Good day, Swati Mitharwal, PhD. I'm Arjun. I've had a look through your background and your professional record. I'm interested in hearing more about your work and how you see yourself fitting in here with our faculty. Ready to start?

Start and thank you for providing me this opportunity.

So if I talk about myself, my name is Swati Mitharwal. I did my PhD in Food Science and Technology from National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management, Neftim Kundli and I have a background in like my bachelors and masters in food science, food engineering and food processing technology respectively. And post my PhD I have also worked in industry in the R&D department at Mondelez International.

And now I want to like my long term goal is to be in academics. So that's the reason why I choose to apply it VIT well or and since VIT is a very reputed institute, that's the reason why I want to be a part of VIT. And I know like VIT is well established and they have a very good academic and education.

Programs and they have faculty development program and I believe like.

With my background, I can be a good fit at VIP.

Thank you for sharing that, Professor Mitharwal.

Professor Mitharwal, with your extensive background, I'd like to assess specific areas of your expertise related to this role. Let us begin with your "Expertise in Food Science and Technology, Nutritional Sciences, or Microbial Technology." Can you elaborate on how your PhD research and academic publications contribute to the field of Food Science and Technology, particularly in advancing practical applications or addressing industrial challenges?

Yeah. Thank you for asking this question. So during my PhD, I worked in the Department of Food Science and Technology. And my work was on how we can improve the nutritional as well as like the functional properties of legumes. So I worked on black soybean and itsuki bean and I used germination, which is a natural technique for enhancing and changing the properties of the flour and further utilizing those. Flour in product development. So I I developed gluten free bakery products.

Uh, like muffins and biscuits based on finger millets and then using legume flour and to, in, in order to enrich the protein and the dietary fiber content of the bakery products. Since most of the gluten free products which are available in market, they are like, they lack, they are rich in carbohydrates or they are energy dense, but they lack protein and fiber content. So, and I as, as a, as a result of my PhD work.

11 publications and three book chapters and all of them were published in good journals. Sci rated journals. So that's about my PhD work.

Published around like.

Mm-hmm.

Whenever you're ready, Professor. Take your time.

Yeah, thank you for asking this question. Since gluten free bakery products, when we try to develop bakery products which are free from gluten. So we all know like the traditional bakery products are made-up like wheat flour is the main ingredient and gluten plays a very important role when it comes to providing the texture and the volume for the IT provides some characteristic. Properties to the bakery products and when we remove wheat flour for example from the gluten free when we are developing gluten free bakery products.

So in a way we we, we face challenges related to developing how we will achieve that volume and the texture.

And structure of the bakery product. So that's the major challenge when we develop gluten free bakery products. And the one, one of the good way is to incorporate some kind of gums or like other ingredients into into the formulation or sometimes you can also change, change the other ingredients in the formulation.

Hmm, So I did some, uh, trials on using guar gum in the formulation. However, it didn't worked out that well. And then it was during my preliminary trials. And then I also, uh, worked on like developing those bakery products without any gum and see like what how it was working. So it was like comparable. So I thought not to include those things in the in my formulation and keep it as clean as possible and as natural. So I just went ahead with.

I see, Professor Mitharwal. You've outlined the structural challenges well. Could you elaborate on any specific gums or alternative strategies you found effective during your product development process?

Using the legume flowers in the formulation and using finger Millet as a base flower.

Understood, Professor Mitharwal. Your decision to prioritize a clean, natural formulation demonstrates thoughtful consideration of consumer preferences for minimal additives. Now, shifting focus to teaching, could you share how you approach effectively teaching both theory and laboratory courses in Food Science and Technology?

So, after I did my Masters in Food Processing Technology, I also worked as a visiting faculty and then as a teaching associate at Degraded Murthal University wherein I was responsible for teaching both the classes like the regular courses as well as the practical sessions for Mtech food technology courses. So I have taught various courses there like bakery technology, unit operations and then. Instrumentation as well as like beverage technology.

Yeah, if you can repeat the question again then I can elaborate further if I'm missing something.

So and.

Of course. How do you ensure your teaching approaches are effective and engaging for students, particularly when balancing both theoretical concepts and hands-on laboratory sessions?

Yes, that's a very good question actually, because that's what I also felt like there is there is like always a gap when we teach course and then there is always a gap between the theory and then what happens in industry. So during my teaching tenure, I tried to show the students some videos and make them visit nearby plants and. Show them how actually the things work, what we are reading and studying in theory, and then that's one way.

