Dr. Andrea Mahn and Dr. Ernesto Castillo, from the Faculty of Engineering, are part of the team working on the Dicyt project “Advanced Numerical Methods for the Simulation and Optimization of Food Freeze-Drying Processes,” recently awarded by the Faculty of Science.
This project aims to enhance and optimize freeze-drying—a critical technology for preserving high-value foods while maintaining quality, safety, and shelf life. Despite its importance, the process currently faces significant challenges regarding production costs, energy consumption, and precise process control.
“This initiative is a collaborative, interdisciplinary effort between Mathematics and Engineering. It integrates the design of simulation and optimization methods, their computational implementation, and validation against experimental results to support more informed decisions in the design and operation of freeze-drying, with a significant potential impact on the Chilean food industry,” noted Dr. Castillo, a faculty member in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.
The expected outcomes of this work are:
- Experimentally validated predictive models to understand and anticipate process performance, including processing times, operating conditions, and final product quality.
- Optimization strategies aimed at shortening processing times and reducing energy consumption while maintaining high-quality standards.
- Knowledge transfer, including student training through graduate theses, scientific publications, and outreach to both industry and non-specialist audiences.
- A key academic outcome: “The goal of publishing in WoS-Q1 journals with an MB standard in Mathematics is a concrete sign that this partnership is more than just a collaboration—it is joint research at the highest level, combining theoretical rigor with experimental validation,” stated the professor.
The R&D conducted by the Faculty of Engineering will be further enhanced through this collaboration, which also involves Dr. Galina García from the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science and Dr. Patrick Vega.
In addition, it fosters genuine interdisciplinary research: Mathematics provides rigor, modeling, and precision control; Engineering provides an understanding of the process, performance criteria, and laboratory validation.
It bridges science and application, transforming advanced knowledge into useful tools and recommendations for a strategic industrial process.
It establishes sustainable capabilities in simulation, experimentation, and process optimization, strengthening a line of work with potential for continuity (new projects, partnerships, and technology transfer).
Dr. Andrea Mahn believes this project will consolidate scientific collaboration between the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Engineering, “moving from fundamental science toward application.”
This project reinforces Usach’s role as a bridge between research excellence and the country’s productive challenges: improving processes such as freeze-drying can contribute to competitiveness, energy efficiency, and the value of food products, while also opening opportunities for collaboration with industry stakeholders.