Credit Hours - 3

Objective: 
This course introduces students to the concept of probability and statistics for engineering application.

Description: 
Topics include probability functions axioms and rules, counting techniques, conditional probability, independence, and mutually exclusive events. Discrete Random Variable: Expectation and variance, Binomial distribution, Hypergeometric distribution, Poisson distribution, the relationship between Poisson and Binomial. Continuous Random Variable: Percentiles and cumulative distribution function, expectation and variance, uniform distribution, normal distribution, exponential distribution, and other distributions. Joint Distributions. Covariance and Correlation. Sampling Distributions: Distributions of statistics, central limit theorem, samples from normal distribution (t-distribution, X2 distribution, and F-distributions). Estimation: Common point estimators, interval estimators. Hypothesis Testing. Introduction to Regression Analysis. Engineering applications in quality control, process control, communication systems and speech recognition.

Credit Hours - 3

Objectives: 
To provide students with a fundamental understanding of economic concepts and principles applicable to engineering.

Description: 
Topics to be covered include an introduction to making economic decisions, supply, demand, and equilibrium in economics. Concept of engineering economics: economic efficiency, engineering efficiency, marginal costs and revenues, opportunity and sunk costs, break-even analysis, economic analysis involving material. Decision making and value engineering: value engineering procedure, interest formula, and applications in time value of money. Evaluation of alternatives and methods: present and future worth methods, an annual equivalent method, and rate of return method. Sensitivity analysis. Computer-aided engineering economics using spreadsheets.

Credit Hours - 3

Objectives: 
This course provides students with the mathematical analysis techniques required for solving numerical problems encountered in the field of engineering. It promotes the use of MATLAB for solving mathematical problems that require numerical solutions.

Description: 
The course involves matrices, linear homogeneous systems, and eigenvectors and values. Numerical methods and errors, stability, and convergence. Solving systems of linear equations: Gaussian elimination, Gauss-Jordan, LU decomposition methods. Solving nonlinear equations: Fixed point iteration, bisection method, false position method, secant, and Newton Raphson method. Curve-fitting and interpolation: Lagrange and Newton’s polynomial.

Credit Hours - 3

Objectives: 

To provide an overview of the beverage industry focusing on the principles and technologies involved in the processing, handling, storage, and transportation of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.

Description: 

The course will cover the entire beverage value chain spanning from ingredients, processing, packaging to finished goods distribution. It will review the types of beverages, their composition, nutritive value and safe handling practices. The basic principles of beverage processing, technologies for production of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, and implications of selected technologies on product quality will be discussed. The chemistry and processing technologies of cocoa, tea, coffee and traditional beverages will be emphasised. Basic concepts of quality assurance and quality control as applied within the beverage industry will be discussed.

Credit Hours - 1

Objective: 

To equip students with hands-on practical experience in industry in order to enable them relate theory acquired in the lecture hall to practical industrial applications.

Description: 

Coordinated and planned work experience with cooperating industries and agencies. Students undertake at least six weeks of industrial attachment to gain practical experience. A detailed report on the training is submitted to the Department at the end of the attachment.

Credit Hours - 3

Objectives: 

To introduce students to topical issues within the food industry. To identify and discuss constraints within the traditional food processing industry and explore opportunities for improvement.

Description: 

The course will introduce students to the structural organisation and scope of the food manufacturing industry in Ghana, including the formal (SMEs) and the informal or cottage food industries.  It will present an overview of the food industry and technological progression as well as highlighting current and main challenges. Interlinkages and relationships with regional and global food industries will be reviewed. Discussions will cover the application of basic food quality management systems, hygiene, sustainable food processing, product quality, consumer perceptions of processed foods, management of food waste and market competitiveness. Students will have an opportunity to identify and select a real challenge within the industry and propose innovative solutions using appropriate engineering design principles.

(IFPRI)Washington, D.C.

Credit Hours - 3

Objectives: 

To study and understand the important biochemical conversion pathways of food macromolecules. To introduce students to the implication of biochemical reactions on safe and efficient food handling practices.

Description: 

The course will cover the structure, function and associated biochemical conversion pathways of food macromolecules; specifically, carbohydrates (monosaccharides, oligosaccharides, polysaccharides), lipids (acyl glycerides, fatty acids, waxes, complex and derived lipids) and proteins (amino acids, primary, secondary, tertiary and functional structures of protein). Additionally, it will provide an overview of the biochemical characteristics, regulation and impact of components in raw and processed foods from plant and animal origin. The presence and role of enzymes in foods particularly as related to food spoilage will be discussed. Students will be briefly introduced to the concept of Bioenergetics.

Credit Hours - 3

Objectives: 

To introduce students to the principles of environmental engineering and environmental pollution control.

Description: 

In this course students are taught environmental impact assessment and industrial waste treatment and control as well as solid waste management. Students are introduced to environmentally friendly techniques for solid waste disposal as well as water, air, and solid waste treatment processes, disposal, and management. The course also discusses government legislation, rules, and regulation as related to the environment as well as waste management and environmental management systems.

Credit Hours - 3

Objectives: To understand the concept of mass transfer and its application in process engineering.

