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CURRENT PUBLICATIONS PoultryTech (ATRP)
- Safety Issue, Fall 2008 The
Food Chain (FoodPAC) - Winter 2009 UPCOMING EVENTSThe National Safety Conference for the Poultry Industry Poultry World at the Georgia National Fair SPECIAL INTERESTGeorgia Tech's Agricultural Technology Research Program (ATRP) is celebrating its 35th Anniversary in March.
Georgia Tech's Agricultural Technology Research Program Turns 35 In 2008, the Agricultural Technology Research Program (ATRP) turns 35. The program began in 1973 when a legislative conference committee (responding to a request by the Georgia Poultry Federation) appropriated $100,000 to be contracted to Georgia Tech through the Georgia Department of Agriculture. A year later, the program was continued when the General Assembly agreed to give the Georgia Department of Agriculture regular line funding to continue the contract activity. In 1981, line funding for the program was transferred to the Board of Regents for direct allocation to Georgia Tech under the name “Agricultural Research Program” (ARP). Eight years later, ARP officially became ATRP. Related Story: Georgia Tech's Research Horizons Agricultural technology program observes a 30-year climb to the top.
Food Processing Technology Division Receives Award for Publication Excellence
Georgia Tech's Food Processing Technology Building Georgia Tech's state-of-the-art Food Processing Technology Building – more than 36,000 square feet of laboratory and office space dedicated to the development of new and emerging technologies for the food processing industry. Building Brochure Online or PDF 6.1 Mb Directions to the building : Word document Related Story: Bettcher
Industries, Inc., an innovative world leader in the design and manufacture
of food processing equipment and cutting tools, has made a donation of $125,000
toward the construction of Phase II of the Georgia Tech Research Institute’s
Food Processing Technology Building. Developing a Washable Robot for Poultry Processing Georgia Tech Research Horizons Magazine
Robots have begun to be deployed in many areas of food production, but their use for handling fresh meat has been hampered because such machines would also have to withstand cleaning with high-pressure water spray and corrosive sanitizing chemicals. At GTRI’s Food Processing Technology Division, research engineer Jonathan Holmes led a project to develop a robot that would pack fresh meat into trays, but with a design and construction able to withstand the harsh conditions created by routine washing in a way more consistent with how other equipment is cleaned.
Georgia Tech Research NewsManual RPM placement is not only risky for personnel, but it is also expensive and time-consuming. A typical RPM placement operation includes four vehicles and a six-person crew. All the vehicles must stop at each marker location, so there is tremendous wear on the equipment and increased fuel use. The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) believed there was a better way to do it and funded the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) to develop a first-of-its-kind system capable of automatically placing RPMs along the lane stripes while in motion.
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Gary McMurray Tapped to Lead GTRI’s Food Processing Technology Division
McMurray brings to his new position two decades of experience designing and building advanced robotic systems for the food, transportation and biomedical industries. "Gary has the vision to diversify our revenues and expand our critical Agricultural Technology Research Program (ATRP), which is one of the major activities within the Food Processing Technology Division," said Rusty Roberts, director of the Aerospace, Transportation and Advanced Systems (ATAS) Laboratory, which oversees the division. Ranked as one of the top programs of its kind in the country, ATRP works closely with Georgia agribusiness, especially the poultry industry, to develop new technologies and adapt existing ones for specialized industrial needs. Researchers focus efforts on both immediate and long-term industrial needs, ranging from advanced robotic systems to improved wastewater treatment technologies to machine-vision grading and rapid microbial detection. ATRP RESEARCH NEWSPortable Biosensor Offers Promise for Rapid Detection of Avian Influenza
Related Story: Georgia Tech Research NewsDetermining the feasibility of using an optical waveguide sensor to find the avian influenza on poultry farms before it spreads.
FDA Launches Food Defense Awareness Training Kit for Employees in the Food IndustryFIRST tool kit teaches how to reduce the risks of food contamination The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of Agriculture recently launched its food defense awareness training kit for first line food industry employees. The training targets these individuals because they can play an important role in helping to keep our nation’s food supply safe, from the farm to the table.
