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]
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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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fundament
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
