Having trouble trying to relate what you are learning at university to your degree? It is all relevant we promise but as students ourselves we know how hard it is to keep going when it does not all seem applicable. Elizabeth Andrews, a Product Developer at Jardox reports back on how what she learnt at university applies to the food industry today.
Biochemistry - gives you an understanding of how molecules in your specific food area react under different pressures and temperatures - having this knowledge gives you a better understanding of why materials behave in the way you do, and help you solve any issues you encounter when something doesn't go to plan.
Quantitative skills - a lot of NPD jobs require some factory time, and this is often overseeing production and scaling small quantities for samples and application work to big customer orders for bulk production. Knowing basic maths for this is important but also calculating Raw Material cost, yields and wastage also enables you to work with other areas of the business to solve problems.
Processing modules - Helpful to be able to understand basic equipment used in the industry, gives you a basis for doing any job you choose, with a more in depth understanding built during 'on the job' training and experience.