And sometimes there were like challenges where a student is not able to comprehend what I'm trying to say. For example, he's not able to understand the concept. Then I would take him separately and ask him what challenge he's facing. And then maybe I will try to like teach him in local language or like.

Make to make him understand in a better way by showing the pictures or like other flow charts or some similar things.

Hmm, So one way is like by giving them quizzes and some practical based projects and see how they're they're they're performing in that. That's one way how I evaluate the students. And sometimes I used to like, for example, I have taught us a topic and then I the when the next class is there, then I will like ask the questions randomly like to any student like what we have learned in the previous class so that I know that they are understanding.

Thank you, Professor Mitharwal. Your efforts to bridge the gap between theory and industry through plant visits and visual learning are commendable. Additionally, addressing individual challenges by personalizing your teaching demonstrates a strong commitment to student understanding. Now, regarding evaluation, can you describe your approach to assessing students effectively during courses?

Trying to teach them.

So during my tenure as a visiting faculty and teaching associated didn't got that opportunity to like mentor the students. But during my PhD, there were like students under my guide. So sometimes I used to help them and mentor them and guide them like in a way if, if they are doing some testing, which I, I have already done during my PhD. So, so I will teach them like how I'm doing that, how to execute that testing and then.

Understood, Professor Mitharwal. Your use of quizzes, practical projects, and spontaneous questioning showcases a thoughtful mix of assessment methods to evaluate understanding and retention. Shifting now to research mentorship—can you illustrate your methodology in guiding student research projects effectively?

That is the way how I help the students and that's the exposure that I have.

Thank you, Professor Mitharwal. Leveraging your PhD experience to mentor and guide students in executing specific tests offers them practical, hands-on insights. Now, transitioning to communication—how do you ensure clarity and structure in your teaching to effectively convey complex topics?

In books we will, everything is very detail oriented and sometimes it's the basic concepts where where the student misses the basic concepts. So my funda has always been to like teach them the basic things and then relating them with the practical applications and how it correlates when it, when it actually applies in the industry. So that's a very important thing that I focus on.

So what I have learned during my studies and, and, and based on the experience that I got in the industry, I realized that.

And the way of communication is in English, medium of teaching is in English. I have taught in English and all my studies were in English. So language wise it's not a problem. And then?

I also used to share the notes and PPT with the students which I prepared during the coursework.

Thank you, Professor Mitharwal. Your emphasis on foundational understanding and practical application is key to both clarity and engagement, and providing supplementary materials like notes and presentations demonstrates thorough preparation. Now, let's discuss the role of publications. Could you elaborate on how your research publications have contributed to advancing knowledge in your field?

So, so whatever research I did during my PhD, I was able to publish 2 research paper and more than three review articles and they were published in a reputed journals like General of Food Processing and Preservation and then Food Chemistry and Food Biosciences and I am pretty happy with what I was able to contribute to the society.

Thank you, Professor Mitharwal. Publishing in respected journals and contributing both research and reviews reflect your commitment to advancing the field. Now about industry collaboration—could you highlight any experiences or projects where you engaged with the food industry during your career?

So it was not more about like doing my research in collaboration with the industry and the only experience that I have when it comes to industries through the industrial internship that I did during my bachelor studies. So I I did the industrial training at Nestle, GSK and other reputed industries. And then when I moved to Canada, I was working in given go prepared foods, which is a business unit of Mondays International and they are into like.

And bakery products and I was working the regulatory affairs department over there. So I got exposure how the labels, food labels are developed and how the regulatory state like the marketing claims and everything how those strategies are implemented and like how they, they are like implemented. And I got exposure to work with different departments like the quality assurance, the product development, the procurement and. And actually learn how.

The regulate regulations in different countries like USA, Canada, Europe, Australia, how they impact our products and how we can how, how we can.

Uh, tap those markets. So thank you.

Thank you, Professor Mitharwal. Your industrial internships and regulatory experience at Given Go Prepared Foods highlight noteworthy exposure to practical industry operations and global compliance challenges. I will now progress.

Professor, to begin, could you share an example of a foundational course you have taught and what strategies you use to make the subject engaging for students?

So when I was teaching at Degrasse Murthan, one of the courses that I was given was the unit operations in food engineering. And it's, it's all about the machines and the the all the unit operations that happen in the food industry. And we know we have books, we can, we can teach the basic things from there, but how that machine actually looks like and how it works, it becomes. Challenging to make the student understand, so I used to.