Field Trials Demonstrate Potential Value of Repetitive Motion Exposure Assessment Tool
Related Story: Georgia Tech Research Horizons MagazineNew technology is positioning an old injury-prevention program at the cutting edge of the poultry industry. Nearly 10 years ago, scientists from the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) collaborated with Georgia Tech’s School of Applied Physiology to create the Ergonomic Work Assessment System (EWAS) to track the positioning and arm movements of workers as they deboned poultry. The idea was to identify and then avoid the factors leading to repetitive-stress injuries. The improved EWAS, developed in cooperation with the poultry industry, provides a more accurate and detailed assessment by taking advantage of technology that wasn’t available in the ‘90s – namely position-tracking technology typically used to create computer animation.
UGA’s Center for Food Safety Develops New Antimicrobial Treatment to Reduce Salmonella Enteritidis in Poultry
Using Leading Indicators to Improve Your Safety ProgramBy Terrie S. Norris, CSP, ARM, CPS How are you measuring the success of your safety program? Many entities, whether private or public, use one or more of the following: OSHA incident rate, severity rates, claims per $100 in payroll, number of fatalities, average cost per claim, and/or experience modification. These are all great trailing indicators. The problem is that they are measures of failure. A loss must occur before a value can be established. An analysis of the losses may provide a focus for the entity’s safety and health or its liability programs, but it does not drive improvement.
Rollover Accidents — Preventable and UnacceptableBy Paul W. Pressley
Preventing rollovers begins with understanding their cause. So we start with the question, “What causes a rollover accident?” Often the answer is “driving too fast for the road and weather conditions.” We need to go beyond that general answer and look closely at many of the factors that impact the likelihood of a rollover accident to increase the awareness of both driver and trucking supervisor, leading to safer fleet operations.
Rollover Accident Awareness DVD AvailableThe U.S. Poultry & Egg Association’s Poultry & Egg Institute has developed a driver training DVD. “Single Vehicle Rollovers — Driver Awareness Program” focuses on the major factors that can increase the chance and frequency of rollover accidents in the poultry and egg industry. It examines the three likely causes: vehicle design and performance (high centers of gravity), road and weather conditions, and driver behaviors. The 20-minute video is designed to increase understanding of rollover accidents: what causes them and how they can be prevented. It depicts actual situations and realistic animation to enhance the awareness of drivers and supervisors, leading to safer fleet operations. The DVD is available at no charge to members of the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association. Non-members may purchase copies for $200 each. For more information, visit www.poultryegginstitute.org
Third-Shift Training Program Makes Successful Debut
Visit ATRP’s New Location, Booth 1609, at the 2009 International Poultry ExpoGeorgia Tech’s Agricultural Technology Research Program (ATRP) is excited about its plans to participate in the 2009 International Poultry Expo (IPE), scheduled for January 28-30 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. ATRP’s exhibit will highlight the program’s research advancements and display prototype systems that seek engineering solutions that enhance process efficiency and product safety in today’s poultry industry. Program researchers will be available to answer questions, and a program video and handouts will describe current projects. The exhibit will be located in Section C2, Booth 1609. The IPE is the world’s largest display of technology equipment, supplies, and services used in the production and processing of poultry and eggs.
