Abstract:

According to the current university system, not all the students are required to make practices in companies, although they have the chance to do it. Sometimes, the offer of practices is not enough, other times the students are not concerned with this, because they are too worried in studying to pass the exams and nothing else. However, the reality is that when they are looking for a job, they need to have experience, and to achieve this experience they need to make practices in companies.
In the field of Food Technology, the amount and type of companies is really large. Moreover, each time, there is an increase in innovation and development of new food products to satisfy the requirements of consumers. In this sense, the incorporation of students with a creative brain to the company could mean a significant benefit for both. The students can learn how to work in a real world and the company can use the initiative of young highly educated people.
Current food needs of consumers in developed nations are becoming more complex with consideration of environmental impact, social responsibility, functional foods and obesity among many issues, driving the emergence of new products. Food firms respond by making innovative operational changes and reshaping how they work together with other members of the food supply chain. As a consequence, food industries require professionals with an extensive knowledge of the food science and technology. These professionals must be able also to understand the reality of the industrial tissue, to know the innovation process and strategies, to transfer health aspects into new product, integrate marketing concepts in new product, work in groups, planning, etc…Many of these skills are not developed enough in the current high education system but can be successfully supplied by a closer relation between University-Industry. In this sense, it is necessary give to the students or recent graduates alternatives to find a good job in a food company.
The Specialist in Food Technology Course was created in 2004 by the Institute of Food Engineering for Development of UPV to make easier the university-industry collaboration. The aim of this course is to put students and professionals in touch with the most important companies of the food and agriculture sector. For that, this course is taught not only by lecturers of Food Technology Department of UPV but also by industry employees, belonging to the most important companies of the food and agriculture sector and also. The contents of the course are organized in 15 theoretical modulus which deal with the most important sectors in food industry. Each modulus lasts 10 hours and there is also a visit to a company in some of them. Moreover, the students have to make at least 300 hours of practices in some food industry. At the end of the course, all the students show what they have done in each company in a Conference. In this way, all the students are able to become familiar with the way of working in different food sectors. As can be seen, when student finish the course they have a quite general deep view of many food industries, since they have access to the professionals’ knowledge and acquire the experience of the practice in the real world.

Keywords:

Business practices.