CE Specialist in Postharvest Systems Engineering (100% CE FTE)
Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering
Position Description: The CE Postharvest Systems Engineer will work on systems for the postharvest handling and processing of crops with a goal of reducing energy consumption while ensuring food quality and safety. These are critical issues for the fresh market fruit and vegetable, dried fruit, tree nut, and rice industries in California. The position will look at energy conservation, preventing product loss, and issues related to food safety and traceability. A Ph.D. in engineering is required with a strong background in heat and mass transfer. Experience in postharvest engineering and specialty crop production and processing is desirable. The position is crucial to the continued success of the UC Postharvest Technology Center, a world renowned center focused on postharvest quality and loss reduction of fruits, vegetables, and nuts.
Justification: The Postharvest Systems Engineer will address critical issues associated with the safety and quality of fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Specifically:
1. Food safety – ANR and the campus have made a significant commitment to the safety of fresh market produce through the Center for Produce Safety and the Postharvest Technology Center. One of the key tools the industry would like to have at its disposal is the ability to significantly reduce the bacterial load on food items. A valuable method for accomplishing this is to apply energy to food items and engineering expertise is needed to develop this technology. Pecans in Arizona are treated with infrared radiation to surface disinfect the shells and several cantaloupe growers in the US are experimenting with using a hot water shower to reduce bacterial loads. Similar approaches and other energy input systems may be applicable to a number of other fresh market items and engineering expertise is needed along with that of microbiologists and postharvest biologists and physiologists to develop these methods.
2. Energy – Postharvest operations, like initial cooling, cold storage and drying are very energy intensive. Retired CE Specialist Thompson demonstrated that modifications in equipment (increased air recirculation in walnut and prune driers, installation of efficient lighting in cold storages, and use of aeration controllers for rice storages) and new postharvest practices (optimal harvest timing of new rice varieties) significantly reduce energy use. This type of work needs to be applied to the wide range of postharvest practices in the state’s diverse crops.
3. Loss reduction – Reducing food waste after harvest is crucial in improving the sustainability of our food system. About one third of harvested specialty crops are wasted before use by the consumer. Improved cold chain management through new electronic sensing and communication devices and better packaging to prevent bruising are two examples of methods to reduce loss that are being developed by engineers.
Extension: Clientele and collaborator groups include the UC Postharvest Technology Center, the UC Davis Energy Efficiency Center, processing equipment manufacturers, farming operations, processors/shippers, food safety agencies, and food marketing companies. The specialist will be a key member of the Postharvest Technology Center, contributing to annual extension programs offered by the Center. Online and print outlets for results include California Agriculture, trade publications such as California Farmer and Pacific Nut Producer, and journals such as Applied Engineering in Agriculture.
Research: Direct energy use for initial cooling and storage of produce and drying of durable crops are major costs for producers and processors. Since the 1970s, ANR faculty have shown that improved control systems, new processing techniques, and optimized postharvest systems can significantly reduce energy use. Food loss surveys indicate that more than one third of our food supply is thrown away because of poor quality at some stage in the food chain. Reducing these losses improves energy efficiency of the food system and results in better quality, better tasting, and safer food for the consumer. Recent cases of food borne illness highlight the need for improved handling, traceability, and processing techniques as well as for the development of methods to detect the possible presence of human pathogens. The specialist will focus on energy conservation related to the postharvest handling and processing of fresh market fruit and vegetables, and of dried fruits, tree nuts, and rice. Research will consider conservation of gas and electricity, preventing the loss of imbedded energy associated with product loss, evaluation and preservation of product quality, and detection and control of human pathogens in fresh produce and durable crops.
ANR continuum: There is a group of CE specialists (Drs. Mitcham, Arpaia, Barrett, Bruhn, Cantwell, Cook, Crisostos, Harris, and Suslow) whose research and outreach activities are related to postharvest technology and biology and who constitute the core of the Postharvest Technology Center. Due to recent retirements, the Center has lost all expertise in engineering that would be covered by the Postharvest Systems Engineering Specialist and key expertise in postharvest biology and physiology that would be covered by the Postharvest Biology and Physiology Specialist (Plant Sciences position request). In addition to this core group of CE specialists, there are a number of UC faculty whose research activities relate to various aspects of postharvest technology and biology (e.g. Drs. Adaskaveg, Ebeler, Heymann, Inoue, Labavitch, Slaughter, Zakharov). There are no county advisors who specialize on postharvest issues; however advisors working with fruits, vegetables, and ornamentals have clientele who have needs in postharvest handling, and the expertise comes from CE specialists and AES faculty, most of whom collaborate with the Postharvest Technology Center. The Center offers annual extension programs, including the course on Postharvest Biology and Technology of Horticultural Crops (offered for over 30 years with over 80 participants per year), the Fresh Cut Workshop (about 45 participants), and the Ethylene Management Workshop (about 60 participants).
Support: The incumbent will have full access to the BAE Shop and staff. BAE will provide an office and administrative and communications support consistent with that provided to other faculty.
Other support: Primary research space will be provided in the department’s postharvest engineering lab, with supporting postharvest lab facilities located in Wickson Hall and the Mann Lab. The Postharvest Technology Center will provide logistical and administrative support, short course offerings, publication sales, and a web site with millions of hits per year. Research funding will come from farming, food processing and marketing companies, government agencies, and commodity boards. Additional support may be generated through collaborations with the UC Davis Energy Efficiency Center and with corporate supporters who have expressed particular interest in engineering and energy conservation aspects of drying and preservation of seed and nut crops. The Postharvest Workgroup and the Plant Sciences Department support this position as a high priority.
Location: The UC Davis campus is a logical central location for the CE Postharvest Systems Engineer because of the diverse growing areas for the crops to be considered – fresh fruits and nut crops from the Central Valley, fresh vegetables from the Salinas Valley, rice and dried fruits from the Sacramento Valley. In addition, the campus is home for the Postharvest Technology Center that interacts with stakeholders throughout the state. The campus also has a strong institutional focus on energy conservation and alternative energy sources.