SUGAR PROCESSING RESEARCH INSTITUTE, INC. (SPRI)

2010 CONFERENCE ON SUGAR PROCESSING RESEARCH

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AWARD WINNER

PROF. GIUSEPPE VACCARI

SUGAR PROCESSING RESEARCH INSTITUTE, INC.

The 2010 SPRI Science and Technology Award Winner, Prof. Giuseppe Vaccari, with The University of Ferrara, Ferrara, ITALY, will be presented his award at the 2010 SPRI Conference: Research in a Changing Sugar Industry, in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, at the Iberville Suites/Ritz-Carlton Hotel, on March 30, 2010. The award presentation posted below will be the keynote oral presentation at the conference in the Award Session on Monday, March 29, 2010, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. 

PROF. GIUSEPPE VACCARI - BIO

Prof. Giuseppe Vaccari was born in 1948 in a small village near Ferrara. He graduated in chemistry in 1972 at the University of Ferrara and became a lecturer in Applied Chemistry in 1975 at the same University. In 1985 he was appointed Associate Professor of Industrial Chemistry and began lecturing at the Postgraduate School for Sugar Technologists, covering also the position of Director from 2000-2002. He was also involved in biotechnology and he was a lecturer for several biotechnological courses.

He joined the scientific committee of C.I.T.S. (Commission Internationale Technique de Sucriere) in 1987 and became vice president in 1995; he covered “ad interim” the position of President of this Commission during the years 1997-1999.

Professor Vaccari has presided over I.C.U.M.S.A. (International Commission for Uniform Methods of Sugar Analysis) as a Referee for the subject “dry substance, and was later elected as President of ICUMSA in 1998 during a great period of change and modernization, which he had led admirably till 2006. During this time we have seen many innovations including the first ever ICUMSA website and its progression to the current excellent new version. Following the Pune 23^rd ICUMSA Session, Pune, India sparked the change to more frequent and shorter meetings has become the norm. Organising these in conjunction with the bi-annual SPRI conference, taken the pressure away from national committees, which would doubtless find it difficult to allocate resources to organize a full weeks meeting. A publications deal with Bartens is one of the most significant developments, which has not only brought a considerable level of professionalism to ICUMSA publications, but has also been an extremely sound fiscal move. These changes have been very effective in moving ICUMSA forward.

He has also been one of the main drivers behind the TOSSIE (Towards a Sustainable Sugar Industry in Europe) initiative in Europe. His work together with Prof. Giorgio Mantovani was often aimed at starting R&D initiatives that industry could then look to try and move forward. The University of Ferrara under the support of Professor Vaccari and Prof. Mantovani differentiated itself and they have provided the stimulus for ideas on sugar related issues and research. One such example is paper manufactured from beet and crystallization of sugar from raw juice amongst others.

Prof. Vaccari was awarded with a bronze medal by ACIA (Association des Chemistes, Ingénieurs et Cadres des Industries Agricoles et Alimentaires – France) for an article published in IAA magazine n 1994. He was elected honorary member of the STC (Stowarzyszenia Technokov Cukrownikow) Warsaw 1997 and has published more then 150 papers in the fields of sugar technology and biotechnology. He joined other international congresses in various parts of the world. He is also co-author of 10 patents set up by different industries.

SPRI SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AWARD PRESENTATION

Sugar Crystal: A Chameleon, AWARD WINNER PRESENTATION, Prof. Giuseppe Vaccari, University of Ferrara, Via L. Borsari, 46, I-44100 Ferrara, Italy, Tel: 39-532-240-709, Fax: 39-0532-291-168, E-mail: vcg@unife.it

What kind of comparison can be found between sugar crystals and chameleons? Apparently none, but when we look at sugar crystals, a lot of questions could emerge, such as:

- do the crystals have the same shape?

- how many faces do they have?

- do they all have the same number of faces?

- how many faces would they have?

- is the relative area of the various faces always the same?

- is it possible that some faces appear or disappear?

- what is the effect of temperature, supersaturation and composition of the solution?

- do the crystals have the same color?

- where is located the color of the crystal?

- is the color of the crystal uniformly distributed?

- are colored substances chemically bonded to the crystals?

- Is there a correlation between the color of the crystal and the color of the growing solution?

- what are the effects of “spontaneous nucleation” and “seeding”?

- which are the differences between single crystals, twins and conglomerates?

- do large crystals and small crystals have the same shape and the same color?

- why can crystals have different gloss?

- what are the differences between beet and cane crystals?

- can we obtain good crystals from very impure or colored solutions?

- which is the shape of the crystals when we use alternative technologies which replace the traditional purification of the juices?

If we try to give answers to these questions, we realize that sugar crystals can have different shapes, different sizes, different color depending upon the environment in which they exist and in which they have been grown. As a consequence, we can realize that there is an ideal correlation between sugar crystals and chameleons. In fact, also these latter have different sizes, shapes and color depending upon the environment in which they are and live.