Hands-on experience

Its practical approach and links to the real world are what made a young Bulgarian student opt for THU’s PFT programme. He’s glad he did.

Broad scope

Bulgarian student Evgeni Alaminov (20) is on the second year of the four-year version of THU’s

Evgeni Alaminov

Process and Food Technology (PFT) programme.When he graduates in 2013 he’ll be able to look for a job in a number of fields, from food processing to the oil and petroleum industry. His current leaning is towards food processing, but he’s glad the PFT has a broad-enough scope to allow him to keep his options open. 

Ideal mix

That broad scope comes from the PFT being a mix of classroom tuition, lectures, group activities, projects and lab work, divided across several different themes, or blocks. Theory in the lecture rooms, including exact sciences like maths and physics, are brought to life in the lab with hands-on experience using equipment like reactors, and distillation towers. And to prepare them for industry later, students’ communication, reporting and presentation skills are also improved.  

Cultural diversity

Evgeni loves the multicultural nature of the PFT. His classmates come from many countries in Europe, such as the Netherlands, Germany, Romania and his homeland of Bulgaria and from Asian countries too, like Indonesia and China. “It’s fascinating to work with people of so many different nationalities and just to enjoy the cultural diversity.”

Links with the industry

Another of the programme’s big advantages for Evgeni is the real-life and relevant practical cases from industry. “We are currently working on cases from the water processing industry for example. And to bring projects to life THU maintains industry links with companies like Unilever, Sara Lee, Heineken, Tata Steel and more. It’s really useful to see how these companies operate.”

First-hand experience

The variety of the practical assignments is also something Evgeni appreciates. In every block he and his classmates carry out new and different practical projects, normally visiting a factory to experience first-hand the processes they are learning about. He’s currently doing block three of the programme, the environmental block, which focuses extensively on things like reducing the production of toxic gases in many processes. “The projects we’ve done in this block range from beer making, in which we had to define a recipe and then brew the beer, to checking out ice-cream production.”

Interesting

The latter was not so much about ice cream production itself as to how equipment such as surface-scraped heat exchangers are used to obtain the required product structure, explains Evgeni. “We had to investigate which parameters are important, make calculations for different case situations and establish which conditions are necessary for the exchanger to make the perfect ice cream. It was a fascinating part of the process for me because it’s a lot more difficult than I thought and it depends on several factors.”

Direct dialogue

PFT Students in a Lab

Just like in industry, teamwork is a key element in all PFT practical assignments. “We work as a group, we present as a group and we evaluate as a group,” says Evgeni. At the end of every block, he and his group have to write a report on the practical assignments and prepare and give a presentation to an audience comprising the other groups, lecturers and representatives of the company involved. “Afterwards people can ask questions and we get immediate feedback. This direct dialogue is both useful and informative. Cooperation with the companies involved is also very good. Representatives explain what’s required of us and we get ample opportunities to ask questions if anything is unclear.”

Connected to the real world

As he approaches the halfway stage of the PFT programme Evgeni is thoroughly enjoying it, particularly the practical side. “One of the reasons that I chose to follow this programme is that it’s more connected to the real world. We have the opportunity to use the equipment in the lab now that we’ll be using later in our jobs. The practical experience is a huge plus because we know how to turn the machines on, how to set them up and use them, what can go wrong and why the results are sometimes not what you expect.”

To find out more about the Process and Food Technology (PFT) programme please visit this page