Fundament 2023 HMSM

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ALUMNI CAREER

Igniting the spark for a better

­future in food

Almost 30% of HMSM students decide for a Master study after receiving their Funda. One of those alumni is Maud Meijers [F 2014], who’s specific curiosity towards food technology led her to Wageningen University and Research (WUR), and a good seven years later, brought her back to Maastricht. BY MARCELLA MIDDENDORP [F 2013]

W

hile simultaneously finishing her 6-year long PhD project on plant-protein transition at WUR, she has been changing the HMSM curriculum since 2021 as lec­ turer and researcher in Food Science, Technology and Business. Also having been appointed as coordina­ tor of the Foodservice Track at the beginning of this year, Maud is set to help students discover ‘how food really works’ - and thereby hopes to increase the (global) impact that the alumni of this track can make in the foodservice industry.

Desire to investigate Maud: ‘My passion for gastronomy and the world of food & beverage

started like it did for many hotello’s: I grew up in a food and flavor loving family. So yes, after I finished my VWO I had the credentials to go straight to university, but I choose HMSM instead, as I felt it was the right place for me to discover where that passion could take me. Back in my days as a student the ‘food curriculum’ was very different. There was module 4, with basic product-knowledge, the cooking classes, and the minor Foodservice had just started. But I discovered that I had questions that went beyond trend awareness and learning how to make a good ­mayonnaise or ceviche. I wanted to understand why ingredients

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reacted with each other, what happened when you applied a certain cooking-technique and why. This desire to know more, to really understand the science behind food and cooking, and the apprehension that with this knowledge I could influence people’s lives and the ways in which we produce our food: this is when I knew I had to take my education further.’

The right path to knowledge Taking the next step already started while still at HMSM, with choosing a different path from the minors which were offered internally. Still, her education at the hotel manage­ ment school did not go astray, because as Maud states, it was ‘a sort-of hotello mindset that got me there’: she simply called up a study advisor at WUR and invited herself over for coffee. An approach she would like to advice to anyone who is considering specialization during, or after HMSM - ‘as it really helps to discover if additional education fits both your personality and aligns with your ambitions. Attending a research university, and especially


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