DAIRY SPECIAL MEASURING DEVICE OPENS UP NEW POSSIBILITIES A true inline measuring device used to detect various parameters within processing such as protein, fat, lactose You’re searching for an efficient measurement solution? No problem with KROHNE. KROHNE offers a whole spectrum of flow, level, temperature and pressure measurement as well as process analysis technology including complete solutions and the pertaining services. Our extensive range includes measuring devices for storage and interim storage, dosing and mixing, filling and CIP/SIP cleaning and utility systems for steam and hot water. KROHNE – Food and beverage is our world. KROHNE NZ • Suite C • First Floor • Building 6 331 Rosedale Road • ALBANY AUCKLAND NZ Tel.: +64 9 414 4305 • www.krohne.com www.foodtechnology.co.nz 33 Always a good solution FT059 and total solids as well as COD in wastewater will open up new possibilities in process control and optimisation. Unlike conventional bypass devices, KROHNE’s innovative OPTIQUAD measures directly in the pipe without coming into contact with the product. Analysis is performed through an optical window within a standard VARINLINE measuring section. This can provide extremely precise readings every few seconds, enabling a much quicker intervention into production. Advantages include hygienic measurement, reduced sampling or transport, reduced sources of error, daily cleaning elimination, and no need for chemicals, reagents and cleaning agents. High long-term stability and no need for consumables means a significant reduction in operating and maintenance costs. Different OPTIQUAD variants are available to suit industry and application. For more information, go to www.krohne.com.au. Gwanpua was busy too. Angeline joined him eight months later, by which time he was well on the way to earning a Masters in Bio-Science Engineering. Then came a PhD, with his research including quality prediction in apples, a pointer to a possible future. He was considering that future as he attended conferences abroad and bumped into a couple of researchers from Massey University, Andrew East and Julian Heyes. He had been in Belgium a number of years and now had a daughter, Daniella, to think about as well. “I knew Andrew worked with industry, which I really wanted to do because remember, my original plan was to help fight this particular food crisis problem in Cameroon, so I didn’t want to just stop in a lab doing some kind of fundamental research,” he says. “I like to see the science being used to solve particular problems.” It would be another two years before the right project surfaced. Gwanpua applied for a role with Massey and before long was moving once more, this time with his family, to a new beginning in a very different country. “The first thing I noticed (about New Zealanders) was they were incredibly friendly. Belgians are a little bit reserved. “ His recollections are still fresh because he’s been in New Zealand barely three months. “My first experience at the airport, I saw a couple of young lads with blue tee-shirts who were there to help and they just took everything, big luggage. And when I came to Palmerston North my colleagues came to the airport and tried everything to make me feel settled. It was a little bit strange to me but of course lovely.” Gwanpua travelled halfway around the world to study New Zealand’s kiwifruit. He’s part of a three-year Massey University project working to make one of the country’s top export products even more profitable. The work is funded by the Transforming the Dairy Value Chain Primary Growth Partnership programme, a seven-year, $170 million innovation programme involving the Ministry for Primary Industries and commercial partners, including Zespri, DairyNZ and Fonterra. The programme aims to enable the creation of new dairy products, increase on-farm productivity, reduce environmental impacts, and improve agricultural education. It is also involved in research to grow markets for kiwifruit and improve the returns of the industry, which is performing strongly overseas. New Zealand has been exporting kiwifruit for decades but still has much to learn about why some fruit can go soft quicker than others, even if they’ve shared the same coolstore. “That can mean you can’t sell it, you can’t ship it, you can’t handle it, so it’s something Zespri really wants to avoid,” he says. His team-mates study the fruit’s biochemistry and quality; some of them use image analysis. And then he takes the data produced, consolidates their research and prepares mathematical models. “It’s about trying to understand how this softening happens and translate it into basic equations that can help you predict what will happen after some time.” His PGP-funded research is valuable work that could save millions of dollars in lost product and create new opportunities for the iconic New Zealand product. “If you can predict what happens with the fruit then you can go into certain markets that you didn’t go into before because the conditions were considered too harsh. And when you open the cool room and you notice that some fruit has gone soft, then that costs the industry. So if we have this model then we will be able to predict them and take action.” Which is far from his mind when he relaxes at the end of the day with his wife, daughter Daniella (who is now six and goes to West End School in Palmerston North) and son David, who turns two in June. “I try to read outside science – Christian books, also biographies. And I like watching football a lot – what you call soccer. I do play also. I’m looking to join a club,” Gwanpua says. He laughs at the suggestion he might pursue a professional career. “It’s just going to be for fun and fitness.” Sunny Gwanpua has a bigger dream to chase. He wants to head home one day to Cameroon to help build a sustainable food processing industry. In the meantime he’s working hard on another profitable future – that of the New Zealand kiwifruit.
FT-May16
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