- Summer 1998 "Update" Newsletter Article -
MIVAC upgrade
High-powered software will bolster record-keeping for dried foods technology program
From CATI Publication
Copyright © 1998. All rights reserved.
est processing of fruits, vegetables and other food and non-food products has become a regular activity at Fresno State's Dried Foods Technology Laboratory.
Using patented microwave vacuum drying (MIVAC) technology, research scientist Carter Clary and his team of technicians have run hundreds of test batches of food products, vacuum drying everything from grapes to bananas to broccoli.
As part of their work, technicians measure and record data throughout the drying process. Instruments attached to the MIVAC processing unit measure power use, along with temperature, pressure, and movement of the air inside the unit. Other instruments measure temperature, mass, and moisture of the product as it is processed.
With the extensive data collection required for each test, MIVAC staffers have logged thousands of pages of data into what is now a small mountain of heavy binders. This record-keeping method will change in the near future as the result of a plan to computerize data collection for the MIVAC system.
"It’s very important to have a standard list of descriptors in order to maintain consistency in the collection of data," said Clary. But the binders are becoming cumbersome.
"We had a representative from a food processing company for a visit last year and he said, ‘What are all these books?’" Clary recalled. That was when Clary realized that continued MIVAC system development would require a more accurate and streamlined system of data management.
With support from the California Agricultural Technology Institute, Clary is overseeing installation of a new computer and software system that will record and maintain virtually all data for MIVAC processing. The project required a team of computer and software specialists to develop both software and hardware systems. Team members included programming specialists from CATI’s Advanced Technology Information Network (ATI-Net), industrial technology professor Matthew Yen, and undergraduate students Richard Kohl and Lance Pherson.
The team began with data processing software donated by WonderWare Corp. of Irvine, California and secured through the Fresno office of E & M Electric & Machinery Inc. Kohl and Pherson customized the program to record, process and present the data measured in the MIVAC system.
Eventually, Clary said, the computer system will control processing as well as record data. In addition, because 20 copies of the WonderWare package were donated, Clary said he hopes to host training workshops for industry specialists who want to learn more about this type of data collection and management.
Clary said he hopes to have the system operating by the end of this year. Details on workshops will be released through Update and this web site. For more information on MIVAC operations, Clary may be contacted at (559) 278-6854.
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