GCC Spices Up Food Processing Program with New Equipment

LIVINGSTON COUNTY — The Food Processing Technology Program at Genesee Community College recently put into action for the first time 12 new pieces of diagnostic laboratory equipment.

According to a press release from Genesee Community College, the purchase of the equipment was assisted by a grant through the Educational Credit Management Corporation Foundation (ECMC) in collaboration with the Genesee County Economic Development Center.

“We are very excited to put our new equipment to use,” said Greg Sharpe, GCC’s instructor of Food Processing Technology. “We now have all the lab equipment here that was purchased through the grant and our students are actively engaged in laboratory assignments that closely relates to real-world food manufacturing. We are very thankful to the ECMC Foundation.”

GCC’s currently running FPT 205 class that meets at the Batavia campus every Monday and Wednesday was the first group to use the new equipment which included a new milk analyzer, water activity meter, moisture analyzer, thermometers and micrometers.

The Food Processing Technology program at GCC launched in the fall of 2014 and is the only one of its kind offered at any of SUNY’s 30 community colleges.

GCC said that through the College’s strong partnerships with other educational institutions such as Cornell University, Rochester Institute of Technology and Cornell Cooperative Extension, the program has been designed to give students the knowledge, skills and experience necessary for career success at hundreds of food manufacturing facilities across upstate New York.