Lewis is an assistant professor of animal and food science at UW–River Falls who specializes in dairy processing. Her research interests include processing interventions to improve dairy protein functionality, dairy food byproduct enhancement and utilization, high-pressure technologies, and nanoparticles, emulsions and foams. Lewis’s position is funded by the Dairy Innovation Hub.
Dairy powders occupy the majority of the exported dairy product market, a $6.5 billion industry, likely due to their stability, customizability, and functionality. Furthermore, current research has targeted value-added dairy powder generation for applications like functional ingredients (e.g., buttermilk powder), infant nutrition (e.g., infant formula), performance nutrition (e.g., protein powder), and personalized nutrition (e.g., lactoferrin), highlighting the importance of dairy powders within the dairy industry. Although many companies produce dairy-based powders and there are many applications for novel research related to dairy powders, there is not currently equipment available to produce dairy-based powders at a reasonable scale at UW–River Falls. For this reason, this proposal supports the purchase of a benchtop spray dryer for its applications in research expansion, teaching opportunities, and industry collaboration. This equipment, which is not readily available at other universities, would set UW–River Falls apart for research, academic, and industry-related opportunities