Rate My Professor Griffiths Atungulu

Griffiths G. Atungulu is a Professor in the Department of Food Science at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, within the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, contributing to Agricultural and Veterinary Science. He serves as Director of the University of Arkansas Rice Processing Program and holds expertise in grain processing and post-harvest systems engineering. Atungulu earned a PhD in Agricultural Engineering, specializing in Biresources Technology and Food Engineering. His prior appointments include Engineer in the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering at the University of California, Davis from August 2008 to August 2013, Researcher at the Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University from August 2006 to August 2008, and Lecturer at the Faculty of Agriculture, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology from August 2005 to August 2006. He joined the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture following his role at UC Davis.

Atungulu's research specializations include food processing and engineering, post-harvest technology for grains particularly rice, innovative drying techniques such as microwave, infrared, radiofrequency, and fluidized bed drying, rice milling optimization, aflatoxin mitigation in storage, moisture sorption characteristics, fissure formation control, and mathematical modeling of heat and mass transfer processes. His scholarly work is evidenced by over 5,492 citations on Google Scholar, with research interests in agricultural engineering, food processing engineering, heat and mass transfer, and mathematical modeling. Notable publications encompass co-editing the book "Infrared Heating for Food and Agricultural Processing" (2011); "Investigating safe storage conditions to mitigate aflatoxin contamination in rice" (Food Control, 2024); "Performance Assessment of Fluidized Bed Drying System for Enhancing Drying Efficiency and Quality of Parboiled Rice" (2026); "Impact of Kernel Thickness on Germination and Vigor of Seed Rice" (2023); "Quality characteristic of instant rice produced using microwave-assisted hot air drying" (2024); and "Optimizing Radiofrequency Exposure Parameters for One-Pass Drying of High-Moisture Paddy Rice" (2024). In 2023, his team published 12 peer-reviewed papers and delivered 24 presentations at international meetings. He received the 2024 The Andersons Cereals and Oilseeds Award of Excellence for superior contributions to science in cereals and oilseeds. Atungulu has mentored more than 20 graduate students, many now leaders in academia and industry, and his technologies for rice drying, cooling, microbial decontamination, and quality enhancement have been implemented by rice processors, significantly impacting food safety and efficiency in the field.