Prof. Hilda VASANTHAKAALAM

I am a seasoned academic professional with scholarly activities possessing a wealth of transferable skills due to multidisciplinary background in Food Safety, Nutrition & Food System. I have gained creative endeavors through the establishment of postharvest training unit to provide skills & prevent postharvest loss of horticulture crops and deployed postharvest technologies. I have created scholarly programs like the Masters in Postharvest & Food Technology, development of Proposal for MSc in Food Quality & Safety. I am the sub-team Lead of the MSc in Circular- Agro- Economy. Lectures undergraduate & graduate programs and supervises BSc [Food Science, Crop Science], MSc [Agribusiness, Public Health] & PhD students. I lecture Food Borne Diseases, Cereal Technology, Food Fortification & Enrichment, Community Nutrition & Global Food System Analysis. I possess a wide set of teaching, training, research, publication, supervision and founding skills. I have written several scholarly peer reviewed research articles in international journals. I am competent in writing research / project proposals / training programs for funding and have obtained from USAID, HarvestPlus, Nuffic, UR_Sida and UR_MS. I submit competitive international research grants. To my credit, I am a gold medalist, I have held Leadership positions : HoD, Dean and Reseach Team Leads of Complex Projects with World Bank. I am the Founding Team Lead of the University of Rwanda Research Centre for Nutrition & Food Security [UR_RCNFS]. Presently, undertaking additional training in Food Innovation, Design Thinking & Circular Economy to strengthen my career. Professional Experience (Academia): Leadership | Supervision | Strategic Planning | Teaching | Research | Mentoring| Curriculum Development| International & National Collaboration| Team building | University – Industry Linkages | Communication| Regulatory | Technical Specialization: Nutrition |Nutritious Food Product Development | Postharvest expert | Cereal Technology |Food Safety | Award: Best University Student Gold Medal