialities and surfactants from renewable resources and new technologies and processes that are sustainable and require lower energy and capital.

He established Trivedi Enterprises Pvt. Ltd in 1984. It is the flagship company for Trivedi Groupe. Technithon India (established in 1989) and Technithon Singapore (established in 2008) offer technologies and innovative solutions along with modular plant designs. He heads Trivedi Groupe as chairman.

He is a founder/director of The Indian Home and Personal Care Industry Association, which also networks with the International Network of Cleaning Products. He is a member of the Asia Oceania Soap and Detergent Association Committee, investor and promoter of Solv8, and mentor of R&D programs for Trivedi Groupe with the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and Madras. He was also a vice chairman of the CAMP committee of the Singapore Business Federation.

How has your membership and involvement with AOCS influenced your career?

AOCS has provided the technical platform for networking with industry and connecting across geographies.

What advice do you have for early-career scientists/researchers who are at the start of their careers?

Have a clear plan, remain focused and strive till you succeed. Hard work and perseverance. I am will willing to mentor and even provide seed funds for innovative ideas.

Congratulations, Sanjay, and thank you for your contributions to AOCS and the scientific community! Learn more about the different types of AOCS membership.

Friday, January 28, 2022

Congratulations to newly minted Emeritus AOCS member: Semih Koseoglu

Each year the AOCS Governing Board has the honor of approving long-term members for Emeritus status. Emeritus Members are those members who either meet qualifications for Retired Member and have completed 35 years of membership in the Society or are Retired Members who have served as a past President, won the AOCS Award of Merit winner or A.R. Baldwin Distinguished Service Award winner, and have been accepted as an Emeritus Member with the approval of two-thirds of the Governing Board.

AOCS membership dues are free for the rest of Emeritus members' lives.

In 2022, 23 AOCS members achieved Emeritus membership. We will be spotlighting many of them throughout January.

Meet Semih (Sefa) Koseoglu

Dr. Teruyoshi Yanagita

Dr. Koseoglu is the founder of the Filtration and Membrane World/Bioactives World Forum and co-founder of the Smart Short Courses that have trained more than 8,500 engineers, plant managers, chemists and technicians across the world. Courses contain training programs on 12 different topics, including oils and fats, microencapsulation, omega-3 oils, pre- and pro-biotics, aquafeed, snack food technology, hydrocolloids, oil extraction, hemp and cannabis processing, soy foods, seed proteins, and HFCS.

Dr. Koseoglu has worked for 16 years as Head of the Separation Science Program, Associate Director, and Associate Research Professor in the Chemical Engineering Department, Food Protein R&D Center, and the Engineering Biosciences Research Center of Texas A&M University. He established and managed the Separation Sciences Program at The Food Protein R&D Center from 1986 to 2002.

Dr. Koseoglu earned his degrees at the Chemical Engineering Department of Gazi University (Ankara, Turkey; B.S 1975), Brock University (St. Catharines, Ontario; M.S. 1982) and University of Toronto (Toronto, Ontario; Ph.D. 1984). He began his professional life at the Cambrian Engineering Group Limited in Toronto as a research and development scientist working on development of hydrogenation catalysts for soybean and canola oil hydrogenations for two years before moving to Texas A&M University in March 1986. He worked as Associate Director for the Food Protein R&D Center from 1991 to 1993. Dr. Koseoglu has supervised the theses of 8 Ph.D. and 15 M.S. students, including three current professors in universities.

How has your membership and involvement with AOCS influenced your career?

AOCS gave me the opportunity to network with experts in the field, learn about the current state of science and technology, and enhance my career.

What advice do you have for early-career scientists/researchers who are at the start of their careers?

Get involved with AOCS and its Divisions!

Congratulations, Dr. Koseoglu, and thank you for your contributions to AOCS and the scientific community! Learn more about the different types of AOCS membership.

Wednesday, January 26, 2022

Congratulations to newly minted Emeritus AOCS member: John Massingill

Each year the AOCS Governing Board has the honor of approving long-term members for Emeritus status. Emeritus Members are those members who either meet qualifications for Retired Member and have completed 35 years of membership in the Society or are Retired Members who have served as a past President, won the AOCS Award of Merit winner or A.R. Baldwin Distinguished Service Award winner, and have been accepted as an Emeritus Member with the approval of two-thirds of the Governing Board.

AOCS membership dues are free for the rest of Emeritus members' lives.

In 2022, 23 AOCS members achieved Emeritus membership. We will be spotlighting many of them throughout January.

