New Professionals Joint Event with UC Davis Students

When I started the NCIFT New Professionals group last year, I wanted to build the New Professionals community – a special group for recent graduates and individuals with fewer than 10 years in the food science profession. One of my goals was to establish a stronger relationship between the new professionals and food science students. With thanks to New Professional Anna Caroselli and the student leaders at UC Davis, I’m happy to report that the first annual NCIFT New Professionals joint event with UC Davis students was a smashing success!

The UC Davis Food Tech Club, FSGSA, and Brewing Students were great hosts – they put up welcome signs so we wouldn’t get lost!

The event started with a tour of the The August A. Busch III Brewing and Food Science Laboratory. We saw the winery and brewery, as well as a food processing pilot plant, milk processing laboratory, classroom and an analytical laboratory. The brewery is an authentic, reduced-scale facility- donated and installed by Anheuser Busch.

After the tour, we moved into the Q&A session with 4 fabulous New Professionals on a panel, and moderator Lisa Rosenberg expertly fielding questions from students. The panel consisted of a cross-section of industry representatives, including Michelle Moy (Food Technologist, Del Monte Foods), Daryl Neal, Jr. (QA Manager, New Horizon Foods), Peter Ferstl, Ph.D. (Process Engineer, National Food Lab), and Jennifer Sutton (Applications Scientist, Hilmar Ingredients).
Students asked questions such as “”should I get an advanced degree or try to find a job after I graduate?” and “what kinds of things are you looking for on a resume?” and “if I have a choice between a summer internship or a summer job, what kinds of things should I consider and why?”
The discussions continued well after the panel concluded, with conversations and networking between students and new professionals! Thank you to NCIFT for supporting this event and supplying the food and beverage.

Looking forward to repeating this event next year!