Da-Wen Sun
Encyclopedia
Sun Dawen known as Da-Wen Sun, is an academic and researcher in food engineering
Food engineering
Food engineering is a multidisciplinary field of applied physical sciences which combines science, microbiology, and engineering education for food and related industries. Food engineering includes, but is not limited to, the application of agricultural engineering, mechanical engineering and...

, a member of Royal Irish Academy
Royal Irish Academy
The Royal Irish Academy , based in Dublin, is an all-Ireland, independent, academic body that promotes study and excellence in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is one of Ireland's premier learned societies and cultural institutions and currently has around 420 Members, elected in...

, the highest academic honour in Ireland, and a member of Academia Europaea
Academia Europaea
Academia Europæa is a European non-governmental scientific academy founded in 1988. Its members are scientists and scholars who collectively aim to promote learning, education and research. It publishes European Review through Cambridge Journals....

.

Biography

Sun was born in Chaozhou
Chaozhou
Chaozhou is a city in eastern Guangdong province of the People's Republic of China. It borders Shantou to the south, Jieyang to the southwest, Meizhou to the northwest, the province of Fujian to the east, and the South China Sea to the southeast...

, Guangdong
Guangdong
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...

, China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

. He received a first class BSc
BSC
BSC is a three-letter abbreviation that may refer to:Science and technology* Bachelor of Science , an undergraduate degree* Base Station Controller, part of a mobile phone network; see: Base Station subsystem...

 Honours and MSc
MSC
- Computers:* Mario Strikers Charged* Microsoft Common Console Document, file for the Microsoft Management Console* Microelectronics Support Centre* Microsoft Corporation* MIDI Show Control* Message Sequence Chart...

 in Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...

, and a PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...

 in Chemical Engineering
Chemical engineering
Chemical engineering is the branch of engineering that deals with physical science , and life sciences with mathematics and economics, to the process of converting raw materials or chemicals into more useful or valuable forms...

 in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

. He was appointed College Lecturer at National University of Ireland
National University of Ireland
The National University of Ireland , , is a federal university system of constituent universities, previously called constituent colleges, and recognised colleges set up under the Irish Universities Act, 1908, and significantly amended by the Universities Act, 1997.The constituent universities are...

, Dublin (University College Dublin
University College Dublin
University College Dublin ) - formally known as University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin is the Republic of Ireland's largest, and Ireland's second largest, university, with over 1,300 faculty and 17,000 students...

) in 1995, and was then Senior Lecturer
Senior lecturer
Senior lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, lecturer is a faculty position at a university or similar institution. Especially in research-intensive universities, lecturers lead research groups and supervise research students, as well as teach...

, Associate Professor and full Professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

. Sun is now Professor and Director of the Food Refrigeration and Computerised Food Technology Research Group in University College Dublin. He is a Fellow
Fellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...

 of the Institution of Agricultural Engineers
Institution of Agricultural Engineers
The Institution of Agricultural Engineers is a British professional engineering institution founded in 1938. It is licenced by the Engineering Council UK to assess candidates for inclusion on ECUK's Register of professional Engineers and Technicians.-Function:As a founding Constituent Body of...

 and a Fellow
Fellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...

 of Engineers Ireland (the Institution of Engineers of Ireland). He is also the CIGR Incoming President and a member of CIGR Executive Board, Editor-in-Chief of Food and Bioprocess Technology – an International Journal (Springer
Springer Science+Business Media
- Selected publications :* Encyclopaedia of Mathematics* Ergebnisse der Mathematik und ihrer Grenzgebiete * Graduate Texts in Mathematics * Grothendieck's Séminaire de géométrie algébrique...

) (2010 Impact Factor = 3.576, ranked at the 4th position among 126 food science and technology journals indexed by SCI), Series Editor of Contemporary Food Engineering book series (CRC Press
CRC Press
The CRC Press, LLC is a publishing group which specializes in producing technical books. While many of their books relate to engineering, science and mathematics, their scope also includes books on business, forensics and information technology...

 / Taylor & Francis
Taylor & Francis
Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in the United Kingdom which publishes books and academic journals. It is a division of Informa plc, a United Kingdom-based publisher and conference company.- Overview :...

), former Editor of Journal of Food Engineering (Elsevier
Elsevier
Elsevier is a publishing company which publishes medical and scientific literature. It is a part of the Reed Elsevier group. Based in Amsterdam, the company has operations in the United Kingdom, USA and elsewhere....

), and editorial board member for Journal of Food Engineering (Elsevier
Elsevier
Elsevier is a publishing company which publishes medical and scientific literature. It is a part of the Reed Elsevier group. Based in Amsterdam, the company has operations in the United Kingdom, USA and elsewhere....

