Books Food Processing: Principles and Applications | ||
Michèle Marcotte, Ph.D., is a pioneer in food processing research. As a federal scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), she created a new method of fruit dehydration which can also be applied to vegetables, meat, or fish known as osmotic dehydration. Collaboration with private industry led to the design, development, installation, and start-up of a custom build dried-cranberry production line that is unique to the world. Her research was recognized with several awards including one from the Canadian Society for Bioengineering. Marcotte is currently the Director of the Ottawa Research and Development Centre located at the Central Experimental Farm in Canada.
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Biography
Marcotte completed a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Laval University in 1985. After completing her master’s degree in food engineering at the University of Alberta in 1988, she began her career with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) as a professional engineer at the Food Research and Development Centre located in St. Hyacinthe, Quebec. In 1999, Marcotte obtained her Ph.D. in food processing from McGill University where she studied the ohmic heating process of viscous liquids.
Career
Marcotte has worked at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada as a section head of food preservation technologies; a research scientist in Food Processing and Engineering; and an advisor to the Director General of the Food Safety and Quality National Science Program. As a scientist, Dr. Marcotte’s research interests included:
Under the Federal Partners in Technology Transfer (FPTT) program, Marcotte and her team at the Development Centre partnered with Atoka Cranberries to produce a unique two-step drying process for cranberries that has been commercially implemented in Quebec. The innovation utilizes osmosis, a natural process to partially dehydrate and sweeten the fruit in order to make them more palatable. This method may also be used on fruits, vegetables, meat, and fish. Among other developments Marcotte has worked on a prototype pilot oven for the optimization of baking and computer software to establish cooking-cooling cycle for meat products. From 2006 to 2007, Marcotte was President of the Canadian Institute of Food Science and Technology. In 2009, Marcotte became the Science Director of the Eastern Cereal and Oilseed Research Centre (now the Ottawa Research and Development Centre) located in Ottawa, Ontario where she was responsible for corporate research on food and health. She is the Canadian representative of the International Association on Engineering and Foods (IAEF)and the International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST).
Marcotte has also served as a supervisor for a number of cooperative and graduate students in her laboratory and has authored more than 60 peer-reviewed papers, 120 conference papers and 45 research reports.
Honours and awards
AgCellence Prize from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (Innovation) in 1998;