Dr. Hosahalli Ramaswamy is a Professor in the Department of Food Science at McGill University in Montreal, Canada with teaching and research responsibilities in the areas of Food Processing and Post Harvest Technology. He obtained his MSc and Ph.D form the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, in addition to an MSc (Food Technology) from Central Food Technological Institute, Mysore, India. In his research activities, he has explored the use of conventional thermal processing as well as thin profile, rotational, microwave, RF, ohmic, aseptic processing, microwave-osmotic dehydration. In the area of non-thermal processing and minimal processing, his research focus has been application of high pressure processing of food systems.

He has participated in several international projects involving India, Ghana and Ethiopia. Dr. Ramaswamy has been a professional member of several organizations like CIFST, IFT, IFTPS, ASABE and CSBE for more than 35 years. He has been an Associate Editor of Transactions of ASAE (ASAE) and Journal of Food Science, and Editor of Journal Food Engineering (Elsevier). Currently he is the Editor in Chief of Journal of Applied Food Research and Scientific Editor of Journal of Food Science. He has been an invited speaker at many international conferences and symposia. He is the recipient of many awards: W.J. Eva Award by the Canadian Institute of Food Science and Technology (CIFST), John Clark Award of CSAE, Fellow of the AFST (India), President’s Award of CIFST, Fellow of Canadian Society of Bioengineering, Merit Pin & Marvin Tung Award (highest) of Institute for Thermal Processing Specialists (IFTPS), Fellow of IFT, IUFoST, NAAS (India). He is the Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the recipient of Life Time Achievement Award of the International Association of Food Engineers (IAEF, ICEF).

He has published 500 scientific papers peer-reviewed international journals, has supervised over 100 graduate students and made over 600 presentations at international conventions. Dr. Ramaswamy will be presenting some new insights in to allergen reduction in soybean and mustard using intense thermal processing.

Prof. Alain Le-Bail earned his PhD in Heat Transfer and Fluid Dynamics from the University of Nantes in 1990 and serves as Professor at ONIRIS VetAgro-Bio in Nantes (www.oniris-nantes.fr), where his teaching and research in UMR GEPEA (Process Engineering applied to Food science and Environment, affiliated with CNRS) focus on heat transfer, phase change in food systems, the impact of processing on food structure and functionality—emphasizing physics of interfaces under external fields (electric, microwave, ultrasound) and gas interactions during preparation—with applications in baking technology and refrigeration.

He has supervised over 40 PhDs, authored more than 250 peer-reviewed papers, 24 book chapters, and co-authored 11 patents (H-Index 50 WoS, 70 invited lectures/keynotes; ORCID: 0000-0001-6132-5392).

Prof. Alain Le-Bail was also Past President of IAEF (2019-2023), current President of IIR-IIF Commission C2 (Food Science and Engineering, 2019-2027; https://iifiir.org/en/commission-c2), current Co-Editor-in-Chief of Innovative Food Science and Emerging Technologies (Elsevier), Editor of International Journal of Food Properties (Taylor & Francis), and serves on the Editorial Boards of Journal of Food Engineering, Food Chemistry Advances, and Applied Food Research (all Elsevier).

Dr. Wang got his Bachelor and Master Degrees from Zhejiang University and Ph. D. Gembloux Agricultural University in Belgium. He worked at Department of Biological Systems Engineering at Washington State University for 11 years and has been in College of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering at Northwest A&F University since 2011.

. His major research areas include thermal death kinetics of microorganisms, thermal/dielectric properties of food materials, and radio frequency heating for pasteurization, disinfestations and drying. He is Fellow of the International Research Association for Drying Science and Technology. He is Editor of Innovative Food Science and Emerging Technologies, IJABE and Journal of the ASABE, and Editorial Board Member of Journal of Food Engineering and Biosystems Engineering.

He has published 368 refereed journal papers with more than 17876 times of citations with h-index of 76 and made more than 30 invited keynote presentations. He has been recognized by Elsevier as a highly cited scholar in the field of agriculture and biology in China for 12 consecutive years (2014-2025). He is PI of more than 15 projects mainly supported by USDA-NIFA, NSF of China, Key R&D projects and international cooperative projects from Ministry of Science and Technology. He trained more than 13 PhD and 30 master degree students.

Prof. Joanna Harasym is a Full Professor and Head of the Department of Biotechnology and Food Analysis at the Faculty of Production Engineering, Wrocław University of Economics and Business (WUEB), Poland, where she also serves as the Founder Director of the Adaptive Food Systems Accelerator Research Centre. She holds a Doctor of Science in Food Technology and Nutrition and is a certified Patent Attorney (Polish Chamber of Patent Attorneys, 2012–2017). With over 30 years of experience in food technology and biotechnology, Prof. Harasym has held international research positions, including a prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship at the University of Valladolid, Spain (2016–2018), advancing research in rheology and food materials science.

