Solving the Food Waste Problem
JWU’s student culinology team won first prize at the Research Chefs Association’s Evolution of Food Waste Student competition, held at the RCA’s annual conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
JWU Providence students Samuel Burgess, Victor Eng, Jessica Pulling, Natasha Daniels, Ray Holloway and Samantha Gannon wowed the judges with their savvy use of Brewer’s spent grain (BSG), which typically ends up in landfills, as a milled flour for their Hazlenut Doppio scone.
This was the first year for the Evolution of Food Waste competition, which the RCA designed to:
- Provide a creative opportunity for students to network with food industry professionals
- Challenge future R&D chefs, food scientists, product developers and culinary leaders to apply Culinology® concepts towards formulating a sustainable food product using team-selected ingredients typically considered food waste
The JWU team worked throughout the fall and winter to develop their product for the competition, with faculty support from professors Lynn Tripp, MS, CFS (team advisor) and Russ Zito.
It was during work with the JBrew club under Assistant Professor Jennifer Pereira that they hit upon the idea of using Brewer’s spent grain (BSG), a byproduct of the brewing process that is often discarded as food waste. (The UK alone produces 1 billion pounds of BSG every year.)
The JWU team dove into their research, including
- the global problem of disposing of spent grain
- the benefits utilizing spent grain in a food product would have on the brewing industry
- the nutritional benefits of adding spent grain back into foods
They then went to work developing a concept and then a product using the spent grain flour. After much trial and error, they came up with a flour made entirely of dried spent grain that they then incorporated it into the Hazlenut Doppio scone, a whole grain, high-protein breakfast enlivened with the flavors of toasted hazlenuts, coffee and vanilla.
The students wrote an 18-page proposal outlining their product in detail, including manufacturing the scone from frozen spent grain into the final product.
In San Juan, the students competed against California Polytechnic State University and defended their project in front of 3 RCA judges. The students represented the College of Culinary Arts’ new Culinary Science program — which combines the strength of our world-renowned culinary arts programs with the science of food and food production — in outstanding fashion.
World-Class Robots
JWU’s Vex Robotics team didn’t expect to place at their first-ever Vex Robotics World Championship — they were just excited for the chance to compete in the same division as more established teams from schools like Embry Riddle, New York Institute of Technology and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. But place they did — 21st in their division.
They also won the 2018 Create Award, which Associate Professor Kathryn Parchesco attributes to the team’s creative problem-solving: “As an engineer you have to think outside of the box. Things have to be adjusted and you have to be flexible. [Their win] really shows what they’ve learned as engineers.”
The team also showed their mettle in the live competition, when their robot fell during one of the matches. Forced to make a split-second decision, Jossean Rivera '18 noticed that the robot’s wheels were still touching the wall and its claw was still open: “I thought if we went forward and down at the same time the robot would be able to stand up again — and it did!” (This is where the team’s many pre-competition test-driving sessions came in handy.)
Team founder Manuel Rosado '19 hopes to have two teams in competition next year — a big challenge that will require each team to program and build two robots at the same time.
To complicate matters, all robots for next year’s competition must run on V5, a new microprogramming system that won’t be released until August — meaning that JWU’s team will effectively have to start the design/implementation process from scratch.
Rosado and the rest of the team are confident they’re up to the task: “I’m hopeful that we can meet that challenge so we can get there [World] and show people that if you put your mind to it, you can do whatever you want no matter what. You just have to believe you can do it.”
‘We Are Ready to Get to Work’
The benefits of getting involved with JWU National Student Organizations (NSO) like DECA and SkillsUSA were on full display at the Providence Campus’ 2018 Commencement ceremonies.
At the morning Commencement ceremony, College of Hospitality Management Dean Paul McVety introduced student speaker Thu “Aimee” Dinh Minh Tran '18 as “an independent and self-driven individual.”
Aimee began her speech by discussing the difficult but rewarding decision to travel almost 9,000 miles from her home in Vietnam to attend JWU: “Many of you made the same choice as I did – leaving your beloved home and family to begin the voyage of education and exploration. We embarked with courage and ambition as fuel. We fought through long nights of studying, … stressful tears, and of course, New England’s brutal winters.”
Aimee’s NSO experience at JWU fueled her own professional development. She participated in DECA’s International Career Development Conference her first year at JWU, eventually placing 2nd in the world.
Networking at DECA’s ENGAGE Conference, she landed an internship-to-hire position with Equity Residential, a DECA National Advisory Board company. Speaking to her fellow Wildcats, she evoked a bright future: “When you close out this chapter of your life today, you will continue to chase your wildest dreams and bravely fight for what you believe in.”
Afternoon student speaker Josephine Wolfe '18 — a Baking & Pastry Arts and Food Service Management major who earned multiple SkillsUSA awards in baking — spoke with pride of the drive, professionalism and work ethic instilled by a JWU education: “Not only did we learn the job-specific, technical skills we need to excel, but we learned the soft skills, time management and communication that will propel our careers.”
While at JWU, Josephine earned certifications from the American Culinary Federation (ACF), Retail Bakers Association (RBA) and the National Restaurant Association — all while completing her program requirements in just 3 years. Her final words of wisdom to her fellow graduates? “I am proud to stand with you as a Wildcat because I know we are ready to get to work. Let’s roll up our sleeves, tie our aprons ... and never stop growing.”
Meet JWU’s Advertising Superstars
JWU Providence’s ADTEAM has won the 2017 American Advertising Federation (AAF) National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC), held in New Orleans. Their historic first-place win surpasses their previous best — a second-place finish at Nationals in 2015.
JWU’s 31-member team, made up of students in the university’s advertising and marketing communications, marketing, graphic design and media communication studies programs, placed first in the United States over 7 other finalists:
- University of Kentucky
- Florida State University
- Oklahoma State University
- University of Central Oklahoma
- Webster University
- Grand Valley State University
- South Dakota State University
All teams gave presentations before a judging panel that included executives from Tai Pei, this year’s NSAC corporate client. The first-place finish also came with a $3,500 grand prize.
All college teams that competed created a full-scale advertising campaign for Tai Pei, which offers over 10 varieties of single-serve, takeout-style entrées, an assortment of Asian appetizers and a full line of family-sized products. The campaigns included each element of advertising: television, radio, social media, and print.
This marked the sixth time in 7 years the team competed in the national round of the competition. To qualify for nationals, they competed in a district round, beating out schools such as Boston University, Endicott, Emerson and others. The team then moved on to the 18-team semifinal round, where they advanced in favor of institutions including Syracuse, Louisiana State University, Purdue and others.
“Each student, regardless of whether their strength is the creative or strategic side of advertising, dives head first into conducting research,” said Oscar Chilabato, associate professor of advertising at JWU Providence’s College of Business. “Based on that data knowledge, our students gain a deep understanding of the client’s industry, target market and competition. Their research and insights are tightly tied to the creative recommendations, which form the basis for developing and executing our strategies. This is why the team has been able to reach the NSAC finals 6 out of the last 7 years.”
The NSAC is AAF’s premier annual college advertising competition, providing more than 2,000 college students the real-world experience of creating a strategic advertising, marketing and media campaign for a corporate client.
