Dr. Ziynet Boz
Assistant Professor, Sustainable Food Systems Engineering
Skilled at leveraging engineering skills in the combinations of food engineering and packaging regardless of the product type, Dr. Ziynet Boz is committed to tackling challenges related to the sustainability of food systems through engineering principles. Prior to starting her current role at the University of Florida in October 2020, she focused on a diverse range of topics from sustainability to packaging and from food processing modeling to food engineering.
Her recent activities included developing sustainability, food loss, and waste reduction, and sustainable packaging solutions for the leading food companies as well as multiple-stakeholder organizations, helping the development of a mobile processing and packaging unit, guiding a start-up for the development of a novel intelligent packaging solution in food applications, assessing sustainability strategies, implementation of a new modified atmosphere packaging device for fresh produce, modeling, optimization, and testing in food packaging (E.g., fresh produce, coffee, beverage, transportation, etc.). Her background also includes food process unit operations and modeling (E.g., CFD modeling in thermal processing).
Her current research addresses food loss and waste mitigation strategies and solutions at various value chain members (E.g., retail and consumer) through processing and packaging, valorization of waste into bioproducts, optimization, and modeling to improve sustainability and shelf-life of food systems, and the assessment of environmental sustainability through Life Cycle Assessment. Dr. Boz is also interested in enhancing the learning experiences of agricultural, food, and biological engineering students with human-computer interaction solutions.
Dr. Boz earned her Ph.D. as a Fulbright Scholar from the University of Florida, Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, specializing in Food Packaging. She holds a B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Food Engineering from Mersin University, focusing on CFD modeling in thermal processing. She is currently teaching engineering design, Lifecycle Assessment, and Unit Operations courses.
Contact Information
352-294-7690
Office:
105 Frazier Rogers Hall
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 110570
Gainesville, FL 32611-0570
-
Teaching
- ABE4043C: Agricultural and Biological Engineering Design 2
- ABE4932/6933: Applications of Life Cycle Assessment in Biological Engineering
- ABE4812/5815C: Food and Bioprocess Engineering Design
-
Research
Departmental Research Areas:
- Biological Engineering
- Packaging
Research Focus:
- Assessment and optimization of food loss and waste mitigation strategies
- Life cycle assessment in food systems with synergies in food processing and packaging
- Food process engineering and modeling
- Fresh produce packaging and shelf-life assessment
-
Education
- Ph.D. Agricultural & Biological Engineering, University of Florida, 2017
- M.S. Food Process Engineering, Mersin University, 2012
- B.S. Food Engineering, Mersin University, 2009
- Exchange Program Chemical Engineering and Technology, University of Chemistry and Technology (VSCHT), Prague, 2008
-
Professional Experience
- October 2020-Present
Assistant Professor of Sustainable Food Systems Engineering, Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, the University of Florida - 2018-2021
Scientific Journal Evaluator, Journal of Food Science - 2018-2020
Senior Research Consultant, Packaging Technology and Research LLC. - Postdoctoral Researcher, Packaging Engineering Program, University of Florida
- 2013-2017
Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, University of Florida - Research and Teaching Assistant, Food Engineering Department, Mersin University
- October 2020-Present
-
Publications
- Google Scholar
- ORCID: 0000-0001-6764-2022
- ResearchGate
- U.S. Patent Pending U.S. 20190246670A1 “Permeation device for beneficial supplementation to gaseous atmospheres in enclosed volumes.”
-
Awards and Honors
- Fulbright Doctoral Scholarship, 2013-2017
- Grinter Fellowship, 2013-2017
- Brelan E. Moritz Award, CALS – University of Florida, 2017
- 1st Place in Graduate Research Competition, IFT, 2017
- Outstanding Service Award, IFT, 2017
- Outstanding Volunteer Award, IFT, 2016
- Empowering Women in Technology Startups (EWITS) 1st Place, Florida Innovation Hub, 2014
-
Other Professional Activities
- Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Professional Member
- Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Sustainable Food Systems Division Chair (2021), Food Packaging Division Chair (2020-2021), Division Champion Team Member (2020-2021)
- PAC FoodWaste Leadership Council
- Florida Gamma Beta Chapter of Alpha Epsilon