Good day, Dr. Annam Renita A. 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?

Please start by introducing your professional journey in academia.

OK, I'm Doctor Anand Ranita. I'm currently working as Professor in Department of Chemical Engineering, Department of Science and Technology. I've completed my undergraduate in Chemical Engineering from Coimbatore Institute of Technology in 1997 and I've completed my postgraduate from AC Tech and University in 1999. I completed my PhD in Chemical Engineering from Satyabhama Institute of Science and Technology in 2013.

Publication Scopus database with the h-index of 18 and more than 1500 citations. I've completed an in in in ISRO project in 2021 and I'm currently working on an Erasmus project which is an international project.

One the bio guys digest from food waste and then another is lake water testing and I'm currently working on producing biochar for a particular industry in Salem.

I've completed 2 consultancy projects in.

I've published a book book on sustainable technologies, on wastewater treatment technologies and I've published 3 book chapters. I have my DHG work was on biodiesel from seaweed and at that time I I was integrated by the fact that the diesel which we produce was.

Was kind of interfered with the bio pigments in the the sea breeds. So I thought why and the biomass which leftover from the biodiesel was just kind of thrown away.

Just as I said, so I've been.

And I was Al, I always had this thought of the cakes and the chocolates having artificial colorants, which are very toxic to human beings, especially the children are quite attracted to the, the colors in the cakes and the, uh, chocolates. So I thought, why don't we make, uh, something natural from the food base? And, uh, seaweed was very sustainable because, uh, we make, uh, uh, Agar alginate from that and we just throw off the biomass most probably as an.

The feed but it has got more valuable ingredients or components in that and while pigment is one of them and apart from that seaweed is a good natural polymer which I use to make it as a eco bag.

So from that, it's from that I could understand that chemical engineering can play a role in the unit operations from any food base or even a foot biomass as such. And one of the consultancy work which I did was to produce bio gas from food waste.

And moreover, as of now I'm working on edibles tableware like spoons and cups. So that technology part is quite useful to attain some sustainable goals like 1213 and 14. One is like below water and the other is climate action because the unit operations carry out and food is which which really helps in climate action because. The The agricultural products, say, take up carbon dioxide for their photosynthesis, and then they.

And apart from that, as of now, I'm working on water pot. It's edible pot made from sodium alginate and calcium chloride. So I thought like chemical engineering does play a major role in terms of unit operations and the kinetics.

Kind of sequestrate carbon.

Thank you for sharing such detailed insights into your work and research. Let’s delve deeper into your skills and experiences to thoroughly assess your suitability for the role. To begin, let’s confirm your Ph.D. specialization and obtain an overview of your scholarly research focus. Can you elaborate briefly on the core area of your Ph.D. research and how it aligns with food science and technology?

OK, my PhD work was was on producing priority result from macro algae which is seaweeds.

So the seaweeds as such, when compared to microalgae, they have less lipid content. So many research work had been carried out on microalgae and.

If you just research on the production of alginate and Agar which is being used in the food industry, they come from seaweeds and the remaining biomass. The leftover biomass uses animal feed which has got a very low value addition to those biomass that it can be exploited for a better purpose.

So it has the lipid after the Sagar and adenate and carrageenan extraction so that lipid can be used.

For making biodiesel, which as of now will solve current interest based on the pollution which is created by the commercial, the commercial fuels, fossil fuels. And moreover, the apart from that it's, it's actually electric crude, just like how we how we use refine petroleum crude produce different fractions of valuable value-added products. The same way seaweed crude can be used as a biorefinery. The raw material for a bio refinery.

To produce so many value added products so one of that was pigments so like that so I thought like a food raw material has got a lot of potential so I started working on the pigment extraction from flowers and then they even.

The flowers and coloured materials which are naturally available use unit operations on that. Apart from that, plastic plays a major role in creating lot of primary pollution and a secondary pollution. If you could just replace all that with the bioplastic which is which can be produced, which is to be produced from food materials it it definitely reduces the plastic, the pollution load as well as the lot of food waste can be utilised for that.

Making the load on the landfills to be less.

So that's what I definitely unit operations and the kinetics and the transfer phenomena where we where we dwell into the mass transfer and heat transfer plays a major role in food technology, which has to be taught to the students. And besides that, the basic 1 is the mass and energy balance where any unit operations, whether we take it to be evaporation or drying or or conveying the for that also pumps are used. So that is so chemical engineering becomes an.

Part of unit operations, the kinetics part and the safety part where the pasteurization of fermentation, all that is, you know, kind of it's a chemical engineering aspect into the food technology and moreover the preservation. Nowadays we see so many biofilms just coming. It's the technology which is acting on which is being used to make these.

