Living a dream of research in the food industry
Monday, April 24, 2023
By: Cristina Popovici, Fulbright Visiting Scholar
My name is Cristina Popovici and I am a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at the Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center at Oklahoma State University. My home institution is Technical University of Moldova, Faculty of Food Technology.
I think I am a really lucky person because I am doing what I love the most in my life. As a child, I was always willing to study and was eager to tell my parents about my dreams. Thanks to God and the support of my loved ones, I finished school and graduated from university after defending my doctoral thesis. I recently received the permission for PhD thesis and student supervision. My childhood dream came true. University is my life!
In the frame of my teaching activity, I share my knowledge with my students, who are wonderful young people. During my research activity, I try to develop novel food products and technologies for the benefit of the people. I usually publish all my scientific results in various professional journals and present them at international scientific events. I always benefit from meeting new people and experts in my field of study and research. Also, I enjoy the opportunity to discuss scientific results, new ideas and to find new opportunities to collaborate for common achievements. I think with a wider circle of colleagues and friends, we have more opportunities for our development and as a result, we can be more useful for society. I am always open to everything new and exciting.
My second major dream from my childhood was to visit the United States of America. I always feel something good and magical when I think about this country. Nowadays, my dream to visit the United States has surpassed itself. While being affiliated with FAPC, I had the opportunity and honor to get acquainted with the academic environment and culture of students and the team at FAPC. I consider FAPC the best host for me to achieve my childhood dreams, professional goals and to be useful with all my knowledge and skills for people in the USA. I can conclude that the FAPC teaching activity is very close and similar to my teaching and research understanding of food science. The team at FAPC works to help and share their knowledge with food industry enterprises.
During my Fulbright program, I had a wonderful opportunity to work with the brilliant faculty member, Dr. Ravi Jadeja. His academic excellence, professional integrity, intelligence, support and enthusiasm inspire me! We are focusing on several common projects, one of which is a new product development. Together, we researched the development of novel pecan milk ice cream for people with type 2 diabetes. Scientific results were presented at several research symposia, and we placed first at one of them. I had the opportunity to visit several food industry companies that Dr. Ravi is working with and attend his high-level workshops focused on food safety issues. Based on the workshops I attended, I was recognized by FAPC as a food safety professional.
Additionally, Andrea Graves invited me to participate in an interview at a local news station. I shared my FAPC impressions and spoke about my activities. Recently, I was nominated by Dr. Patricia Rays and become a member of the Epsilon Upsilon Chapter of Phi Beta Delta Society for International Scholars.
In conclusion, I want to express all my admiration and passion to the team at FAPC! You are the best!! You are more than a team; you are a wonderful family! You will always be in my heart as an unforgettable and unique experience! Thank you!