PULLMAN, Wash. – Juming Tang, a professor of food engineering who developed a new technology that could revolutionize how we preserve and process food, is the first Washington State University Distinguished Chair of Food Engineering.
“Dr. Tang epitomizes the kind of researcher and educator that warrants ‘Distinguished Chair’ designation, “ said Dan Bernardo, vice president for agriculture and extension and dean of the WSU College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences. “This title reflects the quality, scope and impact of his entire program.”
The new position and title provides additional funding to Tang’s research program.
Tang joined the WSU faculty in 1995. His research focuses on developing advanced thermal processing technologies to control pathogens in packaged food. Tang directs the WSU Microwave Sterilization Consortium consisting members from world top food processing and packing companies. His laboratory patented the design for 915 MHz single-mode microwave assisted sterilization technology in 2006 and three years later received the first ever U.S. Food and Drug Administration acceptance of microwave sterilization processes. Tang and his team received the second FDA acceptance in 2010, making the technology ready for commercialization.
During his time at WSU, Tang has advised more than 30 doctoral students and has published more than 200 journal articles. He is the past president of the International Microwave Power Institute and past chair of IFT Food Engineering Division and serves on the editorial board of three international journals in his field. He was a 2004 NASA Faculty Fellow and received many awards, including the WSU Graduate and Professional Student Outstanding Advisor Award in 2005, the Anjan Bose Outstanding Researcher Award in 2008, and the IFT R&D Award in 2010 and the ASABE International Food Engineer Award in 2012.
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