Sensory sensations: Understand food facts to help reduce wastage

Have you ever thought why the same food tastes different to different people? Why sometimes your nose tells you where that great aroma is coming from and your mouth starts salivating? Come and hear more about the "science behind your senses"?

Dr Soumi Paul Mukhopadhyay loves sharing her knowledge and expertise in promoting sensory and consumer science to facilitate better appreciation and promotion of pulses, honey, dairy, fruits, vegetables, wine and olive oil in everyday life.

Food safety and food waste are pressing global issues affecting public health, the economy and the environment. Yuan Gao's research aims to develop intelligent food packaging to monitor food quality in real time.


Yuan received her Bachelor degree in biomedical engineering from the University of Sydney. Yuan is in her final year of Ph.D in chemical engineering at the UNSW Sydney.

DNA origami can be used to twist and turn DNA into endless shapes. The molecule responsible for encoding life's genetic information has turned out to be an excellent building block. In his research, Joshua has used DNA to build a mould 80 nanometres across.

Josh is completing his PhD at UNSW Sydney. He's worked as a protein and DNA nanoengineer, including protein interface engineering and DNA origami.