AigoraCast

Dr. Andreea Botezatu earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in Oenology and Agricultural Management in Romania before working as a commercial winemaker in Europe and Canada. She later obtained her PhD in Oenology from Brock University in Canada, where she also completed a postdoctoral position. Currently an Associate Professor and Extension Enology Specialist at Texas A&M University, Dr. Botezatu's research focuses on wine aroma, fault remediation, and overall quality, utilizing both chemical and sensory analysis. She also investigates Texas wine consumer attitudes and is exploring the application of emerging technologies like blockchain and LLMs in the wine and sensory fields. Dr. Andreea Botezatu on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreeabotezatu/ Visit the Texas Viticulture & Enology Facebook Page Enology Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5Oo5L0jMLR57IuUb0XmBxQ To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Angelica Iobbi is the Sensory Manager at Lactalis USA. She holds a PhD in Food Science and Technology from Oregon State University, where she specialized in wine sensory and flavor chemistry. Since January 2023, Angelica has been leading the sensory department at Lactalis USA, bringing her expertise in sensory evaluation, consumer research, and linking sensory and chemistry data to the forefront. Outside of her professional life, Angelica enjoys drinking wine, going for long walks, and practicing pilates.   Angelica Iobbi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelica-iobbi/   To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Greg has focused his career on the development of new methods, techniques, and services for consumer product innovations. His deep experience in the application of consumer behavior to product innovation has garnered industry attention and awards, with work featured in Harvard Business Review, The LA Times, ESOMAR World, and other industry publications. Greg has pioneered cue signals research, an approach where identifying product cues which motivate specific behaviors helps develop successful new products and brands. At InsightsNow, he is responsible for the growth of new business initiatives. Greg holds a master's degree in food science and technology from Oregon State University.   Greg Stucky on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-stucky InsightsNow Website: https://insightsnow.com To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Dal Perio is a Senior Manager of Sensory & Product Insights at Starbucks, with 30 years of experience in Sensory Science, Consumer Research, and Marketing Research across seven Fortune 500 companies including Johnson & Johnson, Diageo, and Unilever.   His expertise spans Product Innovation, Consumer Research, Quality Assurance, and Product Testing. At Starbucks, he focuses on Sensory & Product Insights for various channels, ensuring optimal research solutions. He's actively involved in numerous professional sensory organizations and was mentored by Rose Marie Pangborn.   To be put in touch with Dal, please contact Aigora. To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Mitchell Feldman is a seasoned entrepreneur with over three decades at the forefront of technology and marketing innovation. As CEO of Jam 7, he pioneers the fusion of human creativity with Agentic AI, transforming the landscape of B2B marketing. Mitchell's vision has established Jam 7 as a leader in AI-driven growth strategies, empowering ambitious tech brands through intelligent, autonomous Growth Agents that amplify human expertise.    Mitchell's career highlights include being named the first-ever Microsoft Worldwide Cloud Partner of the Year, winning the UK Technology Entrepreneur of the Year award, and successfully leading a strategic acquisition by Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE) in 2018. Passionate about the synergy between people and technology, Mitchell continues to redefine the future of marketing by championing collaborative frameworks where AI and human strategists work seamlessly together to deliver extraordinary business growth.    Jam 7: https://jam7.com/   To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

John Ennis is the CEO of Tulle, a company that builds economic efficiency tools for businesses operating on the blockchains, and the Founder and Chairman of Aigora. He's also a market research consultant trained in both mathematics and computational neuroscience. He is the author of 50+ peer-reviewed articles and 4 books in sensory and consumer science, and the recipient of the 2013 Food Quality and Preference "Researcher of the Future" Award.   John Ennis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnmichaelennis/ Tulle: https://www.tulle.ai/ To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Dr. Maame Yaakwah Blay Adjei, a leader in food science and sensory evaluation. She is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Ghana, and lead consultant at Sentinel Foods, PAMP Ghana Ltd, Ghana - contributing significantly to food science research and education in Africa.   With over 20 years of experience across both academic and industry sectors, Dr. Maame Yaakwah Blay Adjei has worked in various organizations, including Charles Sturt University in Australia, GlaxoSmithKline, and Leatherhead Food Research, both in the UK.   She believes that what we consume has a profound impact on our overall health and has focused her research and development on sensory evaluation and consumer science. She previously worked at Charles Sturt University as a Lecturer and Subject Coordinator before returning to Ghana to join the University of Ghana.   As a Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana, she has contributed significantly to enhancing the department's research profile and the quality of food science education. Her work spans from developing novel sensory evaluation methods to improving local food products.   She holds a Ph.D. in Wine Chemistry and Wine Sensory Science from Charles Sturt University, Australia, a Master of Research in Food Science from the University of Strathclyde, Scotland, and a B.Sc. in Biochemistry and Food Science from the University of Ghana.   Dr. Maame Yaakwah Blay Adjei has published dozens of peer-reviewed papers in reputable journals, with her research focusing on areas such as consumer preference mapping, sensory attributes of foods, and innovative methods in sensory science. Her work on Relative Preference Mapping (RPM) has been particularly influential in the field.   Beyond her academic achievements, Dr. Adjei is passionate about industry collaboration and knowledge transfer. This shines through her role as Principal Investigator on several projects, including the "Technology Centre for quality dairy improvement in small holder dairy farming," which led to the setup of state-of-the-art laboratories and processing plants at the University of Ghana.   