The National Safety Conference for the Poultry Industry
June 2-4, 2009 The 2009 National Safety Conference for the Poultry Industry will be held June 2-4 at the Crowne Plaza Resort on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Plant and corporate safety personnel will have the opportunity to listen to expert speakers from industry, government, and academia as they deliver up-to-date information on worker/plant safety topics. Attendees will also have the opportunity to participate in round-table discussions, which provide a forum for professionals to discuss problems and ideas relevant to the industry. The annual conference provides a national forum for information transfer on safety management in the poultry industry, and is co-sponsored by the National Chicken Council, National Turkey Federation, Georgia Poultry Federation, and the Georgia Tech Research Institute’s Agricultural Technology Research Program. For more information, contact Kristi Spivey at (404) 894-3412 or kristi.spivey@gtri.gatech.edu
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The Food Processing Technology Division (FPTD) is a division of the Georgia Tech Research Institute at the Georgia Institute of Technology. All inquiries for project information should be made to the appropriate personnel (project directors) or administrator. See the Directory of Personnel for the correct contact information. Comments pertaining to the website may be made to Steven Thomas. Copyright © Georgia Tech Research Coporation | Legal
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The
Food Processing Technology Division's Agricultural Technology Research Program
received a 2008 APEX Award of Excellence in the Newsletters-Print category
for its PoultryTech Summer 2007 Environmental issue. Sponsored by
Communication Concepts, Inc., the APEX Awards for Publication Excellence
is an annual international competition that recognizes excellence in publications
work by professional communicators in categories ranging from newsletters
and magazines to annual reports, brochures, and web sites. APEX awards are
based on excellence in graphic design, editorial content, and the ability
to achieve overall communications excellence.
The PoultryTech newsletter also won a 2008 MarCom Gold Award in the Writing/Newsletter category. MarCom Awards is an international competition for marketing and communication professionals involved in the concept, writing and design of marketing and communication programs and print, visual and audio materials.MarCom Awards is administered and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals. The international organization consists of several thousand marketing, communication, advertising, public relations, media production and free-lance professionals.
Even a hard-working robot needs a good bath at the end of the day.
That was the issue facing researchers at the Georgia Tech Research
Institute (GTRI) as they delved into one of the big challenges in food-processing
automation.
Gary McMurray, a long-time research engineer with the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), has been appointed chief of GTRI's Food Processing Technology Division, succeeding Craig Wyvill, who retired in April.
Bird flu, caused by avian influenza (AI) viruses, is very contagious among birds and can spread rapidly in poultry operations, without any warning or noticeable symptoms. In screening for an infection, detection time can be crucial as delays give an outbreak an opportunity to spread before it is detected. Although current methods to directly identify AI are available, most require expensive equipment or long waiting periods to get results, while some, though relatively inexpensive and quick to deliver results, are not very sensitive. There remains a need for a rapid and sensitive penside diagnostic test to identify flocks infected with AI. Researchers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute believe the answer could rest in their interferometric biosensor.
Researchers with Georgia Tech’s Agricultural Technology Research Program (ATRP) in conjunction with member companies of the Georgia Poultry Federation have been working together to develop an instrument to assess the risk of musculoskeletal injury. The initial focus has centered on the cutting tasks associated with the deboning process and their impact on musculoskeletal activities of the upper and lower arm. The specific ergonomic factors related to these cutting tasks include grip force, posture, and repetition.
Studies have revealed that when chickens arrive at processing facilities, they generally have high populations of bacteria, which can include Campylobacter or Salmonella, in their viscera and externally on feathers and skin. During processing, such contamination will inevitably be transferred to the processing equipment, other carcasses, and potentially to final products. Many of the pathogen intervention strategies for poultry involve the use of antimicrobial chemicals in rinses or washes; however, the efficacy of most chemical intervention treatments is reduced by the presence of organic matter. More effective antimicrobial treatments are desired that are practical, cost-effective, safe to use, and not neutralized by organic matter.
Business it seems that single-vehicle rollovers happen every day. Rollovers are common due to the design of feed and live haul trucks and trailers, the roads on which we drive, and often, driver error.
Last fall Georgia Tech was awarded a Susan Hardwood Grant by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to develop a comprehensive safety training program for third-shift sanitation and maintenance workers in the poultry processing industry. Specialists in Georgia Tech’s Occupational Safety and Health Branch have conducted five train-the-trainer courses, including one each in Georgia, Florida, and Maryland and two in Arkansas. A total of 121 trainers participated in the program, and subsequently trained 601 third-shift poultry processing workers in their respective plants. The program’s goal is to reach 9,000 workers. A sixth course is scheduled for mid-December.