Join MNIFT for a special evening celebrating excellence across Minnesota’s food science community. The night will feature remarks on our 2026 Macy Award recipient, Dr. P. Kumar Mallikarjunan, along with recognition of MNIFT student scholarship recipients, Minnesota Academy of Science award winners, and Phi Tau Sigma inductees.
Enjoy networking, heavy appetizers, and refreshments in the beautiful setting of the Como Zoo & Conservatory as we come together to honor achievement, innovation, and the next generation of food industry & science leaders.
Our 2026 Macy Award Recipient
Dr. Kumar Mallikarjunan is an outstanding food engineer, researcher and educator. Over a 30 plus years of his professional career, he has contributed significantly to the field of food science and technology through his research on frying technology, high pressure processing, irradiation, pulsed electric field processing, cold plasma technology, extrusion, microwave and ultrasound assisted extraction of phytochemicals and development of rapid methods to characterize food products using electronic nose and infrared spectroscopy. He helped leading multi-institutional research on aflatoxin mitigation and management in the peanut value chain in sub-Saharan Africa.
His research has led to over 300 publications, including referred articles, conference presentations, books and book chapters. He is actively engaged in IFT, providing leadership at section and national level, including MN-IFT. His professional accomplishments have been recognized by several awards, including the Outstanding Alumni for Research Excellence from Asian Institute of Technology, Kishida International Award and Sukup Global Food Security Awards from ASABE and Bor S. Luh International Award from IFT. He is fellow of both IFT and ASABE, a highest honor bestowed to its members by the respective organizations.
The Macy Award
The award was established in 1981, and is given annually to recognize an outstanding example of food technology transfer or cooperation between scientists or technologists in any of the following settings: academic, government, and private industry.
Learn more about the Macy Award
Como Park Zoo & Observatory
The zoo and conservatory is open, free to the public. We encourage you to come to the event early to tour the zoo and the conservatory, which include the well known Sunken Garden that include beautiful seasonal floral shows. Its ever-changing display is as artful as it is fragrant. Perfect for a walk or a curious exploration.