40-2 |
Food engineering education in Europe |
W. SPIESS, Bundesforschungsanstaltfuer, Ernaehrung, 9 Haid-und-new Str, Karlsruhe, 76131, Germany Food Engineering Education in Europe W. E. L. Spieß
The Food Engineering Education in Europe dates back over more than 200 year. Roots are the civil engineering education which was developed mainly in France and the natural science education at various European Universities, where the art of developing different skills important for daily life food technology was instructed in embryonic form. Today engineering is mainly taught at two levels: 1. in institutions of higher education of different types below the academic level directed to turn out graduates who are in position to work in a rather applied way, 2. in academic institutions where the graduates are educated to cope with research and development tasks. Since the European situation is characterised by a great diversity the borderlines between the two types of education are not clearly defined. With the event of new challenges - as the explosion of knowledge in the field of food science, the new challenges put forward through a world market without borders and to some extent without limitations and the many threats in food production the educational system is forced to adapt to new situations in a permanent way. The specialisation is increasing on the one hand, on the other hand flexibilisation is required on all levels. The latter leads to the development of a modular system which facilitates the change of the place of studies and the area of specialisation. Important features of the modular systems are the inclusion of basic science (physics, chemistry), informatics and increased language skills.
Session 40, Educating tomorrow's food engineers -- Global perspectives
|