The Food Science Summer School, sponsored by The Worshipful Company of Butchers, attracted 31 Year 12 students to Harper Adams University, giving those in attendance the chance to explore the topic of food science and better understand the exciting variety of careers the food industry has to offer.
The three-day session last month allowed this curious group of 17-year-olds to take part in a mixture of activities, such as short classroom lectures from Harper staff, two food product development sessions (including sausage and burger production) and visits to local food factories and the University’s farm.
A ‘Meet the Employers’ event featured WCB Court Assistant, David Baker (himself an ex-Harper Adams graduate) as one of the speakers. David entertained the students, illustrating his talk with details of his career in the meat industry leading to the formation of his current company, Faraday Foods.
An analysis of the questionnaires completed by the students showed the Summer School was highly popular and well received by all concerned.
Verbatim comments included:
‘thoroughly enjoyed the experience with the practicals and factory visits best’
‘enjoyed it all and it has given me an insight into the industry’
‘the experience was second to none’ ‘overall the Summer School was great… maybe could have been a day or two longer’
The meat practical session scored very well, although (and perhaps not surprisingly) not quite as well as the chocolate practical!