Message from the Ontario Regional Director Pradeep Goel

Dear Colleagues,

I just can’t believe that we are in to the final days of the year and ready to welcome the New Year with a renewed sense of a healthy and bright future.  Despite all the challenges we faced in last few months due to Covid-19, thankfully, we have successfully navigated through this time and were able to fulfill our professional and personal commitments.  I would like to convey my admiration to all the members.

I would like to extend my warmest wishes to all the members and their families for a Happy Holiday Season and a Happy New Year!

Regards,

Pradeep Goel

Submitted By:  Dr. Ashutosh Singh, Associate Professor,  University of Guelph

Project: The Characterization of Novel and Traditional Plant Proteins

Dr. Saipriya Ramalingam, Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr. Jamshid Rahimi, Process Engineering Scientist, Griffith Foods
Dr. Ashutosh Singh, Associate Professor

The Food Research Lab in the School of Engineering at University of Guelph is working on characterization of novel and traditional plant proteins in a funded project by Mitacs Accelerate Program in collaboration with Griffith Foods. The interest in the study stems out of the on-going research on development of plant-based protein meat alternatives. The interest in plant proteins, such as soy, pea and rice proteins are steadily increasing as the positive ethical, environmental, and health impacts have captured the interest of the public. Despite the global agreement on the advantages of plant-based proteins, these ingredients have not yet successfully made their way onto consumer’s plates.

In their study the research team is going to evaluate the physical and chemical properties of various plant-based proteins and gain insight into their molecular structure and how processing impacts their functional properties.

Submitted By:  Dr. Pranesh Paul & Dr. Jaskaran Dhiman, University of Guelph

Active Research at University of Guelph’s

Water resource Engineering Group

The research team at University of Guelph is working on a study funded by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MOECP). The primary aim of the study is address a critical knowledge gap concerning the impact of Best Management Practices (BMPs) on hydrological processes, soil properties, and phosphorus losses during the winter and early spring periods in agricultural watersheds in the Canadian Lake Erie Basin to facilitate science-based decision-making processes for water quality related problems. One postdoc and two master students are working on this project. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) watershed model has been selected for this study. The model will be modified to suit Southern Ontario conditions by improving reservoir and routing algorithms. Dr. Pranesh Kumar Paul is looking after the whole research, as a postdoc, with Dr. Prasad Daggupati and Prof. Ramesh Rudra, as advisors.

The research group is also working to improve a watershed scale hydrological model (SWAT) for improved winter hydrology simulation in Canadian winter settings. The team has identified key areas of the model that may be improved, and they are now working on it. For one of the agricultural locations identified in Southern Ontario, researchers were able to compare the findings of multiple field scale and watershed scale models (EPIC, SHAW, DRAINMOD, SWAT). The models are being fine-tuned to increase the findings' accuracy and allow for a more effective comparison. The Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MOECP) is funding the study effort. The organisation is actively publishing the results to ensure that knowledge is effectively disseminated throughout the community.

Group members:

Ramesh Rudra, Professor
Pradeep Goel, Adjunct Professor
Prasad Daggupati, Associate Professor
Rituraj Shukla, Postdoctoral Researcher
Jaskaran Dhiman, Postdoctoral Researcher
Pranesh Kumar Paul, Postdoctoral Researcher
Amanpreet Kaur, Graduate Student
Manpreet Kaur, Graduate Student
Avneet Singh, Graduate Student