Melaku Tafese Awulachew

Melaku Tafese Awulachew is a Food Engineering, Food Science, and Nutrition Researcher at the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), Ethiopia. He holds a B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering, specializing in Process Engineering, from Adama Science and Technology University, and an M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering, specializing in Food Engineering, from Addis Ababa University. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Chemical Engineering, specializing in Food Engineering, at Addis Ababa University.

Previously, Melaku served as Head of the Food Science and Nutrition Research Process at Kulumsa Agricultural Research Center. He also completed advanced international training in Food and Pharmaceutical Packaging at the Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP), New Delhi, India, including industry visits that provided practical exposure to food and pharmaceutical processing, packaging, quality assurance, and regulatory systems.

His engineering background is complemented by industrial exposure through visits to Wonji Shoa Sugar Factory, Metehara Sugar Factory, Mugher Cement Factory, Addis Bottle Factory, and Heineken Brewery, among other facilities. He also gained five months of practical industrial experience at Awash Melkassa Chemical Factory, with exposure to aluminium sulfate and sulfuric acid production.

His research interests span food processing and engineering, sustainable food systems, postharvest technology, food biotechnology, functional foods, plant proteins, bioactive compounds, probiotics and postbiotics, food packaging, artificial intelligence in food systems, and value addition of cereals, pulses, and underutilized crops. His work integrates engineering and food science approaches to develop resource-efficient, climate-resilient, and nutrition-sensitive technologies that improve food quality, safety, sustainability, and food security.

Melaku contributes to the international scientific community through research publications, peer review, editorial activities, conference presentations, and professional training. He serves as a peer reviewer, Editorial Board Member, and Guest Editor for journals in food science, nutrition, biotechnology, and food engineering. He is a member of the Ethiopian Society of Chemical Engineers (ESChE), Chemical Society of Ethiopia (CSE), Food and Nutrition Society of Ethiopia (FONSE), Asian Council of Science Editors (ACSE), and Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB).

His professional trajectory focuses on interdisciplinary research, international collaboration, sustainable food innovation, and technologies for resilient food and agricultural systems. He is open to postdoctoral research opportunities and international collaborations in food engineering, Chemical Engineering,sustainable food processing, food science and nutrition, food biotechnology, plant proteins, food packaging, and related fields.