In the 1980's there was a global push to reduce the impact of aqueous effluent from textile mills on the environment (U.S.-Clean Water Act). One aspect of this law required the removal of zinc oxide (ZnO) from spandex fibers. In swimwear, ZnO is used to provide protection from chlorine. The ZnO was replaced with a magnesium/calcium carbonate pigment. Unfortunately, when the conversion to the new pigment was complete, the number of garment returns, due to degradation by chlorine, significantly increased. Given that there is a small amount of spandex in an $80 swimsuit, significant garment returns are not acceptable. Returning to the ZnO product was not an option. This market need required the development of an improved antioxidant package. The research carried out found that a semi-hindered phenol provided sufficient protection to not only eliminate returns but provide a new level of premier chlorine resistant spandex fiber. The process from problem definition through commercialization will be discussed.

Developing higher value uses for zein (corn protein), a potential major co-product of the bio-ethanol industry, will improve the economics of this industry. Historically, zein was predominantly used in the textile fiber industry. Unfortunately the techniques used at that time to modify the zein cannot be easily used today. Electrospinning was chosen as the most cost effective method to evaluate new chemistries to provide improved zein fibers. Various routes have been developed to provide zein fibers with improved tensile strength and solvent resistance. These reactions have been followed using rheological techniques in order to better define the chemistry and processing window. The relationship between solution viscosity, fiber diameter and solvent durability was studied.

· 2013 Belfort Carbohydrate Lecture by Dr. Jay-Lin Jane (Charles F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Iowa State University) "Structure and digestibility of selected resistant starch"

· Dr. Amy Lin (Whistler Center for Carbohydrate Research) "Structure of slowly digestible dextrin"

· Dr. Douglas Rosendale (The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Ltd.) "Dietary fiber in food-microbe-host interactions for gut health"

· Dr. Yuan Yao (Whistler Center for Carbohydrate Research) "Dendrimer-like biopolymers"

· Dr. An-I Yeh (Distinguished Professor, Graduate Institute of Food Science and Technology at National Taiwan University, Taiwan) "Designing functional cellulose: from the processing perspective"

· Dr. Steve Cui (Research Scientist Guelph Food Research Centre, Guelph, Ontario) "Unveiling the secret power of gum ghatti for stabilizing emulsions: the roles of polysaccharides and proteins"

Please see additional information (at your right) for a copy of the Technical Conference Program.

As we are located in the Corn Belt, our goal has always been to enhance the utilization of corn. Dr. Biswas will talk about research at NCAUR dealing with expanded uses of the components of corn, such as starch, protein, fiber, and oil. Past and ongoing research work includes chemical and enzymatic modifications of renewable resources to produce new biobased materials and value-added products. A particular emphasis is to develop new, green synthetic methodologies through microwave, ionic liquid, and solvent-less processes.

Atanu Biswas is a Lead Scientist with USDA at Peoria, IL. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame. After a postdoctoral stay at University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA he went to Hercules Incorporated where he worked for 14 years and had 6 patents and one paper. Ten years ago he joined USDA where he has published over 60 papers and one patent thus far. His research deals with green chemistry, polysaccharides, and vegetable oils. A recent focus has been the chemical and enzymatic modifications of renewable resources to produce value-added products. His research emphasizes creativity, collaboration and team work in developing new bio-based materials from starches and proteins using various chemical, physical and biochemical processes to create new market opportunities for agricultural products, and for usage in formulations of adhesives, bio-based plastics, coatings, films, hydrogels, and absorbents.

There were six finalists who participated in the final round of Best Student Research Paper Competition at the annual meeting in Hollywood, Florida. In first place was Madhuvanti Kale, followed by Frederico Barros, Texas A&M University, in second and Katharina Konitzer, Technical University of Munich, in third. Finalists included Lauren Brewer, Kansas State University; Liesbeth Derde, KU Leuven; and Mihiri Mendis, North Dakota State University.

The AACC International Walter Bushuk Graduate Research Award in Cereal Protein Chemistry for Ph.D. Students is presented to an individual for outstanding contributions in basic and/or applied research in cereal protein chemistry. This award recognizes research in relevant to the broad aims of AACCI. The research can be either fundamental/basic (such as improved understanding of structure-function relationships) or applied (such as development of new products, processes, techniques).

Both Madhuvanti and Mehtap gave great lectures at the annual meeting. Congratulations!

The Graduate School Excellence in Teaching Award is the highest honor presented by the University in recognition of graduate student teachers. Graduate students selected for this award must have demonstrated excellence in teaching and mentoring at the undergraduate and/or graduate level and be past recipients of the Committee for the Education of Teaching Assistants Teaching Award. In addition, recipients should have accomplishments in service/outreach and scholarly publications. Committee for the Education of Teaching Assistants Excellence in Teaching Award recipients are selected by each academic department for their commitment to undergraduate education. Departments may select one recipient for every 50 graduate teaching assistants they support.

This is a new IFT Achievement Award, sponsored by the Kellogg Company and championed by the IFT International Division. The award includes a $3,500 honorarium, complimentary registrations to the IFT meeting, and a plaque. The purpose of the award is to "honor an IFT member working in academics, research institutes or the government, regardless of geographic origin, whose outstanding efforts result in one or more of the following: 1) Enabling and increased access to nutritious food in non-industrialized countries; 2) Developing emerging technologies and/or research that addresses non-industrialized countries food needs, food safety, and food security, and/or, 3) Contributing toward the technological development in one or more local food industries to help foster economic development in non-industrialized countries.

Each spring semester, the OIGP hosts a reception in celebration of interdisciplinary graduate student research. At the reception, a diverse array of student research posters and multimedia presentations are featured from across Purdue's 15 interdisciplinary graduate programs. The 2012 OIGP Spring Reception was held on April 4, 2012, at Purdue Memorial Union. Nearly 70 posters from about 15 interdisciplinary programs across the campus were displayed. The title of Yan's poster was: Slow release glucose in small intestine via dietray approach slows gastric emptying in vivo in a dose response fashion.