UMass Amherst Office of Corporate Engagement

Join UMII and HALO Science Thursday October 31st for our webinar: Industry Funding Opportunities for Research and Startups https://lnkd.in/eQ7CvFRE

The University of Massachusetts Amherst ranks 26th among the nation’s best public universities in the 2025 Best Colleges rankings published by U.S. News & World Report today, rising six spots from last year. https://bit.ly/4dkSfNE

The University of Massachusetts Amherst ranks 26th among the nation’s best public universities in the 2025 Best Colleges rankings published by U.S. News & World Report today, rising six spots from last year. https://bit.ly/4dkSfNE

Welcome back, UMass Amherst!

Congratulations to our talented UMass faculty!👏👏👏

Meat alternatives can be tricky. One of the challenges of creating realistic-looking and delectable plant-based meat is mimicking the marbled effect of animal fat that many carnivores expect and enjoy. A #UMassAmherst food scientist has a plan to tackle this quandary by developing new technology supported by a $250,000 grant from The Good Food Institute. The not-for-profit think tank promotes plant-based alternatives to meat, dairy and eggs, as well as cultivated “clean meat” grown from animal cells in a facility. The technology proposed by Lutz Grossmann, an assistant professor, “has the potential to revolutionize the plant-based meat industry, expanding its product offerings and appealing to a wider audience,” the institute stated in announcing the grant. Grossmann, whose research focuses on designing holistic approaches to increase the consumption of plant- and microbial protein-rich foods, aims to incorporate lipids into high-moisture extrusion processes, a technique used to replicate the juiciness, appearance and texture of whole-muscle animal meat. 🔗 Read more about the research here: https://bit.ly/45ZLLBO UMass Food Science College of Natural Sciences at UMass Amherst

Congratulations to University of Massachusetts Amherst food scientist Lynne McLandsborough, who was awarded the 2024 Mahoney Life Sciences Prize for her research that offers a solution to a sticky sanitation and food safety dilemma hounding the peanut butter and chocolate industries. McLandsborough's lab has developed a novel "dry" sanitation method for peanut butter and chocolate plant facilities, which holds promise to make sanitizing facilities processing low-moisture foods more efficient while improving food safety and reducing bacterial illness outbreaks. She is already in talks with Mars, the world’s largest chocolate manufacturer, and J.M. Smucker, the owner of Jif peanut butter, to test the method, and she has filed a patent application on the innovation. The $25,000 Mahoney Prize is given annually to a faculty member in the College of Natural Sciences at UMass Amherst to honor excellence and recognize academic achievement that propels significant advances in science and industry. Learn more about the prize and McLandsborough's research: https://bit.ly/4c1C5Zy

The University of Massachusetts Amherst has received a 5-year, $12 million award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop the field of computational decarbonization, or CoDec, a new branch of computer science and engineering that applies data-driven approaches to automate decarbonization across the electrical grid, the built environment, transportation and even computing itself. “The crux of this project is to reduce the carbon footprint of societal infrastructure,” explains Prashant Shenoy, Distinguished Professor and associate dean for the Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences, UMass Amherst and principal investigator for this research initiative. CoDec aims to use computer science tools to automate, coordinate, and maximize carbon efficiency based on this time and location puzzle across four domains of infrastructure: computing, electricity, buildings and transportation. The project will then create software interfaces to optimize our most carbon-intensive activities with the greenest energy possible. Learn more about this project: https://bit.ly/4bxY8qK #UMassAmherst #UMassAmherstResearch #SustainabilityResearch #LowCarbonComputing

It was a productive and exciting 2 day visit this week by Arkema R&D Team at the University of Massachusetts (Amherst) to discuss R&D Collaboration opportunities, and how we can continue to enhance and enrich our recruiting and talent pipeline. Partnering with universities such as UMASS (Amherst) is a fantastic way to combine academic expertise with real world industrial application, fostering innovation and driving progress in Arkema core market areas #Arkema. Thanks to Kathryn Ellis (Director Innovation Institute (UMII) at UMASS (Amherst) for arranging and hosting the Arkema R&D Team. It is always a pleasure to see my friend and colleague Gregory Thomas (Executive Director & Lecturer, Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship). I also had the opportunity to meet Javier Reyes - Chancellor (UMASS; Amherst), Mike Malone - Interim Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, Laura Vandenberg - Acting Chancellor for Research and Engagement and Carl Rust - Chancellor for Corporate Engagement. Thanks again for the rich engagement and hospitality from UMASS (Amherst) Leadership. We look forward to nurturing & enhancing the partnership. #Openinnovation #Arkema #UMASS

Position Open: Training Coordinator, Accelerating Research Translation. Come join a great team working on the NSF-funded Accelerating Research Translation initiative called START (Support and Training Accelerating Research Translation) @ UMass Amherst.