), Journal of Food Process Engineering (Blackwell), Sensing and Instrumentation for Food Quality and Safety (Springer
Springer Science+Business Media
- Selected publications :* Encyclopaedia of Mathematics* Ergebnisse der Mathematik und ihrer Grenzgebiete * Graduate Texts in Mathematics * Grothendieck's Séminaire de géométrie algébrique...

) and Czech Journal of Food Sciences. He is also a Chartered Engineer.

Academic career

Sun is an internationally recognized figure for his leadership in food engineering research and education. His main research activities include cooling, drying and refrigeration processes and systems, quality and safety of food products, bioprocess simulation and optimisation, and computer vision
Computer vision
Computer vision is a field that includes methods for acquiring, processing, analysing, and understanding images and, in general, high-dimensional data from the real world in order to produce numerical or symbolic information, e.g., in the forms of decisions...

 technology. Especially, his innovative studies on vacuum cooling of cooked meats, pizza quality inspection by computer vision, and edible films for shelf-life extension of fruit and vegetables have been widely reported in national and international media. Results of his work have been published in about 600 papers including over 200 peer reviewed journal papers and more than 200 conference papers.

As a leading educator in food engineering, Sun has significantly contributed to the field. He has been conferred adjunct/ visiting/ consulting professorships from ten top universities in China including Zhejiang University
Zhejiang University
Zhejiang University , sometimes referred to as Zheda, is a national university in China. Founded in 1897, Zhejiang University is one of China's oldest institutions of higher education...

, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Harbin Institute of Technology
Harbin Institute of Technology
The Harbin Institute of Technology , or HIT, is colloquially known as Hagongda . It is a research university in the city of Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China....

, China Agricultural University
China Agricultural University
China Agricultural University is a university in Beijing, People's Republic of China specializing in agriculture, biology, engineering, veterinary medicine, economics, management, humanities and social science. It was formed in 1995 through the merger of the Beijing Agricultural University and...

, South China University of Technology
South China University of Technology
South China University of Technology is a Chinese university located in Guangzhou, capital of the Guangdong province. In 1999, SCUT ranked No...

, Southern Yangtze University, and so on. In recognition of his significant contribution to food engineering worldwide and for his outstanding leadership in the field, the International Commission of Agricultural Engineering (CIGR) awarded him the CIGR Merit Award in 2000 and again in 2006, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers
Institution of Mechanical Engineers
The Institution of Mechanical Engineers is the British engineering society based in central London, representing mechanical engineering. It is licensed by the Engineering Council UK to assess candidates for inclusion on ECUK's Register of professional Engineers...

 (IMechE) based in the UK named him "Food Engineer of the Year 2004", in 2008 he was awarded CIGR Recognition Award in honour of his distinguished achievements as the top one percent of Agricultural Engineering scientists in the world. In 2007 he was presented with “AFST(I) Fellow Award” by the Association of Food Scientists and Technologists (India), and in 2010 he was presented with “CIGR Fellow Award”, the title of Fellow is the highest honour in CIGR, and is conferred to individuals who have made sustained, outstanding contributions worldwide. According to Thomson Scientific
Thomson Scientific
Thomson Scientific was one of the five operating divisions of The Thomson Corporation until 2008. Following the merger of Thomson with Reuters to form Thomson Reuters in 2008, it became the Scientific business unit of the new company. In 2009, the Scientific business came together with the...

's Essential Science Indicators (ESI) updated as of 1 July 2010 to cover an 10-year plus four-month period (1 January 2000 – 30 April 2010), a total of 2,554 scientists are among the top one percent of the most cited scientists in the category of Agriculture Sciences (ISI
ISI
ISI or Isi may refer to:* İsi, a village and municipality in the Masally Rayon of Azerbaijan-Organizations:* Bureau of Indian Standards, previously the Indian Standards Institute, the national Standards Body of India...

 Web of Science
Web of Science
ISI Web of Knowledge is an academic citation indexing and search service, which is combined with web linking and provided by Thomson Reuters. Web of Knowledge coverage encompasses the sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities. It provides bibliographic content and the tools to access, analyze,...

), and Sun is at the top of the list with his ranking of 31.

On 28 May 2010, he was awarded membership of the Royal Irish Academy
Royal Irish Academy
The Royal Irish Academy , based in Dublin, is an all-Ireland, independent, academic body that promotes study and excellence in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is one of Ireland's premier learned societies and cultural institutions and currently has around 420 Members, elected in...

