University of Kentucky food engineer Akinbode Adedeji has received the John Clark Award from the Canadian Society of Bioengineering.  

The award is given to a society member who has produced outstanding work in food engineering through industry, research, teaching or extension. Winners are selected by an awards committee after receiving nominations from at least three members of the society. 

“I’m humbled and delighted by this recognition from my fellow food engineers within the Canadian Society for Biological Engineers,” said Adedeji, associate professor in the Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering. “I’m also thankful for my mentors, current and past lab members and colleagues, who have all motivated and encouraged me to learn and grow as a professional.” 

At the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture Food and Environment, Adedeji studies ways to safely and economically add value to agricultural products. His current projects include determining the protein and carbohydrate content of value-added proso millet, studying ways to quicken barleys’ and millets’ abilities to convert starches into sugar, creating value-added products from spent grains leftover from bourbon production, evaluating noninvasive ways to classify grain gluten content and cultivar differences and using wind power to improve solar drying of grains in sub-Saharan Africa.  

Adedeji received his doctorate in bioresource engineering from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He earned his master’s degree in food technology from the University of Ibadan in Nigeria and his bachelor’s degree in technology food engineering from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology in Nigeria.