Syed S.H. Rizvi
International Professor, Food Process Engineering
Department of Food Science, Cornell University
Dr. Rizvi is International Professor of Food Process Engineering at Cornell University and holds appointments as Adjunct Professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Cornell and the Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Toronto in Canada. His research focuses on experimental and theoretical aspects of bioseparation processes using supercritical fluids and membranes, cryogenic freezing, high pressure extrusion with supercritical carbon dioxide, physical and engineering properties of biomaterials and novel food processing technologies. He has published over 180 technical papers, co-authored/edited six books, holds nine patents and serves on the editorial boards of several journals. Dr. Rizvi and his group were the first to demonstrate the efficacy of separating whey from milk by membrane filtration prior to curd formation. This approach not only simplifies recovery of virgin whey but also improves the efficiency of cheese manufacturing. This practice has been commercially adopted worldwide. In the US, the FDA has accepted the process of making cheese from membrane concentrated milk, opening a novel avenue to make cheese more sustainable.
Membrane Separation Technologies: Challenges and Opportunities
Innovative membrane separation processes have been constantly evolving and growing worldwide due to their separation efficiencies, reduced energy consumption, low maintenance cost and environmentally benign impact. As one of the green and non-thermal processing technologies, their applications in the fields of food and life sciences have accelerated in recent years. Yet, constraints like concentration polarization, fouling, flux reduction and other operational parameters continue to pose critical challenges to new and emerging applications and need to be better understood. This presentation will focus on why new strategies for membrane-based separations are required to address the market demand for different membrane separation systems for different applications and to take advantage of the opportunities.