 (RIA), which is the highest honour that can be attained by scholars and scientists working in Ireland; and at the 51st CIGR General Assembly held during the CIGR World Congress in Quebec City, Canada on 13-17 June 2010, he was elected Incoming President of CIGR, and will become CIGR President in 2013-2014 - the term of his CIGR presidency is six years, two years each for serving as Incoming President, President, and Past President. On 20 September 2011, he was elected to Academia Europaea
Academia Europaea
Academia Europæa is a European non-governmental scientific academy founded in 1988. Its members are scientists and scholars who collectively aim to promote learning, education and research. It publishes European Review through Cambridge Journals....

, which is functioning as European Academy of Humanities, Letters and Sciences and is one of the most prestigious academies in the world, election to the Academia Europaea represents the highest academic distinction.

Honours and awards

He has also received numerous awards for teaching and research excellence, including the President’s Research Fellowship, and twice receiving the President’s Research Award of University College Dublin.
  • Member of Academia Europaea
    Academia Europaea
    Academia Europæa is a European non-governmental scientific academy founded in 1988. Its members are scientists and scholars who collectively aim to promote learning, education and research. It publishes European Review through Cambridge Journals....

    , 2011
  • MRIA - Member of Royal Irish Academy
    Royal Irish Academy
    The Royal Irish Academy , based in Dublin, is an all-Ireland, independent, academic body that promotes study and excellence in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is one of Ireland's premier learned societies and cultural institutions and currently has around 420 Members, elected in...

    , 2010
  • CIGR Fellow Award, 2010, by CIGR (International Commission of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering - formerly International Commission of Agricultural Engineering)
  • CIGR Recognition Award, 2008, by CIGR (International Commission of Agricultural Engineering)
  • AFST(I) Fellow Award, 2007, by Association of Food Scientists and Technologists (India)
  • CIGR Merit Award, 2006, by CIGR (International Commission of Agricultural Engineering)
  • President's Research Fellowship, 2004/2005, by University College Dublin
    University College Dublin
    University College Dublin ) - formally known as University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin is the Republic of Ireland's largest, and Ireland's second largest, university, with over 1,300 faculty and 17,000 students...

  • Food Engineer of the Year Award, 2004, by The Institution of Mechanical Engineers
    Institution of Mechanical Engineers
    The Institution of Mechanical Engineers is the British engineering society based in central London, representing mechanical engineering. It is licensed by the Engineering Council UK to assess candidates for inclusion on ECUK's Register of professional Engineers...

    , UK
  • CIGR Merit Award, 2000, by CIGR (International Commission of Agricultural Engineering)
  • President's Research Award, 2000/2001, by University College Dublin
    University College Dublin
    University College Dublin ) - formally known as University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin is the Republic of Ireland's largest, and Ireland's second largest, university, with over 1,300 faculty and 17,000 students...

  • President's Research Award, 1998/1999, by University College Dublin
    University College Dublin
    University College Dublin ) - formally known as University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin is the Republic of Ireland's largest, and Ireland's second largest, university, with over 1,300 faculty and 17,000 students...

  • Who's Who in Science and Engineering, 2000 -
  • Who’s Who in the World, 1999 -

Research contribution

The research conducted by Sun and his research team is an important component in Food Process Engineering. The research has attracted the attention of quality publications including the prestigious New Scientist
New Scientist
New Scientist is a weekly non-peer-reviewed English-language international science magazine, which since 1996 has also run a website, covering recent developments in science and technology for a general audience. Founded in 1956, it is published by Reed Business Information Ltd, a subsidiary of...

. Their 2001 issue (vol 172, issue 2321, 15 Dec, p 24) focused on the potential of edible food coatings to extend the shelf life of fruit and vegetables. A soya-based coating had already been used to preserve kiwi fruit for 37 days without any sign of rotting. The fruit normally lasts just a fortnight. The coating does much the same job as packaging, only better, according to Sun’s collaborator Shiying Xu, a food scientist at the Wuxi University of Light Industry in China. "Our film can inhibit gas exchange, control respiration rate, decrease nutrient loss, reduce evaporation and prevent the micro-organism growth that causes rotting," she explains. To protect a piece of fruit, you dip it in a solution of the coating, which dries to form a thin, transparent film. Although people usually peel kiwi fruit, the coating has to be edible because chemicals from it could migrate through the fruit's skin. The coating is a mixture of soya protein, a fatty acid called stearic acid, and pullulan—a sugary carbohydrate which is produced by a fungus and which forms sticky films. Xu says the coating should also work for apples, tomatoes and peppers, but the relative amounts of each constituent would have to be changed for each type of fruit, and that could make it expensive.

Sun says it's hard to tell just how long the coating would preserve other types of fruit, since they all have such varied shelf-lives. Citrus fruits, for example, can last months before rotting—and that's without the coating. Like the supercool substitute for menthol, the fruit-saving film will need to go through rigorous tests before it can be approved for commercial use, says Britain's Food Standards Agency.

