Gönül Z. Kaletunç, professor of food engineering, College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, has been awarded a 2025-2026 Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award for “Advances in Food Engineering Education and Research.” Her Fulbright project will address the integration of advanced food engineering topics into the international master of science in food engineering in the Department of Industrial Engineering at the Università degli Studi di Salerno (University of Salerno) in Fisciano, Italy from October 7 – November 17.
“I will be focusing on microencapsulation and ultrasonic compression technologies. The aim of the integration into the international food engineering program is to promote both theoretical and practical understanding of innovative food processing techniques, giving students hands-on experience with leading research and industrial applications,” said Kaletunç. “Furthermore, the project aims to implement Entrepreneurial Minded Learning (EML) to promote innovation and problem-solving skills among the students in the food engineering course.”
Kaletunç will present seminars to faculty, scientists and graduate students including research results in two emerging technologies: microencapsulation and ultrasonic compression. She will give short courses to faculty and graduate students about entrepreneurial minded learning (EML), a pedagogical technique developed to provide students with the tools to identify opportunities and create value for society through their solutions. She will also give lectures to students by employing EML approach in a course content to promote curiosity, critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and creating value for the end users.
Kaletunç’s lab at Ohio State has experience in microencapsulation and ultrasonic compression of food powders. Microencapsulation involves preparation and characterization of pH responsive hydrogels to be incorporated into acidic food beverages for delivery and release of nutrients in the lower digestive tract providing a targeted delivery and controlled release opportunity.
“Although hydrogels are aqueous based systems, my lab developed methods to achieve the encapsulation of both hydrophilic and hydrophobic compounds. Ultrasonic welding is a novel approach investigated for compression of food powders to fabricate nutrition bars, a compact product. Ultrasonic compression approach minimizes the application of liquids with high sugar and fat content typically utilized for mechanical compression which affect texture and health claim negatively. This process also reduces material waste during process making the product more sustainable,” explained Kaletunç.
Kaletunç is also faculty in the Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering with a courtesy appointment in the Department of Food Science and Technology and she serves as director of faculty development and mentoring in the College of Engineering.
A two-time Fulbright recipient, Kaletunç share her expertise on "Advanced technologies in encapsulation of bioactive compounds: Research and academic approach" via a 2023-2024 Fulbright U.S. Specialist grant to the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia.
Fulbright
The Fulbright Scholar Program is administered by the Institute of International Education and is sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State.
For more information about the Fulbright Scholar Program contact Joanna Kukielka-Blaser. View a complete list of Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program recipients.