Not every potato is the same. This is unique to food engineering, so students must have a supporting background in biology, biochemistry and food chemistry. With so many variables to master, food process engineering students get little opportunity to experiment with designing production lines. Okos says students now can see where the fundamental principles they're learning can affect design because they can evaluate the results almost immediately. The program allows them to see the response when they change a variable.
Seniors can use the program to build and test their own system creations.
Okos says the experience should improve graduates' chances for success that first day on the job. Even better, he says, their familiarity with design principles will be one of the reasons they got the job in the first place.