Provided

Samantha VanWees, left, Genevieve Sullivan and Carmen Moraru enjoy a light moment at the IFT Undergraduate Research Competition in Chicago.

Cornell’s Samantha VanWees ’16 and Genevieve Sullivan ’16 captured first and second place at the annual Institute of Food Technologists’ undergraduate research competition July 18 in Chicago.

VanWees earned top honors for her poster and presentation, “Inactivation of Bacillus Licheniformis Vegetative Cells and Spores in Milk Using Pulsed Light Treatment,” which studied how pulsed light may reduce bacteria during milk processing and found it does not achieve a large enough reduction to be used as a thermal treatment alternative.

Sullivan presented, “Physicochemical Factors Affect Bacterial Attachment on Food Packaging Surfaces: A Theoretical And Experimental Study,” which examined how pathogens attach to food packaging surfaces and could lead to contamination.

Throughout their undergraduate careers as food science majors, VanWees and Sullivan worked in the food safety and engineering laboratory of Carmen Moraru, associate professor of food science.

“With both Samantha and Genevieve winning top honors, this shows how well-prepared, mature and competitive our students are at the national level,” said Moraru. “They are fantastic students. They were an integral part of our lab in their undergraduate years, and their success certainly has given me and the food science department a great sense of pride.”

This fall VanWees will begin her doctoral studies in food science and engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and she aims to work in the food and ingredient industries. Sullivan will pursue her doctorate in the Cornell lab of Martin Wiedmann, the Gellert Family Professor in Food Safety.