Meet John Massingill

Dr. Teruyoshi Yanagita

John's doctoral work at Texas Christian University focused on the discovery, identification and synthesis of novel alkaloids as potential drugs. His 25 years at Dow Chemical included projects in basic research, exploratory research, process research, and math modeling processes, plus interaction with customers in technical service and development.

John was Director of the Eastern Michigan University Coating Research Institute for 7 years and Executive Director of the Paint Research Associates Laboratory 2 years. During this time, worked on projects in biobased resins for paints and coatings, including 1 year as Acting Director, NSF Industry/University Cooperative Research Center in Coatings. 

His 11 years as Director of the Center for Coatings and Biobased Technology at Texas State University continued projects in biobased resins/paints and projects using nanoparticles to improve a variety of coatings. During this time, three companies were founded to pursue commercial applications funded by SBIR/STTR grants. Advanced Materials and Processes (2004), Fiber Reactions LLC (2007) and CHEMTOR, LP (2009) developed ultra-efficient fiber reactor technology with SBIR/STTR grants from the US Department of Agriculture, National Science Foundation, and Department of Defense. 

A portfolio of patents was developed covering vegetable oil processing, biodiesel processing, technical metals processing (rare earth, rhenium, etc., extraction and separation) and nanoparticle manufacturing. CHEMTOR merged with Tomorrow Holding LLC in 2019 and Visionary Fiber Technologies, Inc. was founded to commercialize fiber technologies. 

How has your membership and involvement with AOCS influenced your career?

My involvement with AOCS influenced my career in numerous ways, including

  1. proving access to journals for developing research topics,
  2. meeting colleagues doing similar research,
  3. presenting innovative new resins at the national meetings, and
  4. publishing papers on my research.

Attending the Expo at the AOCS Annual Meeting & Expo exposed inefficient processes being used by vegetable oil processors, which lead to fiber process development and patents.

What advice do you have for early-career scientists/researchers who are at the start of their careers?

Read the literature outside your specialty to see if it applies to your projects. Develop a broad range of research interests. Participate in your professional organizations. Present your research at professional meetings. Publish your research.

Congratulations, John, and thank you for your contributions to AOCS and the scientific community! Learn more about the different types of AOCS membership.

Monday, January 24, 2022

Congratulations to newly minted Emeritus AOCS member: Alberto J. Pulido

Each year the AOCS Governing Board has the honor of approving long-term members for Emeritus status. Emeritus Members are those members who either meet qualifications for Retired Member and have completed 35 years of membership in the Society or are Retired Members who have served as a past President, won the AOCS Award of Merit winner or A.R. Baldwin Distinguished Service Award winner, and have been accepted as an Emeritus Member with the approval of two-thirds of the Governing Board.

AOCS membership dues are free for the rest of Emeritus members' lives.

In 2022, 23 AOCS members achieved Emeritus membership. We will be spotlighting many of them throughout January.

Meet Alberto J. Pulido

Alberto earned a B.S. in chemical engineering from the Instituto Tecnologico de Estudios Superiores de Occidente and an MBA from the Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara.

He worked for 12 years in the production department at a corn starch facility. Afterward, he worked for 30 years at an edible oils refinery. Finally, Alberto was a conceptual engineer for two soybean oil refineries, with a capacity of 600 and 700 metric tons a day.

He led development of the patent "Method for forming a vegetable oil, having high dielectric purity", US 9,048,008 B2.

How has your membership and involvement with AOCS influenced your career?

The knowledge acquired through events and resources available at AOCS — such as conventions, seminars, books, magazines and peer exchange — have been invaluable to my continual growth.

I'm convinced that theoretical knowledge is a must to understand process and all that's behind it.

What advice do you have for early-career scientists/researchers who are at the start of their careers?

If you want to succeed in this area, it's important to allocate time to study theoretical concepts and then see them applied in actual practice.

It's not only about doing the process but also understanding what's behind it.

Congratulations, Alberto, and thank you for your contributions to AOCS and the scientific community! Learn more about the different types of AOCS membership.

Friday, January 21, 2022

Congratulations to newly minted Emeritus AOCS member: Teruyoshi Yanagita

Each year the AOCS Governing Board has the honor of approving long-term members for Emeritus status. Emeritus Members are those members who either meet qualifications for Retired Member and have completed 35 years of membership in the Society or are Retired Members who have served as a past President, won the AOCS Award of Merit winner or A.R. Baldwin Distinguished Service Award winner, and have been accepted as an Emeritus Member with the approval of two-thirds of the Governing Board.

AOCS membership dues are free for the rest of Emeritus members' lives.

In 2022, 23 AOCS members achieved Emeritus membership. We will be spotlighting many of them throughout January.

