Elena Castell-Perez

Professor

Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering
Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-2117

Office: 306C Scoates Hall
Email: ecastell@tamu.edu
Phone: 979.862.7645
Fax: 979.847.8828

Departmental Website

EDUCATION

Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824
Department of Agricultural Engineering
Ph.D. Degree in Agricultural/Food Engineering, January 1990. GPA: 3.77/4.00
Dissertation: Evaluating the Rheological Characteristics of Power-Law Fluids Using Mixer Viscometry.

Master of Science in Agricultural/Food Engineering, February 1984. GPA: 3.50/4.00
Thesis: Computer Simulation of Microbial Quality of a Frozen Food Product

Department of Romance and Classical Languages
A.B.D. in Spanish Literature, August 1990.
Option: Contemporary Latin American Theater

Master of Arts in Spanish Literature, December 1986. GPA: 3.95/4.00

Campinas State University, Campinas, Brazil.

Bachelor of Science in Food Engineering, 1976-1980. GPA: 3.33/4.00

WORK EXPERIENCE

Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-2117 Department of Agricultural Engineering Professor, September 2005-present. Teaching and research in characterization of food, agricultural and biological materials. Research on material properties and development of alternative uses of biological materials. Teaching undergraduate courses in the Biological Systems Engineering option and graduate courses in rheology, packaging, numerical methods in Food Engineering and others. Food Engineering, Food Processing, Principles of Food Packaging, Food Rheology (graduate), Advanced Food Engineering (graduate), Advanced Food Processing (graduate). Texas A&M University: Engineering Properties of Food, Animal and Plant Materials (BSEN 354), Graduate Seminar (AGEN 681), Engineering Aspects of Packaging (AGEN 489), Food Plant Engineering (AGSM/FSTC 213). Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-2117 Department of Agricultural Engineering Associate Professor, September 2000-August 2005. Teaching and research in characterization of food, agricultural and biological materials. Research on material properties and development of alternative uses of biological materials. Teaching undergraduate courses in the Biological Systems Engineering option and graduate courses in rheology, packaging, numerical methods in Food Engineering and others. Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-2117 Department of Agricultural Engineering Assistant Professor, June 1996-August 2000. Teaching and research in characterization of food, agricultural and biological materials. Responsible for development of research program in use of rheology and material properties to develop alternative uses of biological materials. Teaching undergraduate courses in the Biological Systems Engineering option and graduate courses in rheology, packaging, numerical methods in Food Engineering and others. Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-2117 Institute of Food Science and Engineering Director of the Center for Food Processing and Engineering, October 1999-June 2004. Support excellence in research and education in critical areas of food manufacturing technology by encouraging interaction within scientists and the food manufacturing community. Increase membership of TAMU faculty in Center. Supervise interdisciplinary projects linked to the Center. Work with the Institute’s Director to represent and promote the Center activities nationwide. Alabama A&M University, Normal, AL 35762Department of Food Science and Animal Industries Assistant Professor of Food Engineering, May 1991-June 1996. Developed teaching and research program in food process engineering, food rheology, food packaging. Advised undergraduate and graduate students in the Food Engineering option (6 MS and 2 Ph.D.). Grants funded for research on characterization of composite flours and rheology of baked products using microwave heating. Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824 Department of Agricultural Engineering Teaching/Research Assistant, 1986-1989. Developed and implemented new techniques to determine rheological characteristics of foods. Developed computer program for simulation of food freezing and thawing processes. Assistant in rheology and food engineering design courses. Department of Romance and Classical Languages Teaching Assistant, 1984-1990. Taught beginning and advanced Spanish and Portuguese language courses. INLATEC (Dairy Industry Los Teques), Venezuela Chief Engineer, 1981-1982. In charge of planning, installation, operation and training of personnel in yogurt production plant. FTP (Tropical Foundation for Research), Campinas, Brazil Assistant Engineer, 1979-1980. Investigated and implemented fermentation methodology for production of alcohol from sugar cane.

