Online
Automation in Food Manufacturing
Are you a student studying food science & technology or a professional in the food industry? Do you want to strengthen your expertise and knowledge about automation and manufacturing innovations for the food industry?
In this online master's course, you will learn about automation in food manufacturing in both theoretical and practical aspects. Since this course is part-time, you will be able to combine study and work and enhance your career.
Content of the course
Automation in factory-based food production and processing focuses on food quality and safety quantization and automatic process control. Sensors have been installed to automatically acquire (acoustic, image, pressure and temperature) data from the production line. Robots and other automatic systems will then be able to use those sensor data in various operations including sorting of ingredients, assembling of discrete food products, pick-and-packing and labelling of the final products, etc. Automation in food manufacturing can be achieved at different scales, i.e. from as small as an individual 3D food printer (machine automation) to as large as a smart factory (totally integrated automation). Automation in food industry can potentially allow for a more sustainable food production system, for making full use of the resources and avoiding food loss as much as possible. In this online master’s course, you will learn about automation in food manufacturing in both theoretical and practical aspects.
Online education
The online master's course consists of online knowledge clips, digital exercises and an individual assignment. All information will be provided on Brightspace.
You will learn to
- describe the purposes and limitations of automation in food manufacturing
- analyse how sensor data is acquired and processed for automation purposes
- assess different automatic process control methods
- apply simple data processing techniques such as visualization and classification
Combining courses
When you want to learn more about food biotechnology and processing, other courses are interesting for you too! You can deepen your knowledge in a specific career field, without following a complete master's programme. You can register for any combination, but these are some of our suggestions:
- FPE-35303 Sustainable Food and Bioprocessing - Flow and pinch analysis
- FPE-35403 Sustainable Food and Bioprocessing - Exergy analysis
- FQD-37303 Predicting Food Quality - Theoretical principles of modelling product concept
- FQD-37403 Predicting Food Quality - Solving food science problems by modelling
- FQD-63303 Product and Process Design - Critical thinking and communication in an interdisciplinary setting
- FQD-63403 Product and Process Design - Idea generation and selection of a product concept
Level of knowledge
Admission to the course requires a level of education in Food Science and Technology or related, such as Chemical Engineering, Biotechnology. Relevant work experience can be considered.
English proficiency
The language of instruction of this course is in English. Admission to the course requires a level of English as defined at the website for Dutch nationals, EU nationals or nationals outside EU/EFTA respectively.
Examination
You can complete the online master's course(s) with an exam (not obligatory). If you don’t complete the course with an exam or if you do not pass the exam successfully, you can ask for a certificate of attendance. When you successfully complete the course and the exam, you are entitled to a certificate of successful completion. The certificate is included in the course price.
Examination dates
- Exam: 6 April 2023
- Resit exam: between 10 July 2023 and 21 July 2023