Food Processing and Unit Operations
How transport phenomena — fluid handling, heat transfer, pumping and separation — determine product quality and process stability in food manufacturing.
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MuhammadIlham Ramdlani
Lecturer & Researcher in Food Science and TechnologyLecturer & Researcher in Food Science and Technology
I am a food scientist and process engineer working where food manufacturing, product quality and international food-safety standards meet. I hold a Master's degree in Food Science and Technology from The University of Queensland, awarded with Distinction, built on an engineering education in Indonesia and two years in industrial food production. That background shapes how I teach and how I frame research: starting from problems that appear on a production line, and working back to the science that explains them.
Academic profiles
Rochedale, Queensland, Australia
Academic profile at a glance
- Master’swith Distinction
- Highest qualification
- The University of Queensland — awarded with Distinction, 2024
- 385of 930
- UQ Summer Research Program
- Competitive research scheme: 385 places offered from 930 applications.
- 2years
- Industry experience
- Production foreman and process engineer, palm-oil based products
- UQEmployability Award
- The University of Queensland
- Endorsed by the Vice-Chancellor and Academic Registrar.
01.About
About
An engineer’s route into food science
My academic path has moved deliberately between engineering and food science. I completed an engineering degree at Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) in Surabaya, then spent two years inside a food manufacturing operation before returning to postgraduate study at The University of Queensland, where I completed a Master's degree in Food Science and Technology with Distinction.
Studying in Australia on a scholarship from Lembaga Pengelola Dana Pendidikan (LPDP) carried an expectation that the work would be put to public use, and that expectation still frames how I choose what to study. Alongside coursework I was selected for the UQ Summer Research Program — a competitive scheme that admitted 385 of 930 applicants — and was recognised with the UQ Employability Award, endorsed by the Vice-Chancellor and Academic Registrar.
“The UQ Summer Research Program taught me the part of research that is rarely on a syllabus.”
Research philosophy
Research areas
- Food Processing and Unit Operations
- Fats and Oils Technology
- Food Safety and Codex Standards
- Food Security, Trade and Nutrition
- Sustainable Food Systems
Teaching areas
- Unit operations in food engineering
- Fluid mechanics and pump systems in food processing
- Food processing technology
- Fats and oils processing
- Food quality and safety management
- Food standards and Codex risk analysis
02.Research
Research
Research interests, questions and areas of investigation.
My research interests sit where food processing meets the systems that govern it. Industrial experience in edible-oil manufacturing gave me a concrete set of questions about how processing conditions determine product quality; postgraduate study and subsequent work on Codex standards and food-trade policy gave me the framework in which those questions are answered at national and international scale.
I am drawn to research questions that begin as production or policy problems: why a fat crystallises the way it does, how a safety standard translates into a control point, what a trade rule means for a small producer. Research of that kind has to be rigorous to be useful, and useful to be worth doing.
Research areas
Fats and Oils Technology
Palm-oil based products including cooking oil, margarine, cocoa butter substitutes and shortening: processing routes, functional properties and quality control.
Food Safety and Codex Standards
Risk analysis and the development of Codex Alimentarius standards, including how international standards are negotiated regionally and applied in national systems.
Food Security, Trade and Nutrition
The relationship between trade policy and food security outcomes, and how policy instruments support or undermine nutritional goals.
Sustainable Food Systems
Sustainable production, climate resilience and nutritional advancement as intersecting constraints on the future of food supply.
Research output
Selected publications
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The publication record is being compiled. Journal articles, conference papers, presentations, posters and research reports will appear here with full citations and resolvable DOIs — nothing is listed that has not been published.
- Journal articles
- Conference papers
- Presentations
- Posters
- Research reports
Featured research
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Independent research undertaken through the UQ Summer Research Program, a competitive university scheme that admitted 385 of 930 applicants. Add the project title, supervisor and research question.
03.Teaching
Teaching
Teaching practice
01 Student engagement
Anchoring each topic in a situation a student can visualise, so that the reason for a derivation is established before the derivation itself.
02 Critical thinking
Asking students to interrogate assumptions in a specification or a standard, rather than accepting given values as fixed.
03 Practical and research-based learning
Using genuine process problems and research findings as teaching material, including results that were unexpected or inconclusive.
04 Industry relevance
Drawing directly on manufacturing experience so that graduates recognise the conditions, constraints and vocabulary of the industry they enter.
Teaching areas
- Unit operations in food engineering
- Fluid mechanics and pump systems in food processing
- Food processing technology
- Fats and oils processing
- Food quality and safety management
- Food standards and Codex risk analysis
April 2024
Guest Lecturer in Food Engineering
Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS)
Credential ID
3835/IT2.IX.2.1.2/T/TU.00.08/IV/2024
Invited by my undergraduate programme supervisor to lecture on Satuan Operasi Teknik Pangan (Unit Operations in Food Engineering), a course covering the fluids and pumps used in food production. The session combined the theoretical treatment of the topic with practical production-line challenges drawn from two years of industrial experience in palm-oil based manufacturing.
04.Academic Journey
Academic journey
Education & experience
Education
2023 – 2024
Master's degree, Food Science and Technology
The University of Queensland
- Awarded with Distinction
- Graduated December 2024
- Studies funded by Lembaga Pengelola Dana Pendidikan (LPDP), the Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education
- UQ Employability Award, endorsed by the Vice-Chancellor and Academic Registrar
- Selected for the UQ Summer Research Program (385 places from 930 applications)
2016 – 2020
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Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS)
Appointments & experience
April 2024
Guest Lecturer in Food Engineering
Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS)
- Delivered an invited lecture on Satuan Operasi Teknik Pangan (Unit Operations in Food Engineering), covering fluids and pumps used in the food industry.
- Integrated industrial case material from palm-oil based manufacturing into the theoretical treatment of the topic.
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Production Foreman and Process Engineer
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- Supervised production in a food manufacturing operation producing palm-oil based products: cooking oil, margarine, cocoa butter substitutes and shortening.
- Worked as a process engineer on the same product lines, addressing practical process and equipment challenges encountered in production.
05.Collaboration
Research & academic collaboration
Interested in collaborating?
Let’s discuss research, teaching, food innovation, or academic collaboration.
Research
Joint research projects, co-publications and knowledge exchange.
Propose a Research ProjectTeaching
Guest lectures, curriculum development and academic exchange.
Invite for Guest LectureIndustry
Food innovation, technology transfer and industry partnerships.
Discuss Industry Partnership
Get in touch
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Rochedale, Queensland, Australia
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