Dr. Rasit Asiloglu Dr. Rasit Asiloglu is currently working as an Assistant Professor at Faculty of Agriculture, Niigata University, Japan since April, 2017. His primary research interests are directed towards microbial ecology studies and revealing ecological roles of microorganisms, especially heterotrophic protists, in interactions with plants. Dr. Asiloglu received his MSc. and PhD. degrees in Molecular Biology and Soil Microbiology at the Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Nagoya University, Japan, in consultation with Assoc. Prof. Jun Murase in 2013 and 2016, respectively. His current research project focuses on the interaction between heterotrophic protists and plant growth promoting rhizo-bacteria and its outcomes for rice plant growth. He is also working on “GLocal Age 2020 MEXT Re-Inventing Japan” project, which is a global framework of student capacity development for resilience agriculture and food production, in which five universities from Japan and Turkey exchange students with short-, intermediate-, and long-term programs.

Dr. Eugenia BEZIRTZOGLOU Dr. Eugenia Bezirtzoglou is a Microbiologist - Biochemist (France) with a Degree in Medicine and 3 Masters in Biochemistry, Hematology (Human Biology), Parasitology (Human Biology), DEA in Microbiology and a PhD in Microbiology with emphasis on Microbial Ecology. From 1988 to 2003, she had been elected as Associate Professor at Medical School of Ioannina University in Greece. Since 2003, she serves as a Professor in the Faculty of Agricultural Development, Department of Food Science and Technology, where she directs the Laboratories of: a) Microbiology, Biotechnology and Hygiene, b) Food Processing, and c) Chemistry and Biochemistry, and has been the Head of the Faculty of Agricultural Development since 2012. Her research objectives are: The microbiological quality of foods, Microbial ecology of the normal microbiota, the antimicrobial activity of natural and synthetic compounds, the quality of aquatic ecosystems and etc. Dr. Bezirtzoglou has participated in 200 research publications in peer-review journals, 180 international conferences and over 60 research projects as a researcher. Also she has coordinated as scientific principal investigator in 17 research projects funded by national or European funds in the last 8 years in the Faculty of Agricultural Development, Department of Food Science and Technology.

Dr. Fred BROUNS Dr. Fred Brouns obtained a PhD at Maastricht University in the Netherlands for his nutrition physiology research “Food and Fluid Related Aspects in Highly Trained athletes”. For this research he was awarded the Dutch Sports Medicine Award. Fred has >25 years experience in the field of life sciences and health nutrition, headed international R&D functions in the area of Nutrition and Health/Nourishing the World, at Wander Dietetics, Sandoz Nutrition, Novartis Nutrition, Eridania Beghin Say, Cerestar and Cargill Inc. He chaired various food and nutrition expert panels at the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) Europe, Brussels and at IDACE, Paris. Fred became invited member of the British Nutrition Society and is a registered Biomedical Researcher as well as board member (2008-2012) of the Dutch Academy of Nutritional Sciences. He obtained fellowships of the American College of Sports Medicine and the European College of Sports Sciences, published extensively and is a frequent global educator and speaker in the field of Life Sciences and Nutrition. From 2008 - 2015 he held a full chair “Health Food Innovation” at the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life and Sciences, within School of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism (NUTRIM), Maastricht University. His current main interest is on vitality and physical function in health and disease, related to aspects of plant bio-actives, sugars, carbohydrates and dietary fibers as well as whole grain, cereals and gluten. Recently he was awarded the “Year 2015 Fellow of the ICC-“ International Association of Cereal Science and Technology, His citations according to WoS: sum 5372, average 30.18 /item; H-index:43. He published > 300 science papers and presented > 200 key-note lectures world wide.

Dr. Phonkrit MANIWARA Dr. Phonkrit Maniwara in 2015 was awarded a PhD in Horticulture and Postharvest Technology, Chiang Mai University, Thailand. Also in 2015, he was awarded a second PhD in Agriculture and Agricultural Systems Engineering, Niigata University, Graduate School of Science and Technology, Niigata, Japan. While a student he was granted scholarships from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan (MEXT), and the Royal Project Foundation of Thailand. For a one year term in 2017, he serves as an Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Science and Technology, Niigata University, Japan. Collaborating with former mentor Professor Kazuhiro Nakano of Agricultural Systems Engineering Laboratory, Niigata University, Dr. Maniwara focuses on several research projects related to postharvest technology: CA/MA storage, packaging, quality monitoring of fresh and minimally processed commodities, non-destructive technologies related to near infrared spectroscopy, hyper-spectral imaging of fresh and processed foodstuffs and various agricultural products. Dr.

Maniwara's published articles include works related to non-destructive techniques, chemometrics, food sciences and technology, and food engineering.

Dr. Keshavan NIRANJAN Dr. Keshavan Niranjan, better known as Niranjan, is the Professor of Food Bioprocessing at the University of Reading. He is a chemical engineer by training and a faculty member at University of Reading since October 1989. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Food Science and Technology, the immediate Past President of the International Society of Food Engineering, and an Editor of the Journal of Food Engineering. Dr. Niranjan has a strong track record of original research publications, and he researches in the broad area of food processing/process engineering for health and environment. His current research projects cover the following areas: 1) formation and stability of bubble included foods, 2) engineering strategies to lower fat uptake during deep fat frying, 3) development of compostable packaging, active or otherwise, 4) high pressure processing of foods, and 5) processing techniques for separating health positive ingredients. Dr. Niranjan has a number of projects funded externally by the food industry as well as national and international funding agencies. He is passionately committed to the food engineering education, especially to its research and enterprise dimensions.