In 2002 the New Scientist
New Scientist
New Scientist is a weekly non-peer-reviewed English-language international science magazine, which since 1996 has also run a website, covering recent developments in science and technology for a general audience. Founded in 1956, it is published by Reed Business Information Ltd, a subsidiary of...

 focused on spotting a perfect pizza (vol 176, issue 2373, 14 Dec, p 9). Lamenting the "inaccuracy and subjectivity" of quality controllers in pizza factories, Sun and Tadhg Brosnan suggested that the task demanded a more rigorous mathematical approach best done by a machine. They have turned to fuzzy logic and designed algorithms that can analyze snapshots of pizzas from digital cameras and automatically pick out rejects - the ones that just don't look tasty enough. In two papers in the Journal of Food Engineering (vol 57, p 81 and p 91), they explain how their invention can diagnose a variety of worrisome pizza ailments, including patchy sauce, sparse coverings of toppings such as mushrooms or ham, and that bane of so many would-be perfect pizzas, a base with "poor alignment".

Published works

Books by Da-Wen Sun include:

Chairmanship of International Conferences

Da-Wen Sun has been regularly invited to serve chairman / chair of international conferences, some recent appointments are
  • Member of Scientific Advisory Committee, 11th International Agricultural Mechanisation and Energy Congress, Istanbul, Turkey, 20-23 September 2011.
  • Member of Organising Committee, 9th International Conference of Food Science and Technology (ICFST), 27-29 May 2011, Hangzhou, China.
  • Member of Academic Committee, International Conference on Agricultural Engineering New Technology (ICAE2011), 27-29 May 2011, Zibo, China.
  • Member of Scientific Committee, 11th International Congress on Engineering and Food (ICEF 11), Athens, Greece, 22 - 26 May 2011.
  • Session Chair, 11th International Congress on Engineering and Food (ICEF 11), Athens, Greece, 22 - 26 May 2011.
  • Chairman of the Symposium, 6th International CIGR Technical Symposium on Toward a Sustainable Food Chain, Nantes, France, 18 - 20 April 2011.
  • Session Chair, 4th International Conference on Computer and Computing Technologies in Agriculture, 22-25 October 2010, Nanchang, China.
  • Member of Academic Committee, International Agricultural Engineering Conference 2010 (IAEC2010), Shanghai, China, 17 – 20 September 2010.
  • Session Chair, XVIIth World Congress of CIGR, Québec City, Canada, 13 - 17 June 2010.
  • Member of Scientific Committee, 19th International Congress of Chemical and Process Engineering CHISA 2010 and 7th European Congress of Chemical Engineering ECCE-7 - Symposium on Food Processing and Technology, Prague, Czech Republic, 28 August - 1 September 2010.
  • Chairman of Organising Committee, 6th Food Science International Symposium, Beijing, China, 5 – 11 August, 2010.
  • Chairman of the Conference and Chairman of the Organising Committee, 5th International Symposium of CIGR Section VI on Food Processing, Monitoring Technology in Bioprocesses and Food Quality Management, Potsdam, Germany, 31 August - 2 September 2009.
  • Session Chair, 3rd International Congress on Food and Nutrition, Antalya, Turkey, 22-25 April 2009.
  • Member of Scientific Committee, Frutic Chile 2009 – 8th International Symposium on Information and Technology for the Sustainable Production of Fruit and Vegetables, Nuts, Wines and Olives, Concepcion, Chile, 5 - 9 January 2009.
  • Session Chair, 10th International Congress on Mechanization and Energy in Agriculture, Antalya, Turkey, 14 - 17 October 2008.
  • Member of Scientific Committee, 10th International Congress on Mechanization and Energy in Agriculture, Antalya, Turkey, 14 - 17 October 2008.
  • Session Chair, 2nd CIGR International Conference of Agricultural Engineering 2008, Iguassu Falls City, Brazil, 31 August - 4 September 2008.
  • Chairman of the Conference and Chairman of the Organising Committee, 4th International Symposium of CIGR Section VI on Food and Bioprocess Technology, Iguassu Falls City, Brazil, 31 August - 4 September 2008.
  • Member of Scientific Committee, 18th International Congress of Chemical and Process Engineering - Symposium on Food Processing and Technology, Prague, Czech Republic, 24 - 28 August 2008.
  • Member of International Scientific Committee, Model-IT 2008 - IV International Symposium on Applications of Modelling as an Innovative Technology in the Agri-Food Chain, Madrid, Spain, 9 - 11 June 2008.
  • Session Chair, 10th International Congress on Engineering and Food (ICEF 10), Viña del Mar, Chile, 20-24 April 2008.

External links

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