Chambers duo helps establish Thailand’s first sensory research center
Tuesday, February 5th, 2008
Dr. Edgar Chambers IV and Dr. Delores Chambers are working with a university in Thailand to establish the first sensory and consumer research center in that country.
The Kasetsart University Sensory and Consumer Research Center (KUSCRC) should be ready for its first project in May, Edgar Chambers reported. Kasetsart is the country’s leading university for food and agriculture.
“In the past few years we have helped them form the Thailand Sensory Network, an organization for sensory professionals in Thailand. Now we are helping them set up the first trained sensory panel at a university in Thailand,” said Chambers, a pioneer in sensory analysis.
He and Delores Chambers direct the internationally recognized Sensory Analysis Center in the Human Nutrition department, College of Human Ecology.
A Thai television station is shooting a documentary of the panel training that also involves Patricia Patterson and Joyce Buchholz, panel leaders at K-State’s center.
The K-State professors are providing expertise on training the panel and sending staff one week a month for the four months of training.
The goal is to be as similar to the panel at Kansas State as possible to allow for collaborative projects.
“The KUSCRC panel also would be able to do work on projects that would be difficult for us to do on a regular basis, such as products, like Asian fruits and vegetables, that are difficult to ship as research samples from Asia to the U.S.,” Chambers explained.
Collaborative potential makes Thailand the ideal place for the Sensory Analysis Center to work, Chambers explained. Because of Thailand’s central location in Southeast Asia and its willingness to cooperate with western countries, many multinational businesses have regional headquarters and research centers there.
For more information on their work, read “Travels with Chambers and Chambers” in the dean’s blog archives.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 5th, 2008 and is filed under Dean's Blog.