PUBLICATIONS

Accepted: 1. Carmen Gomes, M. Elena Castell-Perez, Ezekiel Chimbombi*, Dazhi Sun, Jia (Daniel) Liu, Hung-Jue Sue, Peter Sherman, Patrick Dunne, and Alan O. Wright. 2009. Effect of Oxygen Absorbing Packaging on the Shelf-life of a Liquid-based Component of Military Operational Rations. Journal of Food Science. Published: 1. Gomes, C., Da Silva, P., Chimbombi*, E., Kim*, J., Castell-Perez, M. E. and Moreira, R. G. 2008. Electron-Beam Irradiation of Fresh Broccoli Heads (Brassica oleracea L. Italica). Lebensmittel-Wissenschaft und-Technologie/Food Science and Technology, 41 1828–1833. 2. Kim*,J., Moreira, R.G. and Castell-Perez, M.E. 2008. Validation of Irradiation of Broccoli with a 10 MeV electron beam accelerator. Journal of Food Engineering 86(4), 595-603. 3. Moreno*, M.A., Castell-Perez, M.E., Gomes, C., Da Silva, P.F., Kim*, J. and Moreira, R.G. 2008. Treatment of cultivated highbush blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) with electron beam irradiation: Dosimetry and product quality. Journal of Food Process Engineering 31, 155-172. 4. Gomes, C., Moreira, R.G., Castell-Perez, M.E., Kim*, J., Da Silva, P., and Castillo, A. 2007. E-Beam Irradiation of Bagged Ready-to-Eat Spinach Leaves (Spinacea oleracea): An Engineering Approach. Journal of Food Science 73(2) E95-E102. 5. J. Han,* M. E. Castell-Perez and R. G. Moreira. 2007. Effect of Food Characteristics, Storage Conditions, and Electron Beam Irradiation on Active Agent Release from Polyamide-Coated LDPE Films. Journal of Food Science. 73(2) E37-e42. Dr. Elena Castell-Perez Professor Feb. 2009 13 6. Huang, Y., Kim*, J., Moreira, R.G. and Castell-Perez, M.E. 2008. A web-based information system for MNCP simulation of irradiation of complex-shaped foods. Applied Engineering in Agriculture. 24(2): 233-242. 7. Kim*, J., Moreira, R. Huang, Y., and Castell-Perez, M.E. 2007. A 3-D Dosimeter for Complex-Shaped Foods using Electron-Beam Irradiation. Transactions of the ASABE 50(5): 1751-1758. 8. Rivadeneira, R., Moreira, R., Kim*, J., and Castell-Perez, M.E. 2007. Dose Mapping of Complex-Shaped Foods using Electron-Beam Accelerators. Food Control 18, 1223- 1234. 9. Moreno*, M., Castell-Perez, M.E., Gomes, C., Da Silva, P., J. Kim*, and Moreira, R.G. 2007. Optimizing electron beam irradiation of “Tommy Atkins” mangoes (mangifera indica L.). Journal of Food Processing Engineering 30(4), 436-457. 10. Moreno*, M.A., Castell-Perez, M.E., Gomes, C. Da Silva, P., and Moreira, R.G. 2007. Quality of Electron Beam Irradiation of Blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) at Medium Dose Levels (1.0-3.2 kGy). Lebensmittel-Wissenschaft und-Technologie/Food Science and Technology 40, 1123-1132. 11. J. Kim*, R.G. Moreira, Y. Huang, M.E. Castell-Perez. 2007. 3-D dose distributions for optimum radiation treatment planning of complex foods. Journal of Food Engineering, 79(1), 312-321. 12. J. Han,* M. E. Castell-Perez and R. G. Moreira. 2007. The Influence of Electron Beam Irradiation of Antimicrobial-Coated LDPE/Polyamide Films on Antimicrobial Activity and Film Properties. Lebensmittel-Wissenschaft und-Technologie/Food Science and Technology 40(9)1545-1554 (Accepted, Nov. 2006). 13. Rodriguez,* O., Castell-Perez, M.E. and Moreira, R.G. 2007. Effect of sugar content and storage temperature on the survival and recovery of irradiated Escherichia coli K-12 MG1655. Lebensmittel-Wissenschaft und-Technologie/Food Science and Technology 40(4) 690-696 (Accepted February 2006). 14. C. Gomes, P. F. Da Silva, M. E.Castell-Perez, and R. G. Moreira. 2006. Quality and Microbial Population of Cornish Game Hen Carcasses as Affected by Electron Beam Irradiation. Journal of Food Science, 71(7), E327-336. 15. Kim*, J., Moreira, R,G., Rivadeneira, R. and Castell-Perez, M.E. 2006. Monte Carlobased Food Irradiation Simulator. Journal of Food Process Engineering, 29(1), 72-88. The top 20 most popular articles based on number of full text downloads from 2005- 2007. 16. J. Han*, M. E. Castell-Perez and R. G. Moreira. 2006. The Influence of Electron Beam Irradiation on the Effectiveness of Trans-cinnamaldehyde Coated LDPE/polyamide Films. Journal of Food Science, 71(5), E245-E251. 17. O. Rodriguez*, M. E. Castell-Perez, N. Ekpanyaskun, R. G. Moreira and A. Castillo. 2006. Surrogates for Validation of Electron Beam Irradiation of Foods. International Journal of Food Microbiology, 110(2), 117-122. Dr. Elena Castell-Perez Professor Feb. 2009 14 18. Moreno*, M., Castell-Perez, M.E., Gomes, C., Da Silva, P., and Moreira, R.G. 2006. The Effects of Electron Beam Irradiation on Physical, Textural and Microstructural Properties of Tommy Atkins Mangoes (Mangifera indica L.). Journal of Food Science 71(2), E8. 19. Kim*, J., Moreira, R. Huang, Y., and Castell-Perez, M.E. 2006. 3-D dose distributions for optimum radiation treatment planning of complex foods. Journal of Food Engineering, 34(3), 359-369. Top 25 – Hottest Articles – April-June/2006: #1 among all journals in Agriculture and Biological Sciences – Elsevier (326 journals). 20. Kim*, J., Rivadeneira, R., Castell-Perez, M.E. and Moreira, R.G. 2006. Development and Validation of a Methodology for Dose Calculation in Electron beam Irradiation of Complex-Shaped Foods. Journal of Food Engineering 74(3), 359-369. 21. Granda, C., R. G. Moreira, and E. Castell-Perez. 2005. Effect of raw potato composition on acrylamide formation in potato chips. Journal of Food Science (9): E519-525.