Reading graduate wins prestigious science award
Release Date 14 October 2010
University of Reading graduate Tina Eggers was a winner at the recent 2010 Science, Engineering & Technology (SET) Student of the Year Awards.
Tina received the Kraft Award for the Best Food Science, Technology & Nutrition Student for her study that examined people's underlying intention and attitudes towards eating fruit and vegetables (F&V).
Tina, who graduated this year with a First Class degree in Food and Nutritional Sciences, said: "I am delighted to have won the award. My study formed part of the Food Standards Agency sponsored FLAVURS project which determined the effects of different amounts and types (flavonoid-rich or flavonoid-poor)of F&V on risk factors for heart disease.
Higher consumption of F&V reduces the risks of major chronic diseases, including heart disease, stroke and cancers, but only a third of British adults consume the recommended five portions of F&V per day.
Tina continued: "The study showed that after increasing the F&V intake in a low consuming group, participants' intention to eat at least two portions of fruit as part of their ‘five a day' increased, but there was no change regarding the intention to eat at least three portions of vegetables.
"I would like to thank the whole FLAVURS team and especially my supervisor Dr Orla Kennedy, for their help and support. I also received a Nuffield Undergraduate Research Bursary and would like to thank the Nuffield Foundation for their backing."
Record numbers of entries were received from every major university in Europe and judges paid tribute to the exceptional quality of this year's work. 45 students were shortlisted in fifteen different categories.
Tina received her award during a ceremony in London's Hilton Hotel last month. She is currently employed as a project manager at Sensory Dimensions in Nottingham. Two of the three finalists in the Kraft Award category are Reading graduates. Both have secured employment in the food industry.
Dr Orla Kennedy, Tina' Supervisor while at Reading added: "It is fantastic that one of our students has again scooped this award, and reinforces Reading's continued commitment to education and research in Nutrition and Food Science."
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For all University of Reading media enquiries please contact James Barr, Press Officer tel. 0118 378 7115 or email j.w.barr@reading.ac.uk
Food and Nutritional Sciences is the largest University department of its kind in the UK, and has 21 full-time academic staff. It is renowned for its excellence in teaching and research and achieved a rating of '5' in the last Research Assessment Exercise, recognising the national and international quality of its.work, and an 'Excellent' rating in the Teaching Quality Audit. The overall aim of the Department is to deliver international levels of research and teaching in the food biosciences using modern advanced technologies and inter-disciplinary expertise.
The SET Awards are organised by the Leadership Forum and sponsored by BP, Airbus, Anglo American, ARM Holdings, AstraZeneca, AWE, BCS, Bentley Motors, Laing O'Rourke, Lloyd's Register Educational Trust, Kraft, Microsoft Research, Morgan Crucible and The National Physical Laboratory.
They are supported and judged by BCS, The British Pharmacological Society, The Institute of Food Research, The Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology, The Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining, The Institute of Physics, The Institution of Chemical Engineers, The Institution of Civil Engineers, The Institution of Engineering & Technology, The Institution of Mathematics and its Applications, The Institution of Mechanical Engineers, The London Mathematical Society, The Royal Aeronautical Society, The Royal Institution of Naval Architects and The Royal Society of Chemistry.