Connie Muniandy is a PhD candidate in the department of Food Science at Purdue University and is a first-year ISBT Scholarship recipient.

Under the guidance of Dr. Dharmendra Mishra, she is working on improving the shelf-life analysis of beverages using multi-accelerant approach. She primarily works on high protein smoothie beverages produced using the aseptic processing and filling system in the pilot plant. Her research focuses on developing a rapid innovative technology for shelf-life determination and prediction for beverages. She is investigating on how multiple accelerant factors can be used to study nutrient degradation in beverages. This novel methodology is aimed to reduce the overall analysis time for shelf-life determination using the rapid degradation method and estimation of shelf life based on the inverse problems approach. Successful outcomes of this project will provide the food industry with a faster and more accurate method of determining shelf life of food and beverages.

Connie has also earned her Master's degree in Food Science with a focus on food processing in 2018 from Purdue University. Prior to joining graduate school, she was working in the food industry for two years focusing on shelf-life analysis of various food products. While pursuing the graduate degrees, she has received certifications for Better Process Control School (GMA Science & Education Foundation) and Aseptic Processing Technologies (Purdue University) in 2018. She has also assisted on extension workshops in various capacities, including instructing and facilitating hands-on teaching and learning sessions during the "Annual Aseptic Processing and Packaging Workshop" (2018-2021), and the "Validation Workshop: Aseptic Processing and Filling" (2017-2021). She is also an approved instructor (since 2018) for the FDA workshops taught at Purdue University, "FD152 Food Processing and Technology", with a specialization in thermal processing equipment, cold press/juicer equipment, and pumps. After graduating with a doctorate degree in food processing, Connie intends to join the aseptic beverage industry as a food processing engineer.

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