Meet Teruyoshi Yanagita

Dr. Teruyoshi Yanagita

Dr. Teruyoshi Yanagita is currently an invited professor in Saga University, visiting professor of NishiKyushu University and Ocean University of China, and a director of Saga Food & Cosmetic Laboratory.

Dr. Yanagita received a Ph.D. from Kyushu University in 1975. He was a professor at Saga University where he served as Department Chair and Director of the Research and Innovation Center of Saga University. He also served as a research associate at University of Virginia and visiting professor in several countries. He moved to NishiKyushu University in 2012, where he served as Dean of Faculty of Health and Nutrition. He served as vice-president of the Japan Society of Nutrition and Food Science (JSNFS).

Dr. Yanagita has been a member of AOCS since 1987 and has participated in many AOCS Annual Meeting & Expos. He served as symposium organizer and speaker of the AOCS-JOCS Joint Meeting held in Cincinnati (2004), Quebec (2006) and San Antonio (2014). He received many AOCS Awards, including Best Paper Awards (honorarium from the International Lecithin & PL Society and PL Division) in 2009 and Outstanding Presentation Award several times.

He has received other numerous scientific awards, including

  • Academic Research Award 2006 from the Japan Society of Nutrition and Food Science; 
  • Lands Award 2017 from the Japan Society for Lipid Nutrition;
  • Fellow Award from the Japan Society for Bioscience, Biotechnology and Agrochemistry in 2016;
  • Best Paper Award from BBB in 2014.

Dr. Yanagita has authored over 300 peer review papers, 45 book chapters and 5 edited books, including “Dietary Fats and Risk of Common Disease” published by AOCS Press in 2006.

How has your membership and involvement with AOCS influenced your career?

I am so happy to have met many good friends at the AOCS Annual Meeting & Expo. In Addition, I am happy to say that we have worked together on several projects.

What advice do you have for early-career scientists/researchers who are at the start of their careers?

Good ideas make good results.

Congratulations, Dr. Yanagita, and thank you for your contributions to AOCS and the scientific community! Learn more about the different types of AOCS membership.

Tuesday, January 18, 2022

Congratulations to newly minted Emeritus AOCS member: Richard McDonald

Each year the AOCS Governing Board has the honor of approving long-term members for Emeritus status. Emeritus Members are those members who either meet qualifications for Retired Member and have completed 35 years of membership in the Society or are Retired Members who have served as a past President, won the AOCS Award of Merit winner or A.R. Baldwin Distinguished Service Award winner, and have been accepted as an Emeritus Member with the approval of two-thirds of the Governing Board.

AOCS membership dues are free for the rest of Emeritus members' lives.

In 2022, 23 AOCS members achieved Emeritus membership. We will be spotlighting many of them throughout January.

Meet Richard McDonald

Tom Crosby
Richard earned a B.S. and Ph.D. at the University of Massachusetts and an M.S. at Michigan State University, all in food science and nutrition. He served three years as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, including service in Vietnam as senior advisor to the Vietnamese Navy on river gunboats in the Mekong Delta and U Minh Forest.

He worked almost 5 years at Miles Laboratories, Elkhart, IN, as a senior scientist and almost 5 years at Nestle, SA, in New Milford, CT, as a manager in charge of analytical chemistry and ingredient development. He held the position of senior scientist for almost 35 years at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in Bedford Park, IL. For the last 20 years, he was Director, Division of Food Processing Science and Technology, at the FDA. He retired in December 2020.

He was a founding member of the AOCS Analytical Division, serving as its first organizing chairman.

How has your membership and involvement with AOCS influenced your career?

Membership in AOCS provided numerous opportunities for my professional development as a lipid chemist in the FDA. I was able to form partnerships and initiate collaborations that were essential in advancing my career at FDA.

What advice do you have for early-career scientists/researchers who are at the start of their careers?

Work hard but keep your priorities in focus. Treat others how you want to be treated. Always be faithful to God, your family, co-workers and friends. 

Congratulations, Richard, and thank you for your contributions to AOCS and the scientific community! Learn more about the different types of AOCS membership.

Monday, January 17, 2022

AOCS Corporate Member Spotlight: BTSA

Clara Chun, Customer Success Manager at AOCS, talked with Jaclyn Fleischmann, Sales Manager at BTSA, a global company based in Spain with over 25 years of experience developing natural ingredients.

They discussed BTSA's products, including the world's first organic antioxidant, as well as what Jaclyn thinks will be the biggest challenges for BTSA in 2022.

What type of products/services does your company provide?