Fit into the role of a food technology uh, teacher in, in the, in the food technology department with the knowledge on unit operations, mass transfer, heat transfer and the kinetics, which also is a very core integral part of food technology.

Biofilms is also a chemical engineering aspect, so I feel that I I would bet I would bet I would.

Thank you, Professor. You’ve clearly articulated how your expertise in chemical engineering, particularly in unit operations, mass and energy transfer, and kinetics, directly complements the field of food science and technology. Your contributions in areas like biofuel production, natural pigment extraction, and biofilm technologies exhibit a strong alignment with sustainable innovation in this discipline. Moving ahead, I would like to assess your teaching methodology. Suppose you were to instruct a class of undergraduate students on the topic of “Extraction of Natural Pigments from Biomass.” How would you structure your lecture to ensure both conceptual understanding and practical application among the students?

So, the basic food material has to be taught to them based on the Khabar rays proteins. The components of the food has to be first the students should be aware of that and then the unit operations which can be used to extract that particular component from the material has to be taught. So, I will start from the basic basic values, teach them the structure of the food material from which we are going to extract and then the unit operations which can be used what all the.

Varieties of human, the options, various options can be used in operations which can be used to extract these valuable materials or especially the pigments from the the food material. I will teach them and how how it can be purified. So that's what we say to be downstream processing, that processing part, the isolation and purification. I'll be teaching them apart from that, the the reactor vessel from which we are going to do that. The way we are going to immerse.

The particular pigment will also I will also teach on that. So it will be like a structure starting from the raw material to the final product.

Thank you, Professor. Your structured approach, starting from the fundamentals of food composition, progressing through unit operations, and culminating in downstream processing, showcases a comprehensive teaching style. Emphasizing the entire journey—from raw material to final product—illustrates a strong pedagogical framework for imparting both theoretical and applied knowledge effectively. Now, let’s explore your ability to engage students critically. How would you incorporate critical thinking or problem-solving exercises into a laboratory session related to pigment extraction from biomass?

The student should be taught about, uh, how to find the protein content, carbohydrate content, the amount of each protein, carbohydrate pigments and the composition. As such, how we can, uh, separate each of the constituents and then, uh, teach them about chromatography where they can isolate the different proteins or different pigments and each one has a different test, Especially in our concentrating on pigments is basically a chromatography.

And then isolation, purification of those pigments without.

Without.

Damaging the entire structural component because some pigments are heats and stiff, so so we need. So I will teach them the isolation, purification and the separation aspects of how to extract the natural pigments from the food materials.

Thank you, Professor. Your emphasis on teaching students techniques such as chromatography and the careful handling of heat- and light-sensitive pigments highlights your focus on practical, hands-on learning and analytical rigor. Incorporating these aspects into your laboratory sessions would allow students to develop essential skills in extraction, purification, and handling of food-grade biomaterials. Let’s now proceed to discuss your experience in guiding student research projects. Could you provide an example of a student project you have supervised that demonstrates your ability to mentor research initiatives in food science or a related area? How did you guide the student, and what was the outcome of the project?

So especially I would like to talk about the ecobacks.

We first broke down, broke broke it down to the components and so it was about a natural polymer. I wouldn't give the full details because it's it's still in the patent state. So we broke down into the components of the natural polymer cross linking agent and a stabilizing agent and then we introduced design software where these components amounts were varied.

Like the amount of crossing agent, amount of the natural pigment from sorry natural polymer from the seaweed. We started the base metal from the seaweed and the stabilizing agent.

And then we use the software to optimize the conditions.

And also the, so the conditions are optimized and then we made it into a we made it into a thin film on a pegged dish and then we gave it to for and then we made as a pellet and then we gave it for injection molding. So I guided this for a final year project and the variations optimizing the various.

Concentration or the amounts of this these three materials itself was time-consuming because.

The film either would be like very hard which cannot be made as a pellet and then it a lot of wastage was there and then like after so many trials like it was like a trial and error method. After so many trials we succeeded into making a pellet and then we gave injection molding and it beautifully came out as a ecoback. And after that it's just not only the product making it has to undergo certain tests, especially the thermal strength and the mechanical strength and the.

So and the biodegradability, so we study each of the tests and in the particular say 6 to 9 months period on biodegradability and the mechanical tests and the thermal tests and then we found out that the seaweed has got a very good barrier resistance to moisture and grease.

And it can withstand a little bit higher temperature compared to the other commercial buybacks.

So in that way I guided my student and then the outcome was published as a.

That's a kind of a process patent. Now we are in the product patent.

Apply for product patent.