Dr. Franco PEDRESCHI PLASENCIA Dr. Franco Pedreschi Plasencia graduated from Fisheries Engineer in the year 1994, at the Universidad Agraria La Molina (Lima, Peru). Then he traveled to Chile in February 1994 to start his studies in the Master of Engineering Sciences of the Catholic University of Chile and obtained the corresponding degree in 1996. Later he completed his studies to achieve the degree of Doctor of Science Engineering at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile in 2000. Finally, in September 2000 he started his post-doctorate in the Department of Food Engineering at the University of Lund (Lund, Sweden) for almost a year. In October 2001, he was hired as Associate Researcher at the University of Santiago de Chile (USACH) being categorized by my educational background as Assistant Professor. His academic activity began in 2001 as Assistant Professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology at USACH. Later in 2008, he was appointed as Associate Professor of Food Science and Technology at USACH. In March 2009 he started working as part-time Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Bioprocess (DIQB) of the PUC of Chile as a result of having a vacancy of excellence awarded in 2008. In August of 2009, he joined as an Associate Professor of plant full time to DIQB at PUC of Chile. Last year he got the Titular Professor Position and has been the Head of DIQB of PUC since 2010. Currently, he is also the Director of the CeTA Program (Technological Chilean Program for Food Innovation http://www.cetalimentos.cl/). Throughout his academic career, his research has been clearly divided into three lines: (i) Microstructure and physical properties of foods; (ii) Application of computer vision for objective quantification of food quality; (iii) Generation and mitigation of neo-pollutant formed by high temperature processing of starchy foods. The result of his scientific research is reflected in 75 ISI publications, an h index of 26, cited reference amount of 2039 and average citations per article of 27,93. He have also been the editor together with Zuzana Ciesarova of a book related to chemical food safety. He has written 18 book chapters on issues related to his research in prestigious international publishers. He has attended more than 60 conferences, seminars and national and international conferences in order to present to the scientific community the results of his research. Finally, he has been elected to the Committee of the Scientific Version of Nestlé Henri Prize in the years 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. Also, he has been elected member of the Organizing Committee of the International Congress on Food and Engineering (ICEF 10) in Vina del Mar, Chile in April 2008. Finally, he was also elected as a member of the committee and in charge of structuring a session in Food Engineering at the Inter-Chemical Engineering Congress held in Santiago de Chile in November 2011, which was attended by the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1996, Sir Harry Kroto. He is currently a member of the editorial board of the following scientific journals: "Journal of Food Processing" and "Chilean Journal of Nutrition."

Dr. Fernando PEREZ RODRIGUEZDr. Fernando Perez Rodriguez undertook his degrees in Biological Science and in Food Science and Technology from the University of Córdoba in 1999 and 2002, respectively. He completed his PhD from the University of Córdoba (2007), which dealt with quantitative microbiological risk assessment and cross contamination in foods. He has published over 80 peer reviewed papers, book chapters and books concerning predictive microbiology, quantitative risk assessment and nutrition in foods. He has been involved in several research projects at national and international level, conducting quantitative risk assessment studies. He is the leading manager and designer of the on-line risk assessment supporting tool “MicroHibro” intended to perform probabilistic microbial risk assessments and has actively participated in the development of the tool “Baselineapp” for sampling plans. Due to his expertise, he has participated as a scientific advisor in several expert panels at national and international level, in the Spanish Food Safety Agency and as a Risk Assessment Expert of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and Food and Agriculture Organization FAO providing scientific advices and reports. He is a member of the International Association of Food Protection and the Spanish Society of Microbiology. He has also taught several national and international master and other training courses in predictive microbiology and he is professor for Food Microbiology and Hygiene at the University of Córdoba (Spain).

Dr. Antonio VALERO DIAZ Dr. Antonio Valero Díaz has obtained a Degree in Biology and PhD in Food Science and Technology at the University of Cordoba. He has currently more than 10 years experienced managing projects, training courses, academic teaching and events in food and related sectors. He has participated in different national and international research projects related to predictive modelling and risk assessment (USDA-Fresh Express, Selection of fit-for-purpose sampling procedures for specific foods and risks, BASELINE, COST Action 920). He has been also involved in some collaborative works with EFSA through the participation in working groups as an external expert (Public health risks represented by certain composite products containing food of animal origin, 2012-2013; and Self-tasking mandate for scientific opinion on the requirements for the development of microbiological criteria). He has participated in two recently awarded contracts from EFSA (OC/EFSA/BIOCONTAM/2014/02; NP/EFSA/BIOCONTAM/2015/04) in relation to the development of a risk assessment of Listeria monocytogenes in selected RTE food categories. He has a strong involvement in national and international networks regarding food safety (SICURA) being a member of the Spanish Microbiology Society and International Association for Food Protection. His research activity is widely shown as he has published over 70 peer reviewed papers and book chapters mainly related to application of predictive models in foods, microbial risk assessment and management and derivation of microbiological criteria in selected foods. Additionally, he has presented more than 80 communications in different congresses and symposia since 2003. He also belongs to the Editorial Board of peer-review journals such as International Journal of Food Microbiology, Frontiers in Microbiology, Journal of Food Protection and Food Research International. During his career, he has participated in different international events and training workshops supported by different programmes/Initiatives (Erasmus+, Spanish Ministries, etc.) in the EU and worldwide. In light of her position at the Dept. of Food Science and Technology (University of Cordoba), he has a broad experience (5+) in academic teaching within the Food Science and Technology and Veterinary Degrees. Besides, he participates as invited teacher in national and international Masters related to food quality and food safety.