I need your review on my letter of motivation for PhD program in Germany

LETTER OF MOTIVATION

I am writing to express interest in applying for a PhD position at the Fraunhofer Institute of Processing and Packaging Engineering. I am a Master’s graduate in Food Process Engineering from Chicago, USA and have obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering Biotechnology from India. My Master’s dissertation focused on inactivation of Salmonella PT 30 in raw almonds using Atmospheric Pressure Gas Plasma and was supervised by Dr. Nathan Anderson at the Food and Drug Administration at Illinois Institute of Technology.

I was employed as a Food Process Engineer at Wonderful Pistachios and Almonds Company, California, USA for more than 2 years. My principal projects in this role involved roast process optimization to improve the flavor of pistachio nuts, process validation of the pilot plant roaster and conducting shelf life studies for all existing company SKU products. As a project leader for process optimization of pistachio kernels, I brought about monetary benefits for the company which included a cost savings of $35,000 by reducing sea salt consumption and a 70% decrease in consumer complaints. Apart from these main projects, I supported product ideation and development of a snack mix with flavored almond halves and dry fruits. This involved working with suppliers to procure ingredients, developing a bench top process, partnering with different companies for co-packing opportunities and conducting pilot plant scale up studies. My profound interest in chemistry led to establishing Hexanal as a valuable rancidity marker for almonds rather than Peroxides and Free Fatty Acid measurements. I researched various articles and organized a journal club with my team members. This brought about an academic mind set to an industrial setting for which I have received commendations from my manager.
During my traineeship at the Nestlé Research Center, Switzerland, I conducted thermal process validations for wheat and millet flour, probiotic powders and pet food. In addition, I have gained valuable experience on extrusion and blending techniques, working with pathogens & surrogates, challenge tests, documentation and presenting monthly reports.

My Master’s dissertation project examined gas plasma as a novel treatment technique to pasteurize almonds. I was able to design and develop a unique fluidized bed treatment chamber, used an IR camera to measure the external almond temperature and developed an “Aluminium Almond” to measure internal almond temperature. We achieved 6 log reductions and proved that the heat generated during the treatment process was not the sole factor contributing to the log reductions. This was instrumental in understanding the plasma component as a whole.

While pursuing my Bachelor’s, I attended a short course on food engineering principles at the Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), India. This instilled in me an interest to pursue Food Engineering as my career. I completed my final year internship at Unilever India as a product development trainee supporting the bench top development of low sodium tomato ketchup.

I am very intrigued by the multitude of projects at Fraunhofer IVV particularly under Dr. Peter Eisner’s Food Process Development group. Some of the key projects that interest me are development of vegetable dairy products by fermentative methods, development of foods enriched with omega-3 fatty acids, development of dairy and meat alternatives with Lupine protein. I am very interested in the work conducted on using Lupine protein to develop baked goods, beverages, dairy products and desserts. The idea of using a plant based protein to develop food products that can match the flavor and texture fascinates me. I am thrilled to explore the role of other vegetable proteins and their application in snack bars and protein powders. My exposure to extrusion, roasting and blending techniques would definitely come as an asset. I have a passion to innovate and optimize that has stemmed from my research experiences during my Master’s and has blossomed further while working as a Food Engineer at Wonderful Pistachios & Almonds. I am very enthusiastic to increase my knowledge on food ingredient functionality and learn new processing techniques that will be required for new product ideation and manufacturing.

Armed with a solid work experience and academic research background, I believe I have the necessary bent of mind to become a successful PhD student. I look forward to pursuing my doctoral work in the Food process development group at Fraunhofer IVV.