Since 1994, BTSA has specialized in producing natural antioxidant solutions and natural vitamin E using physical methods – distillation (versus chemical solvent extraction) from non-GMO vegetable sources. We solve oxidation issues and help with extending shelf-life, while protecting products from physical degradation, at a low cost-in-use.

What differentiates your company from companies in the same space?

Jaclyn Fleischmann, Sales Manager, BTSA.

At BTSA, we use physical distillation, a much cleaner method to carefully extract the tocopherols and natural vitamin E whereas all our competitors use chemical solvent extraction which can leave the final product with residual solvents.

We have perfected our production so our products have the utmost efficacy while making the product extremely easy to use in a production setting. All products plated on powder use proprietary methods to achieve the highest actives-to-powder ratio in our industry. 

We are also the leader in innovative solutions. Our antioxidant blends are cutting edge, easy to work with and highly effective.

What are some recent innovations your company is most proud of?

We recently released the world’s first organic antioxidant TOCOBIOL® ORGANIC. To date, there is no other organic certified tocopherol-based antioxidant on the market.

TOCOBIOL® ORGANIC is the first tocopherol-based antioxidant certified organic by the National Organic Program (NOP) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the European equivalent of EU Regulation 834/2007. TOCOBIOL® ORGANIC is a unique antioxidant, developed and manufactured in Spain exclusively by BTSA.

Fast facts about this product:

  • Unlimited use in organic products.
  • Manufactured in Spain.
  • Made exclusively by BTSA.

What do you think will be the biggest challenges for your company next year?

The biggest challenge for our company next year will be to continue to reduce our carbon footprint and becoming more sustainable by focusing on being an active part of the circular economy and continuing to improve our company based on the Sustainable Development Goals.

With the current production model, the world is depleting natural resources and abusing non-renewable energies, which is why the circular economy is gaining so much importance. The objective is to leave behind the linear model and replace it with another that allows product life extension or gives products a second life to reduce the use of raw materials, optimize the materials and reduce the amount of waste generated.

Here at BTSA, we are working hard to achieve these goals and will continue to challenge ourselves in 2022.

Why is AOCS Corporate Membership important to your organization?

AOCS Corporate Membership is important to our organization because it gives us the ability to stay up to date with new innovations and technologies while keeping us connected with industry professionals.

Friday, January 14, 2022

Congratulations to newly minted Emeritus AOCS member: Rob Ariaansz

Each year the AOCS Governing Board has the honor of approving long-term members for Emeritus status. Emeritus Members are those members who either meet qualifications for Retired Member and have completed 35 years of membership in the Society or are Retired Members who have served as a past President, won the AOCS Award of Merit winner or A.R. Baldwin Distinguished Service Award winner, and have been accepted as an Emeritus Member with the approval of two-thirds of the Governing Board.

AOCS membership dues are free for the rest of Emeritus members' lives.

In 2022, 23 AOCS members achieved Emeritus membership. We will be spotlighting many of them throughout January.

Meet Rob Ariaansz

Rob Ariaansz
After his study of organic chemistry and military service, Rob joined the Dutch office of the Harshaw Chemical Company as an Assistant Sales Manager in the Catalyst Division in 1981.

Soon, he got involved with fats and oils and oleochemicals, as well as with a wide variety of other catalytic processes. In 1985, Rob became Product Manager for fats and oils hydrogenation catalysts.

After the acquisition of Harshaw by Engelhard and later on by BASF, he stayed intimately involved with the fats and oils and oleochemical industry.

How has your membership and involvement with AOCS influenced your career?

In my job, I was fortunate to be able to travel to customers all over the world. In the 1980s, it was decided to transfer production for fats and oils hydrogenation catalysts from the USA to the brand-new facilities in The Netherlands. We developed dedicated types for the US customers. At that time, my colleague and mentor, the late Bob Hastert (former AOCS President), thought it was high time for me to join the AOCS.

I got a chance to participate in many short courses and congresses as a lecturer and to contribute to the Lipid Library. On a number of occasions, I was asked to review publications. Also, we, as a company, organized various training sessions and product presentations all over the world, often together with other companies associated with fats and oils processing.

What advice do you have for early-career scientists/researchers who are at the start of their careers?

The first AOCS Annual Meeting & Expo I attended was the one in Hawaii in 1986. What a wonderful experience that was! From that time on, I joined practically each and every Annual Meeting in the USA and Canada. It was always a great chance to meet customers and other people involved with the processing of fats and oils and of course to stay abreast of new developments.

In addition, the Annual Meetings offered a convenient opportunity to travel to our labs and production facilities in the USA to keep in touch with colleagues.