She is committed to professional development and serves as the Vice President/Treasurer of the African Network of Sensory Evaluation Research and as a member of various professional associations, including the Institute of Food Science and Technologists.   Maame Yaakwaah Blay Adjei on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maame-yaakwaah-adjei-6159909/   To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Beatrice Boakyewaa Blay is a Ghanaian-based Food Technologist with a Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry and a Master's degree in Food Science currently working as a Research & Development Technologist with a focus in New Product Development, Recipe Renovation, and Packaging Development. She's passionate about all things food and is interested in expanding her scope in the areas of Flavour Science, Sensory Science, and Artificial Intelligence in the Food and Beverage Manufacturing Space.    Beatrice Blay on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/beatrice-boakyewaa-blay/   To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com  

Cristhiam joined Procter & Gamble Beauty Consumer Measurement Sciences group about 1 year ago as a Sensory Scientist for the Skin Care Category. Before joining P&G Cristhiam worked in product research, sensory science, and quality control within the U.S. and Nicaraguan food industries in addition to post-graduate internships in food engineering and packaging, human nutrition, and research and development at Louisiana State University, Texas A&M, and Ventura Foods.   Cristhiam obtained her MS & PhD degrees in Nutrition and Food Sciences with a Minor in Applied Statistics from Louisiana State University. Her doctoral research integrated statistical methods for the analysis of formulation, elicited emotions, and cognitive cues effect on overall acceptability and purchase behavior towards products containing edible cricket protein at different stages of the consumer-product interaction. Her research uncovered important insights for the development of more sustainable products containing insect protein. Cristhiam on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cristhiam-g-curran/   To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Gie Liem is an associate professor in sensory and consumer science at Deakin University, CASS Food Research Centre in Melbourne Australia. He previously worked at the Monell Chemical Center in Philadelphia (USA) and Wageningen University and Unilever R&D (the Netherlands). His research is focused on sensory marketing and drivers of consumer food choice. He is part of the editorial board of Food Quality and Preference and an executive editor of the journal Appetite.    Gie Liem's email: gie.liem@deakin.edu.au Gie Liem's Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/0l3T8mPyP4CJRWKM2n3fW0   To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Liesbeth Zandstra is Science Leader Consumer Science at Unilever Foods Innovation Centre Wageningen and professor of Food Reward and Behaviour at Wageningen University and Research (The Netherlands). Her main research focuses on scientific challenges to find new ways to make the healthy and sustainable choice the easy and preferred choice. She is particularly interested in psychophysiological and behavioral effects of foods as well as new methodologies for better understanding sensory perception and consumer behaviour.     The consumer voice is at the heart of all the work she does. Her focus is on technology and product innovations in relation to consumer behaviour that contribute to a healthier and more sustainable lifestyle and increase overall well-being. Examples include the acceptance of salt-reduced products in South Africa and plant-based meat products in Europe and making plant-based cooking accessible and cookable in the Netherlands.     Liesbeth gained extensive experience in establishing and leading teams: skill-base, projects, community of practice, and other teams. She also managed complex international projects across different international Unilever locations. She has a strong national and international network and as part of the Ecosystem Innovation paradigm she has collaborated with leading universities and research institutes all over the world - including for example the UK, South Korea, India, and South Africa. She is chairing the foundation ‘Feed Your Mind' that works on a sustainable food transition by combining breakthrough research with innovative food design for all.     Her passion is to develop new insights and innovations and drive these to have a real impact on the health and well-being of citizens worldwide.    Liesbeth Zandstra on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liesbeth-zandstra-4b14205/   To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Michael Hautus is an internationally recognized expert in quantitative and experimental psychology. As a professor at the University of Auckland School of Psychology, he specializes in sensory and perceptual systems research, cognitive modelling, and analyzing detection and discrimination judgments. With over 100 publications, Professor Hautus has also contributed to research in sensory evaluation, auditory neuroscience, pain research, human memory, and decision science. His highly-cited works include the 3rd edition of Detection Theory: A User's Guide and the specialized software SDT Assistant, which enables broader implementation of advanced techniques of signal detection theory. Through his extensive publication record, editorial roles, conference presentations, and collaborations, Professor Hautus has established himself as a leader in psychophysics and detection theory. His current research projects continue to disseminate cutting-edge techniques and push boundaries in the global research community.   Michael Hautus on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-hautus-8b5a7419/  Michael's Website: https://hautus.org/  Email: m.hautus@auckland.ac.nz   To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Tzvi Wiesel is an experienced whisky investor and trader, focused on fine and rare bottles and casks. He is the Founder and CEO of BAXUS, a marketplace for trading high-end wine and spirits, powered by blockchain technology. Tzvi got his start in the spirits industry initially by accident, when he was staffed as a production assistant. He quickly became fascinated by the expansive whiskey collections. He launched his own whiskey fund on his own while at school at Columbia University where he met Carrie, his current business partner. Tzvi is currently Head of Fine & Rare bottles for Dalkeith Brokerage, a premier whisky brokerage firm. Formerly Managing Director of The Negotiation Institute.   