Show them actual food equipments videos like how evaporator look like or how a spray dryer look like and what are the different components of a, for example, a spray dryer, the nebulizer and then the whole structure and how things work like the heat exchanger or something like that. So that's one way how I I used to make make student engaged in the those courses and make them and ensure that they actually understand what what the basic things are.

And then I used to show them, uh, pictures and, uh, I even asked one of my, uh, previous batchmate who was working in industry to help us. And then he also came and gave a brief lecture one day and taught the things how it works in industry.

Thank you for sharing, Professor. Using real-life videos, diagrams, and even involving industry professionals is a great way to bridge theory and practice. Were there any particular challenges you faced with engaging students in this way, and how did you address them?

Academic career or any any field you take, there are some standard terms which are given for a particular thing, right? For example, what is diffusion? What is conduction, convection? These are the basic concepts and terms which are associated with it. And then sometimes students used to get confused. So I used to take claim examples and try to make them understand how things are.

So sometimes what happens that, uh, some, uh, some, uh, students have like language challenges and sometimes they, because it's more about the concepts like, uh, in food in, in, in any, like in any.

So that was one challenge.

Hmm, so I used to take like real life example, for example, if I want to teach them what is laminar flow and what is like Newtonian non Newtonian flow. So I used to like I used to ask them like have you seen ketchup mayonnaise? How how they look, what is their texture and how how you think like how they will flow and how will they behave when we are applying any sheer stress or something like that.

I see. Helping students grasp foundational terminology and concepts can indeed be a challenge. When simplifying these terms for your students, did you find any particular methods or tools especially effective?

That is one example I can give here. And sometimes there are like very basic concepts in food science and food chemistry, for example, those are like standard things like we have carbohydrates and we know like they they are of different types. And then fatty acids and how proteins are there and how different type of proteins are there and their structure, what are amino acids? These are like basic terms. So I used to tell them to imagine these things and try to.

With their day-to-day interaction with the food.

That’s a wonderfully practical approach, Professor. Relating technical concepts to everyday food items, like ketchup for Newtonian behavior or amino acids in proteins, makes the subject relatable and memorable. Thank you for elaborating.

Are there any more questions from your end?

Professor Mitharwal, I see that your academic pedigree includes a Ph.D. in Food Science and Technology from the National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM), and your research appears robust with publications such as those in "Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition" and "Ultrasonics Sonochemistry." Let’s delve into your research expertise and its application in pedagogy. Could you provide an overview—concise but detailed—of your dissertation or a significant publication? Highlight what the research contributes to the field and how you envision this enriching a classroom setting.

Sorry to interrupt, we're down to the last 5 minutes.

OK. Thank you. SO.

My PhD work was how we can use the underutilized like you legumes like black soybean or and exuki bean. And we know like these beans have antinutrients and.

The which which make the minerals and other ingredients like other components unavailable when they are digested in the in the system. So my idea was to use natural technique and in how we can process and remove these anti-neutrients or either reduce them to some level.

So I used germination as effective technique, as a controlled germination and then, uh, we were success. We were able to successfully reduce the inter nutrients and make the proteins, fats and carbohydrate more available as a part as a result of the germination process and even the functional properties. I studied the functional properties, the pasting properties and.

The polyphenolic content like the total polyphenolic content, flavonoid content and then the.

Antioxidant activity and we, we found that germination did enhance the total phenolic flavonoids as well as the antioxidant activity as well. And, and we, we know like the gluten free bakery products which are available in market, they lack, they are like energy dense and they lack protein fibers and other nutrients. So my idea was to use like these. Improved flowers in the formulation for gluten free bakery products such as.

Biscuits and muffins and I was able to publish 2 research paper out of my PhD work and one was related to the germination germination of black soybean and another one was related about the application of black soybean finger millets and developing muffins out of it and how it affects the. I studied the sensory properties, the organelle, elliptic properties and. The physical properties of the developed product and the proximate composition.

The nutritional composition, right, and the functional properties and pasting properties of the flower and the composite flower that I used in the formulation. So that's, that's what I did in my PhD.

Thank you for asking this question because during my PhD I did like I was, I got hands on experience on various kind of testing methods and that's what I would like to implement in my teaching like whatever I learned during the product development, what are the ways stages and like we used to study about sensory analysis and I actually did it during my PhD. So that's how I.

