Team

Mahfuzur Rahman

Mahfuzur Rahman is an assistant professor in the Department of Food Science at the University of Arkansas. He has a Ph.D. from Iowa State University, an M.S. from North Dakota State University, and a Bachelor’s in Food Engineering. Dr. Rahman served as an R&D scientist at Kraft Heinz Food Company, where his research focused on developing alternative dairy products. He is leading Novel Ingredient Processing and Utilization (NIPU) Lab, which is focusing on alternative protein, non-thermal processing, clean label, chemical food safety, biodegradable packaging, and circular bioeconomy. It maintains strong collaboration between researchers from other disciplines and industry partners.

Nikitha Modupalli

Post-Doctoral Fellow

Research: Application of plasma to improve functionalities of biopolymers

• Ph.D. Food Processing Engineering, National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management – Thanjavur, India
• M. Tech Food Science and Technology, National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management – Thanjavur, India

Muhammad Nazrul Islam

Post-Doctoral Fellow

Research: Application of plasma to improve chemical food safety

• Post Doctoral Fellow, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA
• Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey

Sukanya Poddar

Graduate Research Assistant

Research: Development of clean-label food additives from protein hydrolysates

• PhD in Food Science, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA
• Food and Nutritional Sciences, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, NC, USA
• B.Sc. (Engineering) in Food Engineering and Tea Technology, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Bangladesh

Kavitha Lakshmipathy

Graduate Research Assistant

Research: Improve functionalities and reduce off-note of pulse proteins using fermentation and ultrasound

• PhD in Food Science, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA
• M Tech., Food Process Technology, National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management
• B Tech., Food Technology and Management, National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management

Ruslan Galib

Graduate Research Assistant

Research: Exploring of potentials of rice processing byproducts as a source of alternative proteins

• MS in Food Science, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA
• B.Sc. (Engineering) in Food Engineering and Tea Technology, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Bangladesh