Mr. Clyde W. Eddy was the first Head of Department. Mr. Muhammad Bakhsh Bhatti, Dr. Sultan Ahmed Tremazi, Dr. Abdul Latif Rasoolpuri, Mr. Riaz-ur-Rehman, Dr. Muhammad Shafiq Chaudhry, Dr. Haji Muhammad Chaudhry, Dr. Ali Asghar, Syed Aulad Hussain Shah, Dr. Amjad Ali, Dr. Javaid Aziz Awan and Dr. Faqir Muhammad Anjum have served as Heads/Chairmen of the Department during different periods.
The scientific and technological advancements demanded the need to strengthen and upgrade the Department which could bolster the faculty and students on advanced and more technical grounds. Thus realizing the importance of the discipline in Pakistan, the Department was upgraded to Institute of Food Science and Technology in May 2003 which has further been elevated to National Institute of Food Science & Technology (NIFSAT) in June 2007. Prof. Dr. Faqir Muhammad Anjum was appointed as the founding Director General of the Institute. Today, NIFSAT at UAF is a pioneer and the only National Food Science and Technology Institute in the country. NIFSAT comprises of six sections and one center namely Grain Science & Technology, Dairy & Meat Technology, Fruits & Vegetables Technology, Oil & Sugar Technology, Food Microbiology & Biotechnology, Nutrition & Food Safety and Food Technology Transfer Centre (FTTC). The FTTC will be established with the help of Agrocampus Rennes, France.
The main thrust of NIFSAT is the application of Food Science and Technology in handling, processing and preservation of food to cope with the challenges of the rapidly growing food industry in the 21st century. There has been significant increase in the establishment of food industry during the last two decades and consequently the demand for Food Technology graduates has increased tremendously at national level and in the Gulf countries.
Presently, NIFSAT has seventeen dedicated and hardworking faculty members, who hold PhDs and MScs. Besides regular faculty, subject experts, eminent scientists and foreign professors are also working in the institute. The Institute is actively engaged in research on different aspects of Food Science & Technology including preservation, value addition, food flavoring, food microbiology, safety and nutrition. The contributions and dedication of the staff towards research is reflected through a high number of publications in the international and national journals. The dedication of the faculty members has also been recognized by various national organizations, since a number of them have won prestigious awards.
The National Institute of Food Science and Technology is improving academic and research training facilities with significant increase in number and quality of professional manpower. The laboratories of NIFSAT are well equipped with modern equipments including automatic milk analyzer, milk centrifuge machine, flame photometer, HPLC, GC-MS, electrophoresis apparatus, atomic absorption spectrophotometer, FTIR, complete microbial analysis apparatus, referactometers, viscometer, fermentor. The Institute has also established Extrusion Centre with the help of Texas A&M University, Texas, USA.
NIFSAT has recently started a separate four-years graduate degree program leading to B.Sc. (Hons.) Food Science and Technology and two-years masters program M. Sc. (Hons.) Dairy Technology. NIFSAT has strong interaction with public and private sector institutions/organizations both at national and international levels. NIFSAT has also signed various Memorandum of Understandings (MOU’s) with national and international organization/universities to strengthen Food Science and Technology discipline in the country.
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