Congratulations, Rob, and thank you for your contributions to AOCS and the scientific community! Learn more about the different types of AOCS membership.

Wednesday, January 12, 2022

Congratulations to newly minted Emeritus AOCS member: Tom Crosby

Each year the AOCS Governing Board has the honor of approving long-term members for Emeritus status. Emeritus Members are those members who either meet qualifications for Retired Member and have completed 35 years of membership in the Society or are Retired Members who have served as a past President, won the AOCS Award of Merit winner or A.R. Baldwin Distinguished Service Award winner, and have been accepted as an Emeritus Member with the approval of two-thirds of the Governing Board.

AOCS membership dues are free for the rest of Emeritus members' lives.

In 2022, 23 AOCS members achieved Emeritus membership. We will be spotlighting many of them throughout January.

Meet Tom Crosby

Tom Crosby

Tom is a chemical engineer who received his degrees from Rutgers University. He has over 40 years of experience in process and product development in foods and pharmaceuticals. He has held senior leadership positions in the CPG area for Procter & Gamble and PepsiCo Frito-Lay as well as in the commodity oils area for Bunge. 

He is an inventor or co-inventor on a number of food and pharmaceutical patents as well as authored a few book chapters and served on the editorial board for the 5th and 6th editions of Bailey's Industrial Oil and Fat Products. He is now semi-retired, consulting for Crossroads Innovations LLC.

How has your membership and involvement with AOCS influenced your career?

AOCS has afforded technical relationships and knowledge both in areas that applied and areas that would not necessarily apply to a current project but would later become quite useful. Just as important, if not more so, AOCS provided personal and professional relationships that became a network of support and friendship.

What advice do you have for early-career scientists/researchers who are at the start of their careers?

Stay curious and take advantage of the wealth of knowledge and experience that is available through AOCS and other professional organizations.

Congratulations, Tom, and thank you for your contributions to AOCS and the scientific community! Learn more about the different types of AOCS membership.

Tuesday, January 11, 2022

Make a difference in the AOCS community — volunteer today

Volunteer with AOCS

AOCS Divisions, Sections and Common Interest Groups are looking for volunteers to fill leadership team positions! These groups are at the forefront of all members activities. As a volunteer, you will have the opportunity to connect with new colleagues and develop your professional profile.

Leadership team members help develop networking events and interest area-focused activities and content like Midweek Mixers, AOCS Webinars and AOCS Annual Meeting programming.

Deadline to show your interest: February 14.

Sign up for a volunteer role.

Open Leadership Team Positions

Leadership team members are voted upon by the respective AOCS community, with Division elections occurring in March of every year. Division positions are 1-year terms with a maximum of three consecutive 1-year terms. AOCS membership and Division, Section, and/or CIG membership is required.

Questions? Email William Stanton, Manager, Member Communities and Engagement. We can help you find a role that's right for you.

  • Chairperson/President
    • Leads meetings and suggests when meetings should be held
    • Attends other meetings of the Society as a representative of the group
    • Works with other members of the leadership team to determine the priorities of the group
    • Identifies volunteers to coordinate programs, including awards, webinars and mentoring programs
    • Writes a chair message for 2 newsletters per year
    • Identifies future topics and ideas for AOCS to consider
  • Vice-Chairperson/Vice-President
    • Divisions only: AOCS Annual Meeting & Expo Technical Program Committee Chair for the Division
      • Develop session topics, titles and description
      • Identifies and secures session chairs
      • Works closely with the Division leadership team to execute the technical program for the annual meeting
    • Sections and CIGs
      • Attends meetings and actively participates in support of the good of the group
      • Leads programs or activities, as delegated by the chair
  • Secretary-Treasurer/Secretary
    • Takes the minutes and/or action items from any meeting of the leadership team and provides them to AOCS
    • Reviews the financial activity, if requested by AOCS staff, to ensure the financial health of the group
    • Coordinates any networking or social event held during the AOCS Annual Meeting & Expo

Sign up today to contribute your voice to the AOCS community.

Tuesday, January 4, 2022

Registration is now open for the 2022 AOCS Annual Meeting & Expo!

Register here

The AOCS Annual Meeting & Expo is the premier international science and business forum on fats, oils, surfactants, proteins and related materials.

We will be live and online, May 1–4, 2022! Choose to participate in person in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, or remotely — our user-friendly platform will seamlessly integrate more than 600 oral and poster presentations from around the world.

Abstracts are still being accepted through January 13. Submit your abstract today.

Take advantage of this unique opportunity to grow your scientific network while learning the latest research and technological developments.

Register now