Description: The course covers applications of mass transfer including unit operations and separations. Students are introduced to fundamentals of diffusion and mass transport as well as mass transfer applications - non-equilibrium separations including gas absorption and adsorption, membrane processes and devices and crystallization. Microscopic and macroscopic issues are discussed. Students will be taught to appreciate unsteady-state mass transfer, simultaneous heat and mass transfer-hot air drying, spray drying and freeze-drying applications.

Credit Hours - 3

Objectives: 

To identify and analyse processes involved in food processing in order to understand the need for specific unit operations. To study the relevance of unit operations in transforming raw food materials during processing.

Description: 

The course provides an appreciation of agglomeration, mixing and emulsification of foods, as well as irradiation processing. It also introduces students to mechanical processes including sedimentation, filtration, centrifugation, particle technology and particle size analysis. Discussions also cover size reduction and energy requirements. It explains the concepts of physical separation processes including membrane separations and evaporation (evaporators, single and multiple effects evaporator calculations). An important component is drying specifically including design of dryers, drying curves, psychometry and humidification, and applications in food systems. The concept of water activity, and models of sorption isotherms in foods are highlighted.

Credit Hours - 3

Objectives: 

To understand the modes and phases of heat transfer and their application in food processing. To design and evaluate the performance of heat exchangers.

Description: 

The course introduces students to theories of heat transmission by conduction, convection and radiation. Students will appreciate steady and unsteady state heat transfer and applications in food processing.  Problems involving heat penetration, modelling and simulation of thermal processes and characterization of heat penetration data will be discussed. Other concepts involving thermal process calculations, heating processes, and heat transfer coefficients are explored. Discussions will also cover food heating equipment such as heat exchangers and their designs. Students will also appreciate Temperature Measuring Devices and analogies between heat and momentum transport. The course places emphasis on mathematical modelling, solution techniques and design.

Credit Hours - 3

Objectives: 

To introduce students to the underlining principles of key biotechnological tools and techniques and the associated ethical considerations in biotechnology.

Description: 

This course explores the basic concepts of biotechnology within the context of traditional vs. modern biotechnology processes. It highlights key developments in the history of biotechnology and provides a basic understanding of common tools and techniques including recombinant methods, proteomics, and fermentation. Students are additionally introduced to current trends in biotechnology and the regulatory framework and ethical aspects of biotechnology are emphasised. Key areas of discussions include nucleic acid structure and function as well as the principles and application of genetic engineering in the food industry. The course also covers concepts on continuous fermentation, agitation, mass transfer and scale-up of fermentation systems, enzyme technology. 

Credit Hours - 3

Objectives: 

To develop an understanding of the sequential events involved in the new food product development process. To identify key challenges associated with key stages in the product development process and find feasible solutions.

Description:  

The course introduces students to the food product development process. Discussions will cover the entire process including ideation, prototype development, product optimization and validation, economics of product development, marketing issues and product launch.  An independent study on the design of a new product or improvement of an existing food product and/or the process employed for producing the product will be undertaken with the requisite supervision.

Credit Hours - 3

Objective: 

To introduce students to the basic concepts of microbiology as applied in food processing.

Description: 

The course provides and overview of the historical background and current developments in the general area of food microbiology. Key topics for discussion include the habitats, taxonomy and growth parameters, role and significance of microorganisms in foods, and the intrinsic and extrinsic parameters of foods that affect microbial growth. Microorganisms in foods - Spores and their significance. Students are introduced to techniques for determining microorganisms and/or their products in foods, including culture, microscopic and sampling methods, physical, chemical, molecular and immunological methods, bioassay and related methods. Discussions will also highlight the relevance of microorganisms in food preservation, key properties of psychrotrophs, thermophiles and radiation-resistant bacteria, the application of indicators of food safety and quality, and the role of indicator microorganisms.

Credit Hours - 3

Objectives: 

To understand the different principles and concepts governing various separation processes and to show students the impact of selected separation techniques in food processing.

Description: 

In this course, students are introduced to the theory and applications of Equilibrium staged separation processes commonly encountered in industrial processes. Some key topics include gas absorption, absorption in packed towers; contact equilibrium processes, evaporation, membrane separations, distillation (batch and continuous binary).  Other processes involving solvent extraction in the food industry, including liquid-liquid extraction, solid-liquid extraction; super critical fluid extraction will be discussed. Other concepts such as leaching, fundamentals of adsorption and ion exchange as well as crystallization will be covered.

Credit Hours - 3

Objectives: 
To identify and analyse processes involved in food processing in order to understand the need for specific unit operations. To study and understand the concept of food preservation principles and unit operations. To apply sound mathematical and engineering principles in solving food preservation problems.

Description: 

The course introduces students to established approaches to solve food preservation problems. The students are taught how to analyze and solve food preservation problems using sound mathematical and engineering considerations. Discussions include analysing and selecting the appropriate preservation technology for different classes of food with specific focus on the principles and application of refrigeration and freezing in food systems. Students are provided with an overview of thermal processing of foods including aseptic processing and thermal process calculations. Discussions also cover fermentations and fermenters, as well as design and analysis of enzymatic and microbial biological reaction systems.