Tzvi Wiesel on Twitter: https://twitter.com/web4O  Tzvi Wiesel on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/todd-wiesel/    Tzvi Wiesel suggested podcasts: Blockworks podcast: https://blockworks.co/podcasts  Coindesk Podcast: https://www.coindesk.com/podcasts  To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Parvaneh Parvin is a tech-savvy problem solver with a flair for all things culinary. She studied Digital Humanities and Computer Science at the University of Pisa in Italy, where she also earned her PhD in her research into Just-in-time health feedback systems for older adults with mild cognitive impairments. But she didn't stop at algorithms and data; her deep passion for food steered her on a different path.   Pari's journey into the world of food technology began when she joined Wageningen University & Research. Today, as a postdoc researcher within the Health and Nutrition division in the Sensory Science and Eating behavior group, she has carved out a niche in the world of Food recommendation systems. Her mission? To make the culinary world joyful and delightful for those dealing with smell disorder.   As a Persian, she has inherited a deep passion for the intricate dance of flavors and spices that define her cuisine. It's not just about algorithms; it's about creating digital experiences that tantalize the senses, much like crafting a delectable dish.  Join her on this unique journey where technology meets the kitchen, and together, we'll explore the flavors of tomorrow.    Pari Parvin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/parvaneh-parvin/   To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Julia has recently joined SAM Sensory and Consumer Research as Research Manager, Germany. Before joining SAM, Julia graduated with a doctoral degree in Food Science & Technology from the University of Florence. Her research focused on the role of emotions, personality traits, and sensory sensitivity in children's food preferences as part of the EU-funded project “Edulia - Bringing down barriers to children's healthy eating”.    Julia holds a master's degree in Human Nutrition and worked as a research assistant at the Department of Design & Consumer Behavior at the University of Copenhagen, where she conducted research on children's food preferences and developed research-based teaching material within sensory science for primary schools.    Julia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliasick/   To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Gern Huijberts is the global innovation portfolio manager at Cargill, with responsibility for businesses in Europe, the US, Brazil, West-Africa, and Asia-Pacific. In this position, he manages the global quality organization for food safety, quality assurance and quality control as well as regulatory affairs.  In previous roles, he has worked at international food companies like Heineken, H.J. Heinz, and FrieslandCampina, in the fields of Research & Development and Quality Assurance. Throughout his career, he has always had a keen interest in sensory analyses, both as an active member in sensory panels as well as from a research perspective. He is very interested in artificial intelligence and machine learning for applications in the quality assurance of food products.  Gern Huijberts holds an MSc degree in molecular biology from Wageningen University and a PhD in biochemistry from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. He is married with two children and lives in Doorn near Utrecht in the Netherlands. In his free time, he likes to take long walks with his wife in the local national park and he plays guitar in a rock band.    Gern on LinkedIn: https://nl.linkedin.com/in/gern-huijberts-84a7331    To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Vijay Pravin is the Founder & CEO of bitsCrunch, a Blockchain Analytics and Forensics company focusing on securing the NFT ecosystem. Living in Munich, Germany for the last 10 years, and originally from India.    To date, Vijay has helped raise 6.5M USD from prominent Web3 VCs like Coinbase Ventures, Animoca Brands, Chainlink, Polygon, Crypto.com Capital, Gate.io labs, Hashkey Capital, Borderless Capital, and a few others.  bitsCrunch tackles wash trades in the NFT space, provides price estimation of NFTs via Chainlink's oracle, and helps brands protect their IP. They work with Mastercard, CoinTelegraph & a few partners on the B2B side. They launched our B2C product: www.UnleashNFTs.com recently, a one-stop place for NFT insights and forensics. They are live across ETH, Polygon, BNB Chain, and AVAX - started indexing Solana.   Previous Work Experience: Siemens, Volkswagen in Germany  Education: Masters-Graduate in Electrical Engineering from the Technical University of Munich.   TEDx Speaker - the first Indian to be invited for a TEDx talk in Germany below 30  Awarded as ‘Top 40 Data Scientists under 40' in India  Nominated as ‘20+ Inspiring Data Scientists to follow on LinkedIn in 2020' by AI Time Journal from the United States    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vijaypravin Twitter: https://twitter.com/VijayPravinM To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Lennox is the CEO & Co-Founder of Satoshi's Index, a token-gated SaaS platform that automates portfolio management for crypto investors. In addition to this, he leads product initiatives at Starbucks Corp, and is the co-founder of NFT Seattle, the region's first large scale Web3 conference.   Lennox on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennoxmatsinde Lennox on Twitter: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennoxmatsinde Lennox on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lennoxtakura/ Newsletter:  https://www.noanswers.io/ To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Luiza is the International Sensory Science Manager at L'Oréal France.  She is a Food Engineer with more than 10 years of experience in Sensory and Consumer Science applied mainly in cosmetics, food, and household product categories.  