The delivery of the Bachelor of Food Technology with Honours programme at the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) is underway, with the first cohort of students beginning lectures in Singapore earlier this month. The programme is a joint partnership between Massey University and SIT.

Sixty food technology students have begun their studies on SIT’s Dover campus. Fifty are in second year, articulated into the programme after completing a diploma, while another 10 students are starting their first year.

Massey staff from the College of Health and College of Sciences travelled to Singapore to teach, including Associate Professor Marie Wong and Dr Richard Love from the School of Food and Nutrition, Professor Clive Davies from the School of Engineering and Advanced Technology, and Dr Scott McMaster from the Institute of Fundamental Sciences.

Associate Professor Rachel Page, director of research and education for Massey’s School of Food and Nutrition, says the partnership is exciting. “It allows for staff from both institutions to work together in producing high calibre multidisciplinary graduates pertinent for the food industry in Singapore and South East Asia.”

Programme director Associate Professor Marie Wong says it has been great to meet and teach the students in Singapore. “They were keen to get started and are excited about the opportunity to come to New Zealand during their degree. The students are looking forward to being exposed to the variety of successful careers food technology can offer. Staff are happy to be back teaching in Singapore and looking forward to developing more graduates.”

The SIT-Massey University programme focuses on food product technology, combining food science, food engineering and food business. The programme educates and equips students with the fundamentals of food science and applied food technology skills required for global careers in the food industry.

Students learn in the classroom and in practical laboratory and workshop sessions that focus on industry problems and solutions, obtaining hands-on experience in industrial-standard food processing plants.

Students complete 28 weeks of an integrated work study programme through real work and experience in food manufacturing companies. In their final year, students complete a food technology research project and a food product development project.