This course gives you the skills you need to start a career as a food processing engineer. This is a role much in demand in the food and drink industry, the largest manufacturing sector in the UK. You learn practical techniques and work with food manufacturers on real projects that prepare you for your career. During the course you gain an overview of engineering principles and key sector issues, giving you a range of knowledge across the food sector. Your learning is based around examples and assessments relevant to the food processing industry. You undertake a group project to develop a new food product and its processing. This involves working with students from different courses, giving you experience in a multi-disciplinary food processing environment. You explore ethics, sustainability, health and safety and intellectual property rights, as well as business and marketing strategies related to the food industry. You also study material flow characteristics, which is a core discipline in food processing. Using food materials to illustrate key characteristics, you learn techniques to analyse the rheology and flow of food products through food processing equipment, including understanding the thixotropic behaviour of tomato ketchup.