She has recently been assigned the Data Steward role, being responsible for Sensory Data Acquisition, Management, and Application   To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Dr. G.B. (Garmt) Dijksterhuis studied experimental psychology and methodology at the University of Utrecht and wrote his Ph.D. dissertation at the department of Data Theory at the University of Leiden, in the Netherlands. He has written or co-authored some 150 publications in sensory and consumer science, statistics and psychology. He is one of the founders of the Sensometric society and was its first president, and is a member of the editorial board of the journals Food Quality and Preference, the Journal of Future Foods, and Frontiers in Psychology/Eating Behavior. He has some 30 years of experience in sensory science and experimental psychology and worked in academia, research institutes, and in the food industry. He has done research on a variety of topics including multisensory perception, consumer (food) choice, and sensometrics. Garmt taught courses in sensory science and methodology and related topics and has been a guest scientist at several universities and research institutes. He is an invited speaker at many scientific conferences as well as at meetings for a more general audience. From 2009-2014 he was Honorary Professor at the section Food Design and Consumer Science at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Garmt is currently teaching at the experimental psychology department of the University of Utrecht. Garmt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garmt-dijksterhuis-a567045/ To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Carlos Velasco is an associate professor at the Department of Marketing, BI Norwegian Business School (Norway), where he co-founded the Centre for Multisensory Marketing. Carlos received his Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from Oxford University, after which he worked on a number of postdoctoral and consulting projects in Europe, Asia, and North and South America. His work is situated at the intersection between Psychology, Marketing, and Human-Computer Interaction, and focuses on understanding, and capitalizing on, our multisensory experiences and their guiding principles. He wrote the book "Multisensory experiences: Where the senses meet technology" and edited the collection "Multisensory packaging: Designing new product experiences". Carlos has worked with a number of companies from around the world on topics such as multisensory experiences, food and drink, branding, and consumer research.    For more information, visit https://carlosvelasco.info/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/velascop/ Twitter: Carlos Velasco (@velascop) / Twitter   To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Carlos Gómez–Corona is the Global Director of Consumer Research at Firmenich. His main responsibilities are to understand the future consumption of proteins, and the perception of natural and sustainable flavors and ingredients. He has conducted research both in academia and the industry, as well as teaching in the area of sensory and consumer science, collaborating with several research groups worldwide. His publications focus mainly on consumption experience, product perception and representation, and social responsibility. He obtained his master's degree in Sensory & Consumer Research from the University of Burgundy in France, followed by a Ph.D. in Consumer Research at UAM-Mexico, in collaboration with the Centre des Sciences du Gout and ISA Lille. Carlos was awarded the Rose Marie Pangborn Sensory Science Scholarship in 2014 and is part of the editorial board of Food Research International, and editor at Cogent Business & Management.   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlos-gomez-corona-424b22109/ Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Carlos_Gomez-Corona Twitter: https://twitter.com/CarlosXOOC   To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Founder of a New York-based brand incubator, Mindy Yang is an advisor, investor, growth hacker, curator, and technical designer & creative director of fragranced, flavored, and functional products.   As an expert on sensory sciences, psychology, marketing, brand strategy, wellness, and immersive design, Mindy is passionate about incubating/launching brands/experiences/products by creating unforgettable, emotionally captivating signatures around the world... Making the invisible felt.     LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mindyyang/ World Taste and Smell Day: https://www.tasteandsmell.world/ Personal Website: https://mindyyang.info/   To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Nat Cole is a cryptocurrency and blockchain educator and consultant, working in the crypto & blockchain space for around 5 years.  He is currently working on a 'Phygital' NFT Fashion project, mixing high-quality fashion design, sustainable materials, Web3, and embedded technologies.   Nat's project NFT Clothing Club (NFTCC) is creating a unique high-quality fashion brand and community utilizing Bitcoin and the power of Stacks. His project is primarily focused on creating communities linking between fashion, NFTs, and Bitcoin.     NFTCC's motto is "Luxury, high quality, unique fashion pieces, for every reality, inspired by Bitcoin, built on Stacks."   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathaniel-cole-5b75747b/   Twitter: https://twitter.com/BigRpic   NFTClothingClub: https://twitter.com/NFTClothingClub   To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Nese Yurttas has worked in the field of sensory and consumer science for twenty years including the past fifteen years for Cargill, where she has built Cargill's sensory capabilities in North America into a world-class capability. Nese leads a global community of sensory practice to build best practices and knowledge across the Globe. Across such a diverse product mix as Cargill's, Nese must lead a team of scientists using expert sensory knowledge to identify the right sensory methods and experiments to achieve the business strategic needs and critical success factors.   Her capability development and project work have helped Cargill develop new products and ingredients such as the Truvia® Table Top (TT) Sweetener and Eversweet Stevia Sweetener from a fermentation source. She lead all sensory panels for the sweetener business and co-developed two patents, one of which resulted in the successful commercializing of the first natural TT sweetener Truvia® in the U.S.  Nese's deep sensory knowledge, contributions to the knowledge of Food Ingredient taste and flavor,  team leadership and drive for business excellence has helped Cargill achieve its sensory business goals.   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nese-yurttas-7b2a0725/   To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Dr. Michelle Niedziela is a behavioral neuroscientist experienced in both academia and industry.  Michelle began her career as a post-doctoral fellow at Monell Chemical Senses Center working on research of functional foods. She continued her career at Johnson & Johnson where she specialized in innovation technologies for consumer products. At Mars Chocolate, Michelle worked on global sensory projects, and in her current role as VP of Research and Innovation at HCD Research, Michelle focuses on integrating applied consumer neuroscience tools with traditional sensory methods to measure consumer response with the goal of providing a comprehensive account of consumer decision making.     