Adam Note: Alejandro contacted me on LinkedIn and we share links with each other from time to time. His quest for knowledge is insatiable and is obsessed with baking, So obsessed, he’s now a technical writer for our sponsor, BAKERpedia! Learn about what he learned in the Universidad del Cauca and his theory on learning technical knowledge.
How did I learn about food engineering?
This is actually a very good question!
It was a strange experience for me at the beginning for sure. When I finished high school, I did not know exactly what I should study… I knew I loved chemistry and math deeply, but I did not know what I wanted to study!
In the end, I chose to study agroindustrial engineering, a strange mix of food engineering, bioprocess engineering, chemical engineering and operations management.
When I started my first 2 semesters, I felt overwhelmed and bored, I did not know if I had made the right decision … My sister and my family cared for me, they knew I was not focused, and the academic grades were not the usual ones for me. I always excelled academically in high school.
Little by little I was maturing my thoughts and feelings, I started to see new subjects and realized that I had not made the worst decision. I’ve got a few to blame.
I started falling in love with:
Then, we started doing field trips, visiting giant food manufacturing plants, breweries, citric acid production plants (via microbial fermentation) … That’s where the magic happened! I fell deeply in love with my career, so much that I became the best student in my class. All my classmates took me as a reference and when we finished exams they always asked me, “What was the value of the Reynolds Number? The power of the pump was 2 KW? Are you sure? Stuff like that. I was very happy, I liked to participate in classes and the teachers gradually began to respect me.
I started studying on my own, not only because I had to, but also for love, and on my own initiative I made calculations, studied chemical reactions, analyzed scenarios, etc.… I became a nerd, but of course I took care of my girlfriend (who is now my wife and mother of my daughter), my family and sports (I even had to leave it because of time constraints).
I started to love reading food science books and the engineering behind them. I used to go to the library every day and borrowed several books. I almost became obsessed with absorbing more and more knowledge about my career. I read many chapters of several books and discovered that I could not have chosen a better career, that I was in the right place. I realized that food and bioprocesses were going to accompany me for the rest of my days.
My career always had 3 components, one in engineering (of course), another in food quality / safety, and another in operations. I think that not all universities offer such a broad scope of knowledge coverage as mine.
I could see many subjects that in theory do not relate much to each other, but now that I am an active professional in the industry, I realize the value of having been able to study so many subjects,
I believe that by joining each piece of the puzzle, a great professional structure can be formed. Have seen subjects such as: logistics, supply chain management, plant design, equipment design, process engineering, food safety, bioprocesses, food analysis, food chemistry, heat, momentum and mass operations, dairy, meat, vegetables, and cereals science and technology, finance, managerial accounting, project management, etc., helps you to see the life from a more holistic perspective.
You do not just stay locked in technical knowledge, but you can interact better with people from other fields who want to discuss ideas, new projects, learn from you, etc.
The world needs to better understand what we do. Food must be sustainable, we cannot live without it, so we must try to do our best to better implement science-based approaches to make food safer, healthier, and accessible to everyone in this world.
Piece by:
Alejandro Bustamante Muriel
Mobile: +57 311 515 0609
Bogotá D.C. – Colombia