Dr. Wasiya F

Dr. Wasiya Farzana is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Food Processing Technology at Karunya Institute of Technology and Sciences, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, specializing in Food Process Engineering, with a total of 6 years of teaching, research and industry experience, including 5 years at Karunya. She holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural Processing and Food Engineering from IGKV Raipur through ICAR-SRF (AIR 11, Cat Rank-4), MTech from TNAU through ICAR-JRF (AIR 10, Cat Rank-2). She holds B.Tech. in Agricultural Engineering from University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru. She has qualified ASRB-NET consecutively twice in Agricultural Structures and Process Engineering. She has served as Co-PI for DST-WEDP and trained 30+ women Entrepreneurs.

Earlier in her career, she gained industry and field experience as District Resource Person for the Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises Scheme in Chhattisgarh, and as Process Executive at Infosys, Bangalore. She has served as a Content Design Expert (SME) Food Technology for TCS iON. She has served as Assistant Professor at Kumaraguru Institute of Agriculture, Erode. She is a mentor and advisor for BioNEST (BIRAC) Incubates at North-Eastern Hill University, Tura and has served as Vice President at AFSTI, Coimbatore Chapter in 2025. She has completed CEEE Program at IIT Madras in the domain Materials, Chemical and Bioengineering/ Biotechnology.

She maintains an active international profile, mentoring project students from Austria, Switzerland, and Iran through IAESTE, and collaborating with co-authors across several countries. She serves as a guest reviewer for the Journal of Food Processing and Preservation and the Journal of Food Measurement and Characterization, and currently guides a substantial research group of over 45 students and scholars, spanning Ph.D., M.Tech., M.Sc., and B.Tech. levels, alongside her international mentees. She is also a Visiting Scholar at INTI International University, Malaysia, under the Visiting Scholar Programme, where she delivered a keynote address at the Global Conference on Sustainable Growth and Development (GCSGD 2026).

Her area of work includes post-harvest machinery design, food process modelling, and emerging technologies such as 3D food printing and IoT-based food systems, with a research focus that has spanned dysphagia, bigel-based fat replacers, encapsulation of bioactive compounds, composite flour development, sustainable food packaging, and puffing technologies for millets. She teaches across a wide range of food engineering and food science courses, including Food Enzymology, Technology of Food Flavorants and Colourants, Advances in Food Packaging Technology, Milling Technology of Cereals, Pulses and Oilseeds, Drying Technology of Food Materials, Metabolism and Nutrition, Food Standards and Regulations, Intelligent Food Industries, Product Packaging and Label Design, and Mechanical Systems for Food Processing, along with practical courses in Food Product Technology, Properties of Food Materials, Food Packaging, and Enzymology. Beyond the classroom, she is closely involved in the academic life of the institution, serving as a Member of the Academic Council, trainer and evaluator for Outcome based Competency Focused Curriculum, NBA-Criteria Coordinator, Technology Transfer Coordinator, Institution's Innovation Council (IIC) Coordinator, NPTEL Mentor, Placement Coordinator, SIH Mentor and a recognized Ph.D. supervisor guiding Doctoral research at the University.

Over the course of her career, she has authored over 20 research publications, including 10 Scopus-indexed papers with 44 citations and an h-index of 5, in Scopus indexed journals, along with 10 book chapters published by Elsevier, CRC Press, and IGI Global. She has published three patents in food technology — low-sodium vegan burger patty mix for dietary consumption, two different bigel-based fat substitutes— and is currently developing technologies on smart IoT-integrated ragi microgreen cultivation system and Development of Functional Probiotic Drink using Coconut Water and Carrot Juice. Her achievements have been recognized through the Dr. Kalam Best Mentor Award (2024), the InSc Award for Research Excellence (2022), the ICFA Young Professional Award, and several other academic honors. She was also an Invited Speaker and Rapporteur at the Indian Dairy Association Conference held at NIFTEM-T, and edited the IIP book series Futuristic Trends in Agriculture Engineering and Food Sciences.