She has supervised 36 MSc theses and multiple PhD candidates and has hosted over 50 international research fellows at WUEB. Prof. Harasym has authored more than 200 scientific publications, including peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and patents, which have been cited over 2,500 times (H-index 28). She has led or co-investigated 38 funded research projects with a grant success rate exceeding 70% and has established over 40 active industry collaborations across Europe focused on R&D, technology transfer, and product innovation. She invented OATin Technology® for the extraction of oat beta-glucan, which has been commercialised for veterinary applications.

She serves as an Independent Expert for the European Commission, FCT Portugal, Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education, COST Actions, NCBR Poland, and PARP Poland, and as an Independent Consultant at B+R Consulting. Her professional affiliations include membership in the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), the ISEKI-Food Association, ASIFF, and AACC International. She held institutional leadership roles as an elected member of the Senate and the Doctoral School Council at WUEB.

Her research focuses on functional foods, bioactive compound extraction (particularly oat beta-glucans), sustainable food systems, innovative processing technologies, including static magnetic field, 3D food printing, mild extrusion and the valorisation of agricultural by-products. Current work includes digital twin models for fermentation processes, novel protein sources, and circular economy approaches in food processing.

Ana Heredia holds a PhD in Food Science and Technology and is a Full Professor at the Universitat Politècnica de València (Spain), where she develops her research activity at the Institute of Food Engineering FoodUPV. She has participated in more than 25 competitive national and international research projects and has authored over 90 peer-reviewed articles published in JCR-indexed journals, in addition to book chapters and more than 60 contributions to international congresses. Her research focuses on the development and validation of novel plant-based ingredients and food concepts tailored to specific population groups.

She specializes in the application of in vitro digestion and colonic fermentation models to evaluate bioaccessibility, functionality, and physiological impact. Her work particularly addresses the nutritional needs of children, older adults, and individuals with gastrointestinal disorders such as pancreatic insufficiency or gut dysbiosis. Her research contributes to evidence-based innovation in health-oriented food design.

He chaired the international conference in Food Chemistry and Technology, FCT, in 2022 and 2023, and is a member of the Scientific Committee of the Int. Conference of Future Food which will be held in Singapore 2025. Antonio Derossi is author of more than 100 scientific publications, 9 book chapters and more than 20 oral presentations as invited speaker and oral presentation at International Conference. Also, his works received more than 5,000 citations and he reached h-index of 42 as of Feb-2026.

Dr Saji George is the Chair and an Associate Professor in the Department of Food Science and Agricultural Chemistry at McGill University and Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Nanotechnology for Food and Agriculture.

His current research is aimed at understanding the relationship between nanomaterial properties and their hazardous and beneficial biological outcomes with the ultimate goal of developing sustainable nanotechnology applications for challenges in food safety and security. He has authored >100 peer reviewed articles, five patents and >80 invited talks.

serving as reviewer and editorial board member for many leading journals in the field of nanotechnology. His excellences in teaching and research have been recognized by Ministry of Science and Technology, India (VAIBHAV fellowship), Ministry of Education, Singapore (PS21 ExCEL Gold/Silver Awards in 2015 and 2016), Canada Research Chair (Tier 2), and visiting professorship at IIT Madras and GADVASU, Punjab.

Vibeke Orlien is associate professor in food chemistry, and she is Deputy Manager at the section Food Design and Consumer Behavior at the Department of Food Science, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen. Her research concerns food technologies and processing, and the effect on food components and their properties, especially protein modification and stability in relation to functionality and product development.

Focus is on how processing methods and non-thermal technologies affect molecules in relation to structural changes and physicochemical reactions from molecular size to macroscopic levels based on molecular and mechanistic understanding to support practical functional food design. In addition, to assess the nutritional benefits of processing of food materials, thus the assessment of the in vitro protein digestibility (IVPD) of raw materials and plant- based products after processing, e.g. extrusion, high pressure, and fermentation, and relationship with protein functionality.

Thereby, clarify concepts and opportunity on how to increase the digestion potential of raw protein plant materials and the processed materials and products supporting a sustainable food production to solve the global societal challenges associated with the transgression of the planetary boundaries. She has wide experience in management and coordination of research projects, both basic science and applied-oriented projects with national and international academia and industry, including supervisor of postdocs and PhD students.