Thank you, Professor. Your role in guiding the eco bag project, from conceptualization to optimization, testing, and patent application, demonstrates an exceptional ability to mentor students through complex, interdisciplinary research. The iterative process of refining the material composition and ensuring compliance with mechanical, thermal, and biodegradability standards reflects your dedication to achieving sustainable innovation, as well as your ability to navigate experimental challenges alongside your students. Turning to academic and research excellence, how would you balance your commitments between teaching responsibilities and research pursuits, especially considering the collaborative nature of international projects like the Erasmus initiative you mentioned earlier?

I have a passion for research. So when, uh, when I have, uh, the, uh, when I have time apart from teaching, I will dedicate for research because I have a flag for research. And, uh, especially I'm like, really motivated to come up with a pigment which can be commercially, uh, brought into the market and replace all the toxic colorants because it's really harmful and the cases of. Cancer and so many health problems are all linked to.

The food which which which every human being is cons consuming. So my passion is that actually.

So I would fit all my spare time on to receive because I have a flat for research. I it's like, you know, like a natural instinct which kind of attracts me to the research.

Understood, Professor. Your passion for research, especially in addressing critical health and environmental challenges like developing natural, non-toxic pigments, clearly aligns with impactful contributions to both academia and industry. Your ability to integrate research into your teaching, as demonstrated earlier, solidifies your capacity to inspire students while advancing meaningful scientific endeavors. Next, I’d like to examine your experience in curriculum design. How would you approach developing or refining a course syllabus for a foundational laboratory course in food technology, ensuring it balances fundamental principles with hands-on skills?

Initially it will be about umm.

Put processing.

And food processing that all the unit operations will be taught and later it will be about food preservation and food safety standards.

And this.

Because already they would uh, the basic of components will be taught.

In the first year.

And the second year and 3rd year students, now that they know about the composition of the food materials like the carbohydrates, proteins and vitamins, the macro and micronutrients, the unit operations is used for them to.

Process these foods and kinetics is very important for designing the different reactors in which all these materials are put, especially the Fed patch reactor, the batch reactor, CSTR. So the kinetic aspects, they have to be taught from the first year, the basics like documentary.

Which will teach them the energy balance and material balance and the balancing of the the different components and then the designing of the equipments is very important.

Especially the reactors and then designing of fermenters and the simulation simulation course. Can I can also teach art simulation course where nowadays in industries they're using Aspen, Aspen MATLAB and Superpro designer for optimizing and then so that the cost can be reduced with the optimum amount of the raw materials.

And the final year project based on some new innovative methods to bring out different different food materials into the commercial market, where even startups can also be encouraged for the final year students.

Thank you, Professor. Your approach to curriculum development demonstrates a well-thought-out and structured progression, beginning with foundational knowledge in food components, advancing to the principles of food processing, preservation, and safety, and culminating in specialized training in kinetics, reactor and equipment design, and the integration of modern software for simulation and cost optimization. Incorporating entrepreneurial elements, such as fostering innovation and encouraging startups in final-year projects, further positions students to succeed in both academic and industry settings. Finally, in your academic journey, you’ve accumulated significant achievements in publication and consultancy. Based on your experience of publishing in high-impact journals and applying for patents, how would you mentor students interested in pursuing scientific writing and publishing their research work?

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

OK, the students, I would guide them to first do a literature review, a literature survey based on what's a gap which we can identify from the, the already done research work. And then how we can bridge a gap and the market need as since I've, as I've told earlier, there's a lot of market need in the, in the in the in commercially.

Because, uh, which can be derived from a food technology course or program.

Where the students can be motivated, motivated to understand, because as of now, when we see about the health concerns, everything is quite linked to the food we consume. So when the students are motivated so that they can transform raw materials safely to our final product, which is also safe to consume. And it's also having good shelf life. And it's a it's, it's a very innovative product as well because there will be a lot of competition already.

With the already launched market products, so, so that is how I can I will incorporate that.

Because publications it has to be something novel and the patent also it has to be something novel and there's a lot of possible of.

Doing novel or very innovative aspects or materials from food technology. So that's how I'll be guiding my students.

Thank you, Professor. Your methodology for guiding students—beginning with a thorough gap analysis through literature review, identifying market needs, ensuring food safety and innovation, and fostering motivation—demonstrates a comprehensive approach to mentoring in scientific writing and research. Your perspective on encouraging students to focus on novel and impactful contributions, especially in food safety, aligns well with the goals of academic and industrial food technology. This concludes our assessment. Is there anything additional you would like to share or clarify regarding your candidacy for this role before we finish?

Can I know about my assessment performance?

Yeah, I would like to conclude the session.

I appreciate your request, Professor, but I cannot provide performance feedback during the interview. However, your responses and input will be thoroughly evaluated, and you will receive feedback through the appropriate channels once the assessment process is complete. Do you have any other questions or would you like to conclude the session?

Thank you.