George Van Aken Email & Phone Number

Breda, The Netherlands

Ede, The Netherlands

My company insight FOOD inside BV (www.insightfoodinside.com) focuses on advise and innovative approaches to improve food and personal care benefits related to structure-sensory and structure-health fuctionality. Specialities:- Acoustic tribology: in vivo measurement of frictional interaction of products with oral or skin surfaces, directly related to oral or skin tactile sensations. The method gives an instrumental alternative to sensory panel testing of attributes such as "rough", "smooth", "creamy", "coating", and "crispy", unbiased by other attribures and hedonics, and compared to tribometers includes the effect saliva and oral processing. - Literature-based in "in silico" digestion modelling, predicting the physiological effect of food (dynamics of gastric emptying, digestive enzyme secretion, digestion kinetics, gut transport rate, water balance, nutrient absorption, hormonal responses and feelings of hunger and satiety).- Structure function relations of food ingredients and the underlying physical mechanisms.- Predictive computer modelling of physical and physiological mechanisms. I have developed models that describe milkfat triglyceride composition, a soft lubrication hydrodynamic tribological model of the contact of tongue papillae against food or the palate and developing physiological models that can predict the physiological impact of food on the body (e.g. glycemic load, protein bioavailability).

Supporting and updating physical chemical, sensory and digestive knowledge and identifying new research targets, collaborations and product possibilities for Cosun. I do this both in an advisory role as well is ain a role of project leader.

Roosendaal Area, Netherlands

Temporary position for the period November 1st 2015 until June 1st 2016 for 2 days/week to support physical-chemical, sensorial and digestive expertise and mechanistic insight by collaborating in various projects and initiating new concepts within Cosun's science and technology center. Competence areas have been Inulin functionality in dairy, Crispiness evaluation, Glycemic control and Stabilizing fiber functionality.

Permanent position for 2 days/week in which I have advisory and leading roles in various contract research projects, mainly giving input on food physics, food structure, rheology and stability. Within NIZO I also apply the newely develloped techniques of acoustic tribology and in silico digestion modeling to quantify the oral behaviour an efficacy of food and non-food material in the mouth (lubricity, creaminess, astringency, crispiness, crunchiness) and to predict the physiological effect of food in digestion (predicting fullnes, hunger, satiety and blood appearace of peptides and glucose), for use in new product development for specific consumer groups (normal. infants, elderly, sporters).

Main focus was on the technological properties and the applicability of milk fat and fractionated milk fat. Contract research projects related to butter, vegetable fats and oils, cream, sauces, chocolate, cattle-feed, sport formula, infant-food, mouth rinses.

Studies on emulsifying and foaming properties in relation to the surface-active and surface rheological behaviour of milk proteins and peptides.

Veendam

Researching the applicability of specialty potato starch modifications. Identifying mechanistic structuring principles and sensory effects of gelling starch types and exploring application opportunities in dairy products. This effort has delivered much new insight, new characterisation techniques and several new opportunities that are highly relevant for AVEBE and its customers.

Nizo Food Research

In this position I have an advisory role in scientific studies towards a reduction of saturated fat in meat, cheese and layered dough products. My main tasks are to guide the scientific direction and interpretation of various studies within the project, present and the results with the stakeholders, model the rheological behaviour of the multiphase gels and write publications.

Senior scientist in physical chemistry of food emulsions, studying the digestive processes in stomach and small intestine, in an interdisciplinary team. The project involves in vitro and in vivo studies of digestive processes in stomach and small intestine, the formation of digestion products (fatty acids, peptides) and the way these digestion products regulate the digestion process and feelings of hunger and satiety by hormone controlled feedback mechanisms. Focus is on the way the digestion of the food emulsions can be modulated by choice in ingredients and emulsion structure, and how this affects physiology.

Wageningen University, Department Of Physical Chemistry And Colloid Science

Assembling and leading a multidisciplinary project team. The project has delivered knowledge on texture-mouthfeel interactions and engineering rules to optimize the structure and compositions of emulsions and foams in relation to in–mouth behavior and the related sensory attributes. A break-through has been achieved by identifying the way food emulsions and foams are structurally changed in the mouth by the interaction with saliva and the tongue surface, and the role of emulsion droplets in facilitating breakup of protein and polysaccharide gelled networks during mastication.

Project "Stability of Emulsions and Foams". Focussing on several colloidal processes relevant for structuring and stability of food emulsions and whipped food emulsions, such as the interaction with polysaccharide thickeners leading to droplet aggregation, droplet coalescence in highly concentrated or aggregated emulsions and andhesion and spreading of emulsion droplets to bubble interfaces during whipping, producing the typical structure of whipped cream.

Phd, Chemistry

Graduated in Physical Chemistry at Utrecht University in 1985. Ph.D. obtained at the Department of Physical and Colloid Chemistry.

Phd, Chemistry

Msc, Physical Chemistry And Theoretical Physics

Education record