Draft:Vijaya Raghavan

Vijaya Raghavan, Ph.D., (born 1944) is a Canadian food scientist and Distinguished James McGill Professor in the Bioresource Engineering Department at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He is best known for his research on post-harvest technologies in the drying, storage, and processing of crops. In 2012, he was inducted into the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) and as a Foreign Fellow into the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) of India. He is a past president of the Academy of Science and of the Canadian Society of Bioengineering (CSBE). He served as Director of the Royal Society of Canada from 2021-2023.

Education
Raghavan graduated from Bangalore University with a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical) in 1967. In 1970, he graduated from University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, with a Master of Science in Agricultural Engineering. In 1973, Raghavan graduated from Colorado State University with a Ph.D. in Agricultural Engineering.

Career
After his studies at University of Visvesvaraya College of Engineering (UVCE), Raghavan began his career by teaching mechanical engineering at the BMS College of Engineering in Bangalore. After earning his Ph.D., he served as Chief Engineer at Mantronics Inc. in Colorado.

Raghavan was hired at McGill University in 1974 as a Research Associate in the Department of Agricultural Engineering. He became an Assistant Professor within the department in 1977, later becoming an Associate Professor in 1983 and Full Professor in 1987. Raghavan was Chair of the Department of Agricultural & Biosystems Engineering starting in 1993 until 2003. In 2002, he was named the James McGill Professor in the Bioresource Engineering Department. In 2023, Raghavan was honored with the Distinguished James McGill Professor title at McGill.

Raghavan was an Honorary Post Graduate Professor in the Division of Agricultural Engineering at the University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, in Bangalore from 1990-1996. From 1998 to 2003, he was an Honorary Professor at the Institute of Elemento-Organic Chemistry at Nankai University in Tianjin, China.

Research
Raghavan’s research has been focused within the discipline of food security, namely post-harvest technologies involving analysis and development of methods for retaining the nutritional quality and content of foods after harvest. He began his studies on the use of granules for heat treatment and methods of drying grains but in later years has transitioned to analyzing electro-technologies that incorporate microwaves, pulsed-electric fields, and radio frequencies. Raghavan has also studied products and methods of food storage, including climate-controlled storage, treatment of food prior to storage, and the effects of heat treatment on crops in storage.

Raghavan has undertaken internationally-based projects to address the global food security and sustainability crisis, including:


 * Small millet post-harvest and nutritious food products/impacting nutritional security in India by scaling up utilization of post-harvest and food technologies of small millet, 2015-2018
 * As co-investigator in the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)-Central and West African region program, Africa Rice Center, to enhance food security in Africa through the improvement of rice post-harvest handling, marketing, and the development of new rice-based products, 2011-2016
 * Revalorizing minor millets in rainfed regions of South Asia, 2011-2014
 * As co-investigator in the CIDA-NSAC (Nova Scotia Agricultural College)-JUCAVM (Jimma University College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine) program involving post-harvest management to improve livelihood in Ethiopia, 2008-2014
 * Director of the University Partnerships in Cooperation and Development Program (UPCD) scaling-up program focused on post-harvest enterprise for rural development, 2010-2013
 * Co-investigator in the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) program designed to strengthen rural families by introducing food security via production, processing and value addition of regional staple food grains, 2010-2012
 * Improving rice processing strategies for food security in West Africa, 2008-2011
 * Director of the CIDA-McGill, UAS (University of Agricultural Sciences)-Dharwad, UAS-Bangalore, and Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) Coimbatore project to consolidate food security in South India, 2002-2007
 * Director of the CIDA-McGill-Nankai University project involving microwave processing in China, 1997-2003
 * Director of the Bangalore (UAS)/McGill post-harvest engineering project, 1990-96

Publications
Raghavan has contributed to over 730 articles in academic journals and proceedings, 60 chapters in books, seven patents, 13 report of inventions, and 60 research reports. He has contributed various conference papers including 882 presentations, 110 keynote or invited papers, 288 invited speeches, lectures, addresses, and 65 conferences and symposia as an organizing member and chair.

Raghavan’s papers on food security and food processing include:


 * An overview of microwave processing and dielectric properties of agri-food materials, 2004
 * An overview of dielectric properties measuring techniques, 2005
 * Microwave-assisted convective air drying of thin layer carrots, 1995
 * Sustainable production of hydroxymethylfurfural and levulinic acid: Challenges and opportunities, 2015
 * How well do plant-based alternatives fare nutritionally compared to cow's milk? 2018

Recognition

 * 1997 - Maple Leaf Award of the Canadian Society of Agricultural Engineering
 * 2000 - Fellow of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers
 * 2007 - David Thomson Award for Excellence in Graduate Supervision & Teaching
 * 2012 - Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
 * 2015 - Fellow of the Indian Society of Agricultural Engineers (ISAE)
 * 2017 - Kishida International Award, ASABE Annual Conference
 * 2018 - ASABE International Food Engineering Award
 * 2019 - Lifetime Achievement Award, The Society of Tropical Agriculture
 * 2023 - Lifetime Achievement Award for Leadership in Learning, McGill University
 * 2023 - Distinguished James McGill Professor Award