Reimagining Food Ingredients: Downstream Processing
July 22, 2026 10:00 AM America/Chicago
Downstream processing for fermentation of future food ingredients.
Precision fermentation is transforming industries by enabling innovative and sustainable solutions. Join us as we explore the science behind precision fermentation, the challenges of scaling production, and emerging innovations shaping the future of food, ingredients, and biotechnology.
This webinar provides a comprehensive introduction to GEA’s core drying technologies, with a particular focus on spray drying and particle formation systems used in the precision fermentation industry. As one of the world’s leading suppliers of advanced drying and particle engineering solutions, GEA supports a wide range of food sectors- including food additives, flavors, carbohydrates, proteins, fatty acids, sweeteners and emerging new food technologies.
This webinar also provides a concise yet thorough introduction to GEA’s membrane filtration technologies, beginning with fundamental principles and progressing through the full spectrum of membrane processes, including microfiltration (MF), ultrafiltration (UF), nanofiltration (NF), and reverse osmosis (RO). Participants will develop a clear understanding of the differences among membrane types and configurations, including spiral wound, flat sheet (plate-and-frame), ceramic, polymeric tubular, and hollow fiber solutions. The session will also introduce key membrane terminology and performance metrics, along with essential design principles related to GEA’s system configuration, staging approaches, concentration polarization control, and cleaning strategies.
Finally, attendees will receive a concise overview of GEA’s centrifuge portfolio, ranging from high-performance disc stack separators such as the GEA Viscon series to robust decanter centrifuges like the GEA Biomaster. These technologies are designed for reliable clarification, biomass separation, and product recovery. Practical examples will illustrate how they are combined into integrated separation systems tailored to specific products and process requirements. The session will focus on how smart equipment selection, hygienic design, and effective Cleaning-in-Place (CIP) strategies contribute to higher purity, improved yields, and consistent performance in sensitive food and fermentation applications.
By the end of the webinar, attendees will also gain a clear understanding of GEA’s precision fermentation technologies and the key process engineering considerations required for evaluating, selecting, and optimizing industrial equipment—including hygiene and cleanability aspects. This knowledge will enable chemists, biologists, engineers, technicians, and technical managers to make informed decisions when working with GEA precision fermentation solutions.
Timothy Barnett
Tim Barnett is an engineer and bioprocess specialist with nearly 20 years of experience in industrial process development, plant design, and system integration. His hands-on expertise spans brewery, beverage, and biotechnology applications across pilot, commercial, and large-scale manufacturing environments, providing a strong foundation for translating process concepts into reliable, scalable production systems. As Technical Director of New Food, leading the North American ATC, Tim focuses on bridging laboratory innovation with full-scale production through applied engineering, process optimization, and operational leadership.
Manish Shah
Manish Shah is a distinguished Chemical Engineer with more than three decades of experience in process engineering, research and product development, and manufacturing operations.
At GEA, Manish serves as Principal Process Engineer, specializing in the development and approval of technical and process designs, as well as detailed equipment specifications for a broad range of drying systems. His expertise includes open- and closed-loop spray dryers, fluid bed dryers, fluidized spray dryers, swirl fluidizers, flash and ring dryers, and spray fluidizers for continuous and batch granulation, rewet agglomeration, and coating applications.
His expertise spans a wide range of industries, with deep knowledge of drying processes for ceramics, hard metals, catalysts, polymers, and specialty chemicals, as well as agrochemicals, dyestuffs, pigments, fertilizers, silica, salts, clays, and proppants, including advanced materials. He also brings extensive experience in food applications, including plant-based proteins, flavors, carbohydrates, starches, sugar substitutes, enzymes, yeasts, hydrocolloids, functional ingredients, nutritional blends, cellulose, nutraceuticals, and pharmaceutical products.
Shanti Bhushan
Shanti Bhushan has over two decades of experience in research, development, scale-up and commercialization of membrane technologies across dairy, food, beverage, chemical, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical applications. He has been with GEA for more than 15 years. He earned his PhD from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2008 in Food Science, with a focus on fractionation of dairy proteins using charged and functionalized ultrafiltration membranes.
Chris Zdvorak
Chris Zdvorak is the Market Manager for industrial biotech at GEA across the U.S. and Canada, supporting customers in industrial biotech, starch, protein, and ethanol applications. He has been with GEA for five years, focusing solely on centrifuge technology to improve separation performance and optimize downstream processing. He is excited to share insights and perspectives as part of this discussion.