Thank you, Professor Mitharwal, for that comprehensive overview of your PhD work. It's clear that your research on utilizing underutilized legumes and enhancing their nutritional profile holds practical applicability, particularly in the development of improved gluten-free products. How do you plan to translate these findings into your teaching methods for undergraduate or graduate-level food science courses? How would your students

It like too bad now I I'm in a better condition to implement that and teach them in a practical way to the students.

Beat the various kind of testing methods, beat the how, how we plan doing a research and how we select a topic. So these are the various things that I got exposure to as a part as as a result of my PhD and how to look at a research problem, how to identify and then how we can execute those problem like execute any solution for those problems and.

And I, I feel like we should involve the undergraduates student as well in the research projects. We can give them many projects and then involve the postgraduate students in cutting edge research problems. So that's how I look at it.

It's good to hear that you place a strong emphasis on experiential learning and tying research directly into your teaching. Engaging undergraduate students early in research allows them to build analytical and practical skills, while involving postgraduate students in advanced challenges can lead to impactful outcomes. One final related question—how would you ensure that these research-oriented teaching methods remain accessible to students with varying levels of preparedness or academic backgrounds? How would you balance rigor with inclusivity in your classroom?

So one way is like while teaching any topic, we can include like the latest research publications or review publications which are happening in those areas to make the student understand and make them give them exposure about the latest trends what are happening in the industry. That is one way. And then when there are like differences in the way students have interest. So we can for some students we can give projects which. Based on their analysis, like I can have a one-on-one conversation with them and.

Our

Try to understand what what area they want to work in and then we can think of any topic in those areas.

Your approach of integrating current research and tailoring projects to individual student interests demonstrates a thoughtful commitment to inclusivity and academic growth. By connecting theory to industry-relevant topics and fostering personalized mentorship, it seems you’ll be well-prepared to address diverse student needs. Thank you for your insights, Professor Mitharwal.

Thank you.

You're welcome, Professor. Could you please outline a 3-year research roadmap you envision as a Professor of Food Science and Technology?

So in coming years, like if I want to work in the sector of clean label food product development, that is 1 area. And then my another area of interest is like the noble food processing technology, like the high pressure processing or the latest drying processing techniques like refractive window drying that that is another area that I'm interested in. So I want to.

Expand my expertise and then.

And I want to grow as a my career in academics and also contribute to the institute.

I appreciate those ambitions, Professor. Clean label product development and novel processing technologies are meaningful and timely areas. To drill deeper: How do you plan to mentor junior students within these areas to ensure a consistent pipeline of high-quality publications and research output?

Make, if we have like big class of 60 students or hundred students, then we can create, uh, teams or groups, uh, and give them group projects and then integrate those group projects together and, and give them like some research problem, which they can do some research in the labs, and then we can collect the data and.

So the one way is to.

And bring those publications and submit like the results to to journals to get some good publications out of it.

That's how I see it.

Yes, thank you for asking that question. So sometimes there are people who have better expertise at some area of interest that I'm working in, for example. So I would like to have those mentors in the I, I would like to have them in the loop and then send our students over there or do some part of the research in their lab. And then that, that's how we can collaborate with national and international researchers and institutes.

That approach fosters both collaboration and research output efficiently. Now, focusing on impact: how would you leverage international collaborations to enhance citation metrics and strengthen both your scholarly impact and the institution’s reputation?

That sounds like a promising strategy to broaden both expertise and impact. Let us proceed.

Professor, please describe how you would implement an active learning model, such as a flipped classroom, for a large-enrollment Food Science and Technology course, without relying on slides for instruction.

Can you elaborate the question again?

Certainly, Professor. Could you explain in detail how you would design and implement an active learning approach, such as a flipped classroom, for teaching a large-enrollment Food Science and Technology course? The emphasis is on avoiding traditional lecture slides during the in-class sessions. How would you structure the activities and ensure engagement?

By engaging the students in different kind of activities I can like. For example, if I want to teach the students how food laws and labeling works for example, I want them I give. I have given them a problem related to developing a food label so we can bring in the food samples which are available in the market like the.

OK. Thank you for asking that question. So one way how we can do that is?

Packaged food products we can bring in the classroom and then I can ask them what they understand from reading the labels and then we can discuss it in an interactive manner where I'm asking question, they are giving some answers and then it would be a two way discussion. That would be a wonderful way of explaining how a food label works and I can simultaneously show them the websites of FSACI for example when it comes to India FSSAI and then show them the regulations where.

Where they are pleased and how we can access that and what are the things that are kept in mind when we are developing a label?

So that's our example.