2026 JOHN CLARK AWARD

Dr. Chyngyz Erkinbaev is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biosystems Engineering. He is a food process engineer by training, and his research focuses on the development and integration of smart sensing technologies for real-time monitoring of food quality and safety with an emphasis on the development of computational tools. He believes that smart technologies will help agri-food systems to be more productive, efficient, and sustainable. His current research includes a multimodal approach for non-destructive and accurate quality assessment of food samples during processing. He has extensive international research and teaching experience in food and biosystems engineering, advanced spectroscopy and imaging, biophotonics and optical sensor design, AI and machine learning, and chemical and 3D microstructural mapping of food matrices. He received the Terry G. Falconer Memorial Rh Institute Foundation Emerging Researcher Award and multiple institutional teaching awards for his outstanding contributions to research and teaching.