New Food Product Concept Development Competition 2008

This will be my last semester being a teaching assistant (TA) at my university. The journey has been very rewarding. There are times when I am totally annoyed by the students. However, on the whole, I must say most of my students are very sweet and smart.

In this semester, I am once again the TA of the module FST 3104 Food Sensory and Innovation. My main responsibility is to guide the students in completing their new food product development project. This project is like a melting pot, taking into consideration chemistry of the food components, its microbiological aspects, its ease of manufacturing (lots of engineering involved) and its final route of marketing.

What makes this semester so memorable is that in conjunction with the course, our team was invited to participate in the New Food Product Concept Development Competition. This event is organized by the Singapore Food Manufacturer Association in conjunction with the Asia Pacific Food Expo 2008. The competition was pretty intense. There were a total of 28 participants ranging from those representing polytechnics and of course our university.

Our institution sent out 4 teams and we grab Best Packaging Award, Most Innovative Award and the Grand Champion. My team, creating the 'Cold-Brew' coffee concentrate was crowned Grand Champion. We were all so fascinated and utterly thrilled. Lots of photo-taking and interviewing by the media followed after the event.

I am so proud of my students. All of them had worked very hard. This will be the best present they gave me before my graduation. Thank you guys!!!