Congratulations to Tejaswi Boyapati for receiving the Peanut Proud Scholarship, which recognizes a graduate student studying in the U.S. who values food safety and is committed to building consumer confidence by ensuring high-quality food for consumption.
The award includes a $2,000 scholarship and expenses paid to attend the IAFP Annual Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, from July 26–29, 2026. www.foodprotection.org/about/past-awardees/peanut-proud-student-scholarship-award/
Congratulations to Tejaswi Boyapati for receiving the Best Poster Award at the Canadian Food Engineering Conference 2026.
The award-winning poster, titled “Optimizing Gas Flow Dynamics in Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) Plasma-Activated Water: Decoupling Energy Input from Efficacy for Fresh Produce Sanitization,” was authored by Boyapati, T., Muthukumarappan, K., and Yang, R.
The conference was held at the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, from May 13–16, 2026.
MN-IFT PhD Graduate Scholarship Award
Congratulations to Tejaswi Boyapati for receiving the MN-IFT PhD Graduate Scholarship Award from the Minnesota Section of the Institute of Food Technologists (MN-IFT).
This award recognizes outstanding academic achievement and research contributions in the field of food science and technology.
Minnesota, USA | 2026
Third Place – Poster Presentation
Congratulations to Tejaswi Boyapati for receiving Third Place in the Poster Presentation, Doctoral Category, at the MN-IFT Great Plains Subsection Poster Competition.
The competition was held at the SDSU Raven Precision Agriculture Center in Brookings, South Dakota, in October 2025.
Dr. Yang attended the 2025 IAFP Annual Meeting and presented the team's recent work on low-moisture food safety, titled:"Influence of Ascorbic Acid on the Thermal Inactivation of Salmonella spp. and Enterococcus faecium under High-Temperature, Low-Humidity Environment".
The abastract was selected for the finalist of student competition but notification email was not received and the student, Rajesh, did not attend the meeting. Sigh~
Dr. Yang's Group Attended the 2025 IFT FIRST Annual Event & Expo in Chicago, IL
The following presentations were given in this conference:
1. Boyapati, T., Dangal, R., Sha, X., Muthukumarappan, K., Yang, R. (2025). Predicting Salmonella inactivation in water from bubble sparkling cold plasma treatment. IFT FIRST Annual Meeting and Expo 2025. Chicago, IL. Poster Presentation. Date: 7/13/2025 – 7/16/2025
2. Dangal, R., Boyapati, T., Muthukumarappan, K., Yang, R. (2025). Effects of Ascorbic Acids on Thermal Death Kinetics of Salmonella spp. and Enterococcus faecium in High-temperature and Extremely Low-humidity Conditions. IFT FIRST Annual Meeting and Expo 2025. Chicago, IL. Poster Presentation. Date: July 7/13/2025 – 7/16/2025
Dr. Yang was invited to visit the manufacturing facility of NPIC (Pet treat) to dicuss about potential collaborations to strengthen Food Safety and Quality control. It’s inspiring to see a rapidly growing pet treat manufacturer place Food Safety at the heart of its operations.
Dr. Yang's Group Attended the 2025 ASABE North Central Intersectional Conference in Fargo, ND
The following presentations were given in this conference:
Kazemzadehpournaki, L., Muthukumarappan, K., Yang, R. (2025). Assessment of Q-switched UV Laser for Microbial Surface Inactivation: Effectiveness and Underlying Mechanisms. 2025 ASABE North Central Intersectional Conference. North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND. Poster Presentation. Date: 04/25/2025
Boyapati, T., Dangal, R., Muthukumarappan, K., Yang, R. (2025). Inactivation of Salmonella using Plasma-Generated Reactive Species. 2025 ASABE North Central Intersectional Conference. North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND. Poster Presentation. Date: 04/25/2025
Sha, X., Muthukumarappan, K., Yang, R. (2025). Effect of Inoculation Methods on Salmonella Enteritidis Inactivation Under 254 nm UV Treatment . 2025 ASABE North Central Intersectional Conference. North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND. Poster Presentation. Date: 04/25/2025
Dangal, R., Boyapati, T., Muthukumarappan, K., Yang, R. (2025). Effect of Acids on Thermal Death Kinetics of Salmonella spp. and Enterococcus faecium under High-Temperature, Low-Humidity Conditions. 2025 ASABE North Central Intersectional Conference. North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND. Poster Presentation. Date: 04/25/2025
Dr. Yang and ZDC Tech propose to create a novel high-temperature humidity sensor for food industrial applications in a harsh environment at high temperatures up to 300 °C. The overall goal of this project is to create a durable solid-state humidity sensor and calibration methods for the food industry for high-temperature food processing control and monitoring.
Dr. Yang's Group Attended the COFE' 24 conference in Seattle, WA
The following presentations were given in this conference:
Yang, R. & Tang J. (2024). Developing thermal control of Salmonella in food drying and roasting processes using predictive models. Conference of Food Engineering (CoFE) 2024 (Invited Session Presentation).
Dangal, R., Boyapati, T., Muthukumarappan, K., and Yang, R. (2024). Measuring the thermal death kinetics of Salmonella Enteritidis and Enterococcus faecium in finish drying conditions at constant temperatures and humidities. Conference of Food Engineering (CoFE) 2024.
Boyapati, T., Dangal, R., Muthukumarappan, K., and Yang, R. (2024). Evaluating the Thermal and Nonthermal Effects of Cold Plasma Activated Water in Inactivation of Salmonella Spp. and Enterococcus faecium. Conference of Food Engineering (CoFE) 2024.
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