Frost Center for Research and Innovation: Boswell Ag Tech Center
The Boswell Ag Tech Center within the William and Linda Frost Center for Research and Innovation is where agriculture, food and technology come together. The Boswell Ag Tech Center, a centerpiece of the new $125 million complex, will enable research and discovery to train tomorrow’s leaders in agriculture and food innovation.
Within the Boswell Ag Tech Center, students, faculty and industry will come together to create safe, healthy and sustainable food for the future – while solving today’s more complex food issues.
Culinary Teaching Lab
A creative culinary space where students will learn to blend culinary and food science principles in ingredient development, food product development, and entrepreneurial pursuits. In addition, professional and guest chefs will be showcased to highlight culinary skills, foