![[Center for Advanced Food Technology]](http://njaes.rutgers.edu/_common/images/subheads/caft.gif "[Center for Advanced Food Technology]"){kind=small}
The faculty and staff of the Center for Advanced Food Technology are eager to serve the research and development needs of the food industry.
Center Management
The Center’s Director is Dr. Donald W. Schaffner whose expertise is quantitative microbial risk assessment and predictive food microbiology. Dr. William C. Franke is Associate Director and has over 30 years of food industry experience in product development, quality assurance and regulatory affairs. He was employed by Unilever before joining Rutgers. Mr. Rieks Bruins is Associate Director and has over 25 years experience developing new food products and processes. Mr. Bruins is a recognized thermal process expert. He was employed by General Foods (Kraft) before he joined Rutgers.
A full listing of the Center’s staff is presented below
| Dr. Donald Schaffner - Director | |
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Donald W. Schaffner, Ph. D. is Extension Specialist in Food Science and Professor at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey and Director of the Center for Advanced Food Technology. His research interests include quantitative microbial risk assessment and predictive food microbiology. Dr. Schaffner has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters and abstracts. He has been the recipient of more than $4 million in grants and contracts, most of which has been in the form of competitive national grants. Dr. Schaffner has served on expert committees for US National Academy of Sciences, the World Health Organization and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and has chaired two expert workshops on microbial risk for WHO/FAO. Dr. Schaffner is currently serving a 5 year term as Editor for the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology. In April 2007, he was also appointed to serve a second term on the National Advisory Committee on Microbial Criteria for Foods (NACMCF). Dr. Schaffner is active in several scientific associations including the International Association for Food Protection, the Institute of Food Technologists, the Society for Risk Analysis, and the American Society for Microbiology. He holds a B.S. in Food Science from Cornell University and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Food Science and Technology from the University of Georgia. |
| Dr. William Franke - Associate Director | |
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William C. Franke, Ph.D. is Associate Director of the Center for Advanced Food Technology at Rutgers University. He provides technical expertise in the area of product development and food regulations, especially as related to functional foods and nutraceuticals, and develops new opportunities for technology transfer to small as well as large companies. He also contributes to administration, marketing, and strategic planning for the Center. He is a Co-PI for a Department of Defense Contract to develop combat rations to improve the physical and mental performance of soldiers under stress. Previously, he spent 28 years at Lipton/Unilever and served as Head of R&D, Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs and served on the Board of Directors of Thomas J. Lipton. Most recently he was Vice President for Scientific and Regulatory Affairs with Unilever United States before he retired. He is a former member of the National Academies Institute of Medicine Food Forum and served on an IOM expert committee studying the “Evaluation of the Addition of Ingredients New to Infant Formula.” He is currently serving on an IOM Committee studying Dietary Supplement Use by Military Personnel. He also served as a member of the board of the Cancer Institute of New Jersey and was recently elected a Fellow of the Institute of Food Technologists. |
| Mr. Rieks Bruins - Associate Director | |
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Mr. Rieks Bruins is Associate Director CAFT and Director of the DLA ManTech program: “CORANET” at Rutgers University. He has been the project manager for various Projects in the areas of Quality Data Management, Manufacturability of Combat Rations, Non Destructive Quality Assurance Testing and Process Optimization. His expertise in retort processing optimization in particular pressure profiles for semi rigid containers is well know. He holds a BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering from the Technical Institute of Twente, Netherlands. Prior to joining CAFT in 1989, he worked eleven years at General Foods Corp. focusing on the development and commercialization of processes for new and improved products. |
| Dr. Thomas G. Hartman - Director of the CAFT Mass Spectrometry Support Facility | |
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Dr. Thomas G. Hartman is a Research Professor in the Rutgers University Department of Food Science and Director of the CAFT Mass Spectrometry Support Facility. Dr. Hartman received a B.S. degree in chemistry/microbiology from Wagner college in 1980 and Ph.D. in Food Science from Rutgers University in 1985. From 1978 to 1980 he was employed as an analytical chemist for Stillwell & Gladding, Inc., a New York City based independent testing laboratory. From 1980 to 1985 Tom was responsible for the operation and maintenance of the Rutgers University, Food Science Department Mass Spectrometry Laboratory and for the past 23 years Dr. Hartman has served as Manager and Director of CAFT’s Mass Spectrometry facility. During his tenure at CAFT he greatly expanded the instrumentation and capabilities of the facility especially in the area of industrial outreach. Professor Hartman and his graduate students conduct research in the area of food chemistry, packaging, polymers, natural products, pharmaceuticals, instrumentation design & development and analytical toxicology with a focus on mass spectrometry analytical techniques. He has over 200 publications and presentations, has chaired numerous symposia and has served on FDA and EPA task force and scientific advisory panels. Tom is inventor of the Short Path Thermal Desorption apparatus and accessories which are licensed and commercially marketed worldwide by Scientific Instrument Services (SIS), Inc. of Ringoes, NJ. Tom and coworkers at SIS have been awarded three patents for this invention and have commercially introduction an advanced, fully automated, computer-controlled Short Path Thermal Desorption system called Autodesorb™. Dr. Hartman has served as an analytical and technical consultant to hundreds of companies and many government agencies worldwide. He is a member of the American Society of Mass Spectrometry (ASMS), American Chemical Society (ACS) and the Agricultural and Food Chemistry Division, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) and various local subsections of these organizations. In 1995 he was awarded the National Young Scientist Award by the Agricultural and Food Chemistry division of the American Chemical Society. He received the ACS Pro Bono award in 2005 for his long term commitment to ACS Project SEED, a summer internship program for economically disadvantaged high school students interested in careers in chemistry. |