Sintef

SINTEF (www.sintef.no) is Scandinavia’s largest independent research organisation and is a non-profit research foundation. We employ 2100 people most of whom are located in Trondheim and Oslo (Norway). More than 90% of our annual turnover of approx. 350 M€ derives from contract research for industry and the public sector in Norway and internationally, and we receive only minimal state funding (around 6%). SINTEF is multidisciplinary, with international top-level expertise in a wide range of technological and scientific disciplines, medicine and the social sciences. Our company vision is “technology for a better society”, and it is an important aspect of our societal role to contribute to the creation of more jobs. We act as an incubator, commercialising technologies through the establishment of spin-off companies. The SINTEF Group has defined six business units covering a wide area of research. So far, the SINTEF Group has participated in 256 FP7- projects and has coordinated 55 of them. In Horizon2020, the SINTEF Group is participating in 93 projects so far, coordinating 23 of them.

SINTEF is represented in this consortium by the department specialised in all aspects of interactions and technological developments in the ocean space, SINTEF Ocean. SINTEF Ocean is conducting research within ocean-based industries, e.g. aquaculture, fisheries, marine resources, maritime, oil and gas, processing, environmental technology and new ocean industries. The staff consists of 340 employees. Our expertise, interdisciplinary approach and industrial knowledge provide our customers with added value through the projects we undertake.  SINTEF Ocean performs basic and applied research for the industry as well as for governmental institutions. We develop new technology, knowledge and create new products and businesses. We hold world-class software and research infrastructure. The infrastructure ranges from specialized laboratories, via one of the world’s largest ocean basin laboratories to a full-scale testing facility. In cooperation with the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), SINTEF Ocean is developing the Ocean Space Centre, an upgrade and renewal of the ocean-based research facilities in Trondheim.

SINTEF has participated in more than 20 relevant research projects funded by the Norwegian Research Council, the Nordic Council of Ministers, and EU. In these projects, they have been working closely together with the fish and meat industry, the fishing sector as such, transporters, and European retailers. SINTEF delivers industrial solutions for the marine value chain, focusing on the interactions between raw materials, processes and products. The core team for the VALUMICS project are from the departments of Process Technology, Fisheries Technology and Aquaculture Technology at SINTEF with the main research focus on supply chain management, information management, traceability and environmental impacts assessment in food value chains. The group has strong collaborations with relevant industries in various projects and dynamic spin-off entrepreneur companies.

SINTEF will lead WP4 (Dr. Maitri Thakur) on Food System Case Study Groundwork and will lead the seafood case study. SINTEF will develop the event driven framework for data collection, analyze the information and material flows and conduct the environmental impact assessment for the seafood case. SINTEF will also contribute to the work in WP2, 3, 5, 7 and 9 to the tasks specifically related to the seafood case.

The Sintef Team

Dr. Maitri Thakur

(female) is a Research Scientist in the Department of Seafood Technology at SINTEF Ocean. She holds a PhD with dual-majors in Agricultural Engineering and Industrial Engineering with a focus on food traceability from Iowa State University (2010). Her expertise is in food supply chain management, systems analysis and information management. Her background also includes valuable experience working in national and inter-disciplinary consortiums in both EU and Research Council of Norway (RCN) funded projects. She is currently a Work Package leader on Information Management in RCN funded project iProcess and Project Manager for an Inno-Indigo EraNet project ReValue both focussing on bioeconomy topics. Recent projects focus on development of information management strategies in combination with cold chain management to improve the resource efficiency in food value chains. The activities are performed in close collaboration with relevant actors in the food processing sector. She is the leading WP4 in VALUMICS project.

Shraddha Mehta

(female) is working as a Researcher (Master of Science) in the Department of Seafood Technology at SINTEF Ocean. She has expertise in environmental assessment, ecosystem restoration, waste management and uses tools like Life Cycle Assessment and Material Flow Analysis. Currently, she is working on Work Package 4 in VALUMICS project and another Norwegian funded project on waste quantification from fish processing sector in Norway. She has a master’s degree in Environmental Science from University of Pune and a second master’s degree in Industrial Ecology from Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

Dr. Kirsti Greiff

(female) is a Research Scientist at the Seafood Technology department at SINTEF Ocean. She has a PhD in Biotechnology from Norwegian University of Science and Technology with focus on sodium reduction in muscle foods. She has over 10 years’ experience in product development, research and project management from the food industry in Norway.