Kathryn Ambroze is a behavioral neuroscientist with experience in consumer research and methodological innovation. She currently works at HCD Research as the Manager of Behavioral and Marketing Sciences focusing on methodological development and innovation applying neuroscience and psychological tools to consumer and market research.   Michelle Niedziela on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-niedziela-phd-b581a712/   Kathryn Ambroze on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathrynambroze   HCD Research: https://www.hcdi.net/   HCD Research Twitter: https://twitter.com/hcdresearchinc   To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Amber Case studies the interaction between humans and computers and how technology is changing everyday life.  Case is currently a 2021 Mozilla Fellow working on the future of money, alternative business models for the web, and creator compensation.  Case is an internationally recognized design advocate and speaker, and the author of four books, including Calm Technology and A Kids Book About Technology. She spent two years as a fellow at MIT's Center for Civic Media and Harvard's Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society.   Named one of Inc. Magazine's 30 under 30 and Fast Company's Most Influential Women in Technology, Case was named a National Geographic Emerging Explorer in 2012 and received the Claude Shannon Innovation Award from Bell Labs. She was also the co-founder and CEO of Geoloqi, a location-based software company acquired by Esri.   Twitter: https://twitter.com/caseorganic   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caseorganic/   Case Organic website: http://caseorganic.com   Calm Technology: https://calmtech.com/   To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Gern Huijberts is the global quality director for Cargill Cocoa and Chocolate, with responsibility for businesses in Europe, the US, Brazil, West-Africa and Asia-Pacific. In this position, he manages the global quality organization for food safety, quality assurance and quality control as well as regulatory affairs.   In previous roles he has worked at international food companies like Heineken, H.J. Heinz and FrieslandCampina  in the fields of Research & Development and Quality Assurance. Throughout his career he has always had a keen interest in sensory analyses, both as an active member in sensory panels as well as from a research perspective. He is very interested in artificial intelligence and machine learning for applications in quality assurance of food products.   Gern Huijberts holds a MSc degree in molecular biology from the Wageningen University and a PhD in biochemistry from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. He is married with two children and  lives in Doorn near Utrecht in the Netherlands. In his free time, he likes to take long walks with his wife in the local national park and he plays guitar in a rock band.   Gern on LinkedIn: https://nl.linkedin.com/in/gern-huijberts-84a7331   To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Dr. Vanessa Rios de Souza holds a Ph.D. in Food Science and has over 10 years of experience in R&D, consumer and sensory research across multiple food product categories and functions, with a strong background in food science and food processing. She has extensive experience in industrial, academic, and research settings. Vanessa works as a Computational Sensory Science Consultant at Aigora and before her role there she worked as a professor, researcher and as an independent CPG consultant for several years in Brazil, where she is from. She has presented her work in many conferences and has published 4 book chapters and 65+ peer-reviewed papers throughout her career.   Vanessa Rios de Souza on LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/vanessardsouza   To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Dr. Ruth Brown is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics at Virginia Commonwealth University and an expert practitioner of state-of-the-art data science tools and the founder of the HOPE Lab. She is also the Co-Founder and Senior Advisor at Aigora. Dr. Ruth Brown-Ennis received her Ph.D. in Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University.   Her general research interests focus on better understanding the interplay between environmental and biological factors in the development of depression, anxiety, and traumatic stress and using these findings to improve mental health care. She has a particular interest in the role of these factors in people with developmental disabilities.   Dr. Ruth Brown on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruth-brown-ennis/   HOPE Lab website: https://rampages.us/hopelab/     To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Keir Finlow-Bates is the author of "Move Over Brokers: Here Comes The Blockchain" (https://mybook.to/moveover), the founder of Chainfrog Limit (one of Finland's earliest blockchain startups), and a prolific inventor of blockchain technologies with 43 patents to his name. Becoming interested in blockchain in late 2009, he has researched it full-time from 2016 onwards. Before that most of his 20-year career was spent as a software test engineer and manager, with a few short stints as a mathematics lecturer and a technical writer. Keir lives in Finland with his Finnish wife and eight children, none of whom have left home yet. You can find a collection of his short videos on blockchain concepts at his YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/thinklair) if you want to learn more, and he regularly posts articles and thoughts on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/keirf/).   Keir on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keirf/ Keir on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/thinklair     To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Dr. Tian Yu is a Computational Sensory Science Consultant at Aigora. Tian holds a Ph.D. in taste neuroscience, focusing on signal transduction. After a postdoctoral fellowship researching brain lipid metabolism, and an instructor role delving into sour taste sensing, Dr. Yu devoted herself to sensory and consumer science research to combine her love of neuroscience and expertise in analyzing data. Tian has published numerous peer-reviewed articles and one book chapter. She has presented her work at international conferences and received broad recognition for her work.     LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tianyu1037/   To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

As President/Owner of Storlietelling Jean uses story-based techniques to design and facilitate highly engaging strategic planning, innovation, and team-building sessions. She also runs training programs in business storytelling skills for clients that span boutique consulting firms to Fortune 500 companies across a range of industries. Jean has facilitated innovation in consumer packaged goods, supplier, and direct marketing companies, focusing on building their innovation pipelines. She worked at General Mills for over a decade, where her knack for distilling complex content into compelling communications helped business teams drive business growth for consumer brands like Cheerios and Yoplait. As a child, she loved reading books, playing dress-up, and solving puzzles, foreshadowing the work she does now-solving problems with stories.    Mimi is the leader of Global Strategic Insights for IFF Nourish. She is responsible for inspiring and motivating creative teams by bringing actionable insights to life and facilitating end-to-end innovation. Prior to this, Mimi was the Principal and Owner of Sherlock Creative Thinking, a creativity and innovation consultancy that served a variety of clients and industries across the globe. Through her highly engaging and experiential approach, Mimi helped business teams in companies like Visa, L'Oreal, and Nestle crack the code on gnarly problems . . . and enjoy the process. She has been a leader and facilitation trainer for the Creative Problem Solving Institute for close to thirty years. As a natural ideator, if you give Mimi a challenge she's likely to spew out twenty-five ideas in under five minutes.   Jean Storlie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeanstorlie/ Mimi Sherlock on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mimisherlock  Storlietelling.com: https://storlietelling.com/ Book website: https://onceuponinnovation.com/   To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Dr. Delarue's research focuses on methods to measure sensory perception and preferences and on their effective use in food design. He seeks to develop high validity consumer-oriented methods. In particular, his research explores the role of context in hedonic measures using immersive environments and digital technologies. He also works to develop and validate rapid and flexible descriptive analysis methods with applications to new product development and consumer research. Using these methods, he seeks to understand the sensory determinants of food preferences and to find levers to drive healthy and sustainable food behaviors.   Formerly an Associate Professor at AgroParisTech in the food science and technology joint research unit with INRA and Université Paris-Saclay, he has served as the Chair of the French Society for Sensory Analysis (SFAS) and of the European Sensory Science Society (E3S).   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jdelarue/   University: https://foodscience.ucdavis.edu/people/julien-delarue#/   Metaverse article Julien mentioned: https://aigora.cc/2ZRHZg6     To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Nicolas Hartmann is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Vly. Based in Berlin, the FoodTech startup aims to disrupt the dairy industry by developing novel alternatives using food science, fermentation, and data. Nicolas holds a Master's degree from the University of Oxford and is passionate about a vegan lifestyle.   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-hartmann-4b594b78/ Website: https://www.vlyfoods.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vlyfoods/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VlyFoods   To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Bo Li is currently a Senior Behavioral Scientist at Dell Technologies where he leverages behavioral science to create better customer experiences for consumers who shop for Dell products online. Previously, Bo was a Behavioral Economist at Eli Lilly & Company where Bo conducted behavioral science research to help patients be more adherent to medication. Bo started his career as an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the University of Louisville. Bo obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Washington in Seattle in Marketing. His work has appeared in the Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Journal of Retailing, Marketing Letters, and several other premier business journals and conference proceedings. Bo's research interest lies in the intersection of emotions, persuasion, and behavioral change.   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/xboli Instagram: @CBTalkChina Medium: https://medium.com/@cbtalkchina   To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Dawn is a skilled Sensory and Consumer Scientist with 15+ years of hands-on experience designing, executing, and interpreting multi-faceted research studies to solve business challenges. She is passionate about exploring data sets to make stories come to life.   Dawn studied mathematics and chemistry at DePauw University and received a Ph.D. in food science with a sensory emphasis from UC Davis. Dawn's doctoral research focused on the relationships between vineyard yield and Cabernet Sauvignon flavor. While at Davis, she helped teach the inaugural year of the UC Davis distance learning Applied Sensory Science and Consumer Testing certificate program.   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawn-chapman-4356793/   To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Daniel Protz is the Founder & CEO of FlavorWiki. He holds a bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Stanford Business School. Daniel started his career in computer-driven commodity trading before moving into the e-commerce and digital industries. Since 2015, Daniel has been working enthusiastically towards democratizing the world of consumer understanding and building a better purchase experience for consumers around the world. His professional background includes top global firms like Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and Groupon, where he designed, built, and implemented technology to support inventory, customer service, content publishing and pricing automation for 1 billion+ USD e-commerce businesses. He's a keen digital enthusiast and strong believer that FlavorWiki is building the premier consumer review and discovery platform to support the digital brands of tomorrow.   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-protz-707b772a/   Company: https://business.flavorwiki.com/    Twitter: @FlavorWiki Company LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/flavorwiki/   To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Benjamin is a technology enthusiast with a passion for empowering developers to build innovative solutions. A long-time open source advocate, he co-founded the Eclipse IoT Working Group in 2011 and grew, from scratch, a vibrant open-source community of hundreds of developers and dozens of deeply engaged companies. He is currently working at Microsoft as a Principal Program Manager for Azure IoT, where he is leading developer engagement initiatives with some of the top communities and companies in the embedded, AI, and open hardware space.   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamincabe/ GitHub link: https://github.com/kartben/artificial-nose IoT for beginners curriculum: https://github.com/microsoft/IoT-For-Beginners Twitter: https://twitter.com/kartben Blog : https://blog.benjamin-cabe.com/   To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Dr. Helene Hopfer is the Rasmussen Career Development Professor and Assistant Professor of Food Science at Penn State where her research group studies product- and human-inherent factors that affect perception. Her research focuses on the human-food interface, and how food composition and food structure affect human perception and food choice, particularly, aroma and flavor. Combining human sensory and consumer science with analytical chemistry, materials science, and multivariate statistics, her recent and ongoing projects fall into three broad areas, (1) Sensory Mixture Effects for Improving Foods, (2) Linking Human Perception to Plant Genetics, and (3) Differences in Food Quality Perception.   Dr. Hopfer has degrees in polymer science & engineering, and chemistry, and studied under Hildegarde Heymann at UC Davis as a postdoc. She is also the program chair of Penn State's graduate certificate in Sensory & Consumer Science, a fully online 12-credit degree program developed for working individuals to address the shortage of skilled sensory & consumer science professionals.   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helene-hopfer-98909744/   To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

John Fuisz is the CEO of Veriphix.  John has a diverse background, with an undergraduate degree in Physics from Georgetown, a JD from Catholic University, a Legal Masters from George Washington.  John was previously a board member at Fuisz Technologies, a drug delivery company that helped originate soft chew vitamins.  During that time John was also an IP litigator and consulted on IP strategy.  Now, at Veriphix, John studies belief change in population with applications to market research.    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-fuisz/   To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Valerie is MMR’s Global Sensory Director, leading one of the largest and most innovative teams of sensory experts in the world, with sensory hubs in Europe, the US and Asia and with over 20 trained sensory panels.   Valerie grew up in the south of France and trained as a food scientist in Burgundy, where she immediately fell in love with Sensory, as a discipline that uniquely blends the rigor of science, experimental design and statistics with the fascinating world of the psychology of human perception. Valerie has been working as a sensory and consumer research partner and consultant for over 25 years, with many of the major global food and drink, beauty and other FMCG companies, living in the UK, Australia and now the US. Throughout her career, she has demonstrated a passion to apply sensory and consumer research approaches in delivering business relevant, tangible and actionable recommendations, and pushing her teams to constantly innovate and adapt in response to clients’ ever changing challenges.   From her background and travels, Valerie truly appreciates and enjoys holistic sensory experiences, and as MMR’s Global Sensory Director she now focuses on making the power of sensory more widely accessible to help a wider range of functions and industries, and help create product and service experiences that delight consumers, and lead to long-term market impact.   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vmialon/   To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Dr. Nick Zacharov is a lead technologist at FORCE Technology, SenseLab, Denmark. With an academic background in electroacoustics, acoustics, and signal processing, Nick has broad industrial experience in the audio profession. Having held engineering and managerial posts at Nokia and Genelec, Nick co-founded FORCE Technologies SenseLab in 2007, providing world-class listening tests and sensory evaluation services to the audio community.    He holds several audio patents and has more than 90 major publications to his name. Nick is the co-author of “Perceptual Audio Evaluation – theory, method and application”, and editor of the book “Sensory Evaluation of Sound”, both acknowledged textbooks in the field.   LinkedIn: https://fi.linkedin.com/in/nick-zacharov   To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Professor Charles Spence is a world-famous experimental psychologist with a specialization in neuroscience-inspired multisensory design. He has worked with many of the world’s largest companies across the globe since establishing the Crossmodal Research Laboratory (CRL) at the Department of Experimental Psychology, at Oxford University in 1997. Prof. Spence has published over 1,000 academic articles and edited or authored 15 books including, in 2014, the Prose prize-winning “The perfect meal”, and the international bestseller “Gastrophysics: The new science of eating” (2017; Penguin Viking) – winner of the 2019 Le Grand Prix de la Culture Gastronomique from Académie Internationale de la Gastronomie. His much-anticipated new book Sensehacking was published in 2021.    Much of Prof. Spence’s work focuses on the design of enhanced multisensory food and drink experiences, through collaborations with chefs, baristas, mixologists, chocolatiers, perfumers, and the food and beverage, and flavour and fragrance industries. Prof. Spence has worked extensively in the world of multisensory experiential wine and coffee and has also worked extensively on the question of how technology will transform our dining/drinking experiences in the future.   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timcloss/   To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Yizhou Ma is a PhD candidate at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. His PhD research focuses on the adaptive control of 3D food printing. In the past, Yizhou worked as a R&D scientist at Gastrograph AI and obtained his bachelor's and master's degrees in food science. His professional pursuits center around data-driven research and sustainable system design for food productions. He is also the co-host of the podcast "Food in the Hood," where Yizhou and his friend Amanda Sia discuss the science of food, its current practice, education, and future development.   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ybenma/ 3-D Printed Pasta: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvREyWTbqMc   To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Liz Glenn is a Sr. Sensory Scientist in the Consumer Product Intelligence Team at Land O’Lakes, Inc.  The team’s mission is to translate human perception and consumer insights into product experiences that delight consumers.  Liz leads product guidance research for both innovation and established products for the butter & spreads business.  Working for a farmer-owned food & agriculture cooperative celebrating its 100th year presents intriguing product development challenges—how do you improve upon butter? A born foodie and lover of people, Liz revels in the intersection of applied science, statistics, psychology, and food research.  Sensory Science is the perfect blend of all four!   Liz has an MS in Psychometrics & Quantitative Psychology, a BS in Environmental Studies, and a Post-Baccalaureate Certification in Forensic Science.   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liz-glenn-75758168   To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

In the 90s we had Marco Pierre White and Gordon Ramsey usher in the era of the shouty, angry, passionate celebrity chefs. By the early 2000s, Ferran Adria and Heston Blumenthal brought about a change in the way we look at fine dining experiences and culinary creativity. And to date, their disciples (the top restaurants in the world) continue to expand upon their work. So what is the future? What is the next leap forward in Gastronomy? A chef who believes in “improving global wellbeing through innovations in gastronomy.” A chef who will change the way we eat. A chef who after working his way up in Michelin star restaurants has spent close to a decade collaborating with some of the UK’s leading scientists and academic institutions on understanding our multisensory relationship with food and its functional role in our health and wellbeing. Introducing Chef Jozef Youssef, founder of Kitchen Theory. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jozefyoussef/ Kitchen Theory: https://kitchen-theory.com/   To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Martin Kern holds a PhD in agricultural science, is a certified enologist, and has been a Managing Director of SAM International since 2005. Today, SAM is a member of Eurofins Scientific with more than 15 of its own facilities, where it forms an International Business Line providing Sensory and Consumer Research to its customers worldwide with a global network of about 120 partners in more than 65 countries.   Martin provides valuable consulting in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods industry, Food and Non-Food, supporting product success through consumer satisfaction. Together with his team, Martin has developed new methods and approaches and contributed to the further development of Sensory and Consumer Science. Some examples of his work include the Ideal Sensory Trajectory, Context Setting Research, and Value Scoring. Martin is also a member of the management board of the European Sensory Network.   “It all started with learning how to make good wine: my professional background is in wine making and enology. Today I am passionate about professional Sensory and Consumer Research. I take great pride in being the voice of the consumer, listening to and understanding them, translating findings into “actionable intelligence” for the “Fast Moving Consumer Goods-Industry.” Martin Kern   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-kern-289ab416/   To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Nazimah Hamid is a Professor of Food Science at Auckland University of Technology.  Her research encompasses how processing techniques can influence physical, chemical, and flavour qualities of food. Her expertise in sensory and flavour science uses a combination of sensory and instrumental flavour analysis to examine and predict the relationships between food composition, sensory perception, and flavour of a variety of processed and minimally processed foods. She has worked with a variety of foods - from sea urchin roe, black foot abalone, clams, apricots, and cherries in New Zealand to ‘Durian’ (commonly referred to as the King of Fruits) and jackfruit in Malaysia, and earlier raspberries in Scotland.   She also researches the role of auditory cues on flavour and the consumer perception of food.   University Website: https://www.aut.ac.nz/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nazimah-hamid-48532038/   To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Lori Rothman is the owner of Lori Rothman Consulting, where she helps companies develop consumer-preferred products and packages. She has a B.S. from Cornell University in Nutritional Science and a M.S. from the University of California, Davis in Food Science. Lori is also an adjunct instructor in Sensory Evaluation at Dominican University, in River Forest, IL.   Lori is a Food Scientist and an experienced professional in the areas of Consumer Science and Sensory Evaluation, specializing in consumer products and packaging. Lori is known for leveraging consumer and sensory insights to drive product innovation and business growth. Her experience includes strategy development, department creation and staffing, sensory facility/infrastructure, cross-functional and cross-country relationship building, budgeting, and delivering business-relevant results.   Lori has over 30 years of experience, with successful roles in Consumer and Sensory Science management and technical leadership for consumer packaged goods companies. She is credited with two Packaging Design Patents and a Trade secret, as well as the Charles M. Dudley Medal for ASTM publications that have impacted their field. In 2018, Lori produced a webinar ‘Getting Maximum Impact from your Sensory/Consumer Science Team’ in conjunction with the Kraft Alumni Network, and in 2020 a webinar ‘Sensory Science and the Research Chef’ for the Research Chefs Association.   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorirothman/   To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com

Trey Sanders, RD and certified food scientist, is a Research and Development Manager for Bulletproof 360. Trey graduated with undergraduate degrees in sensory science and dietetics before completing his master's in Food Product Development, Modification & Acceptability. He has spent the last 10 years integrating sensory science and nutrition into product development, including roles at Wonderful Pistachios & Almonds and Continental Mills. Trey’s previous sensory experience has included employee panel program development, consumer field testing and analysis, panel training, and external consumer coordination through focus groups and central location testing. His current role involves overseeing all aspects of the sensory program and guiding the strategic use of its principles to drive positive business outcomes.   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trey-sanders-ms-rd-cfs-604a8113/   To learn more about Aigora, please visit www.aigora.com