Food Valley Ambassador from Greece
Name: Georgios Mitrakas (male)
Nationality: Greek
Year of birth: 1981
Education and work experience:
• MSc Food Technology - Product Design, Wageningen UR
• School of Agriculture - Specialization: Food Science & Technology at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki; 5 year BSc (recently recognized also as MSc)
Knowledge of languages:
Greek(mother tongue) and English
About Greece
Greece is famous for a number of unique traditional products (krokos, mastic, etc.). There is room for new product development based on these.
Personal note:
I gained a lot of theoretical knowledge in the field of Food Science. Moreover, I got well acquainted with Food Engineering by assisting in teaching (laboratory exercises, tutorials in problem solving) and writing my bachelor's thesis under the supervision of a highly respected professor (which led to two published papers).
I wanted my next step to be a master's degree in Food Science at a well-known and respected university abroad. Wageningen UR was the best choice. I applied for the Master in Food Technology program and particularly for the Product Design specialization. I opted for Product Design because it is closely connected to Food Engineering and that promotes creative thinking. I am also very interested in another aspect of Product Design: innovations in Packaging.
During my first year of studies at Wageningen UR I acquired more thorough knowledge of Food Science and its application in practice. Furthermore, the international environment taught me how to cooperate with people from different cultures. This is extremely important in a contemporary corporate working environment. I also visited various multinational Food companies located in the and Belgium. I was impressed by the high standards by which the companies run their production lines and the friendly, yet highly professional working environment. This motivated me even more to work in the food industry abroad.
Food Valley is composed of companies regarded as pioneers of Food Technology and Development. Therefore it is very exciting to have the opportunity to be a Food Valley Ambassador and closely collaborate with them. In addition, this program will bring me a step closer to my goal, which is to live and work in the Netherlands.