SFOS directory

SFOS Faculty > Murat Omer Balaban > Duties

January 2008-Present. Director, Fishery Industrial Technology Center, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks.

The mission of FITC is “to increase the social and economic value and sustainability of the Alaska’s seafood industry through academic programs, basic and applied research and development, and public service.”

The Director is expected to continue to develop partnerships with the Alaska Seafood Industry with the advice of the seven-member FITC Policy Council (http://www.sfos.uaf.edu/fitc/about/council/index.html), establish a graduate program in Seafood Science and Technology, and expand research efforts.

The Director heads and leads development of a graduate program related to the utilization of seafood in the School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences (SFOS) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF). The Director seeks to increase tenure-track faculty positions. The Director supervises curriculum development, instruction, and advising for a growing student body. Functioning as a member of the faculty, the Director teaches courses, advises graduate students, participates in public service, and conducts funded research. The FITC Director also administers the 20,000 ft² facility.

July 1986-January 2008. Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Profesor, Food Science and Human Nutrition Department, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of FLorida.

Food Engineering and Processing position. Duties and responsibilities include planning and implementation of research and teaching programs in the area of food processing/engineering. Teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in food processing/engineering, and supervision of graduate students. Development of research program in cooperation with other disciplines in the department, and with Agricultural Engineering and Chemical Engineering Departments, and other engineering disciplines. Research should be in processing of seafood, liquid foods and other commodities. Ability to attract extramural funding and to continue and cooperate with existing programs in thermal processing, reaction kinetics and modeling is desirable.

My duties were teaching (50%), research (50%).

AREAS OF RESEARCH INTEREST

Food Processing and Engineering. Specific areas of interest include :

Automation of the objective evaluation of food quality. This includes visual, textural and odor characteristics of foods, measured and evaluated with machine vision, force-deformation devices, various smell quantification instruments (ion specific electrodes, electronic noses, etc.) coordinated by a computer.
Application of supercritical fluids and dense phase CO₂ to food processing for the extraction of valuable materials, and for the inactivation of enzymes and reduction of microorganisms.
Application of ohmic technology to thawing of frozen foods.
Design, implementation and testing of computer programs in the area of food engineering.
Application of high isostatic pressures to foods.

UNIVERSITY SERVICE

University of Florida

2004-2007: Co-director of the Juice and Beverage Center

2004-2007: Member of the Institute for Tropical Food Research and Development

DEPARTMENTAL COMMITTEES:

1986 to July 1988 - Pilot Plant Committee (chairman)

1986 - 1994 : Chairman of the departmental computer committee

1988 - 2007 - Pilot Plant Committee

1986, 1987 - Policy Advisory Committee

1986, 1988 - Capital Expenditure Committee

1989-1993 : Member, undergraduate committee.

1989 - 93 - Seminar Committee, and General Foods Seminar Committee

1991-1993 : Chairman of the departmental Pilot Plant Committee

1995 to 2000 : Chairman of the Administrative Affairs Committee.

1987 to present : Member of the Pilot Plant Committee

2004-2007: Graduate adviser of the Food Science group

2005-2007: Member of the Graduate committee

SEARCH COMMITTEES:

1987 - Search and Selection Committee for Department Chairmanship.

1990 - Search and Screen Committee for the Pesticide Research Lab position.

1996 - Search and Screen committee for Chairperson of Agricultural and Biological Engineering Dept.

1997. Member of the Search and Screen committee : Food Packaging position, Agricultural and Biological Engineering Dept.

1999. Member of the Search and Screen committee : Food Chemistry position.

2000. Chairman of the Search and Screen Committee : Food Chemistry, Aquatic Foods Emphasis

2004: Member of the Search and Screen Committee : Food Engineering in Lake Alfred

IFAS COMMITTEES:

1986 - 1990. IFAS Computer Users Advisory Committee

Graduate School observer, Ph.D. defense "Familial and object relations correlates of disordered eating in female college students". 7/18/1991.

1997- 2000. Member of the Committee on International Activities.

1998-1999. IFAS Florida First Committee on Food Processing and Distribution

1998-1999. Member of the Graduate Student Awards Committee

1999-2000. Chairman of the Graduate Student Awards Committee

2005: Member of the Best Dissertation Award Committee

2005: Appointed to the Tenure and Promotion Committee

2006: Sabbatical Leave Committee