This research area regards engineering applications to processing, plants and machine in the food industry, thermal processes and energy flows optimization and novel production systems for processing, track and trace and auto-ID

The group is engaged in research for the development and improvement of systems, technologies and processing plants in the different sectors of food industry, from production to final consumer. Processes are studied adopting an approach which involves both simulations tools and/or algorithms developed for the specific problem and experimental data acquired with different technologies.

Main fields of interest:

• Thermal processes. Simulation and design techniques for steam use in discontinuous processes (pasteurization, sterilization etc.); novel systems for rapid freezing at very low temperature
• Energy management in food processing. Optimization, routing of energy flows (smart grid) and food process scheduling to reduce energy requirements
• Packaging technologies and plants
• Artificial vision for food processing applications
• Supply-chains management. Modelling, identification and optimization of logistics and perishable food products processing.

• Traceability improvement through automation and data acquisition by radio-frequency electronic identification (RFID) technology; traceability system design and performance analysis (e.g. granularity, precision, dynamics of product recall) in agriculture, breeding, food processing and food logistics; traceability tools for anti-counterfeit applications.

• PININ - PIemuNt chèINa (Progetto POR FESR 2014-2020 Piattaforma tecnologica regionale Bioeconomia)
• CryoFood - Sistemi  per la surgelazione rapida degli alimenti basati su cicli ad aria monofasici (Progetto POR FESR 2014-2020  "Poli di Innovazione – Agenda Strategica 2016 – Linea A” ), 2018 - 2020
• Project SmartPack – Study and validation of logistic solutions for heat-sensitive food products (POR-FESR 2007/2013)
• Project Packopt – Innovative strategies for pick and place in food items secondary packaging (2011-2012) POR-FESR 2007/2013
• Project "NAMATECH, Nano materials and technologies for intelligent monitoring of safety, quality and traceability in confectionery products" (CIPE 2007 Converging Technologies)
• Project "FoodVision: Employ of computer vision for quality control of heterogeneous food matrices" (POR-FESR 2007/2013)
• Project: "RFID-FIORI RFID solution for the traceability of Camellia spp. On Lago Maggiore" (Regione Piemonte, 2008).

• Barge P., Biglia A., Comba L., Ricauda Aimonino D., Tortia C., & Gay P. (2020). Radio frequency identification for meat supply-chain digitalisation. Sensors (Switzerland), 20(17), 1-17. doi:10.3390/s20174957
• Barge P., Biglia A., Comba L., Gay P., Ricauda Aimonino D., Tortia C. (2019). The influence of food composition and tag orientation on UHF RF Identification. Journal of Food Engineering, 246, 242-252. DOI:10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2018.11.014
• Biglia A., Comba L., Fabrizio E., Gay P., Mannini A., Mussinatto A., Ricauda Aimonino D. (2017). Reversed Brayton cycle for food freezing at very low temperatures: Energy performance and optimization. International Journal of Refrigeration, 81, 82-95.DOI:10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2017.05.022
• Biglia A., Comba L., Fabrizio E., Gay P., Ricauda Aimonino D. (2017). Steam batch thermal processes in unsteady state conditions: Modeling and application to a case study in the food industry. Applied Thermal Engineering, 118, 638-651. DOI:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2017.03.004
• Comba L., Belforte G., Gay P. (2013). Plant layout and pick-and-place strategies for improving performances in secondary packaging plants of food products. Packaging Technology and Science, 26(6), 339-354.

The research group has several collaborative research projects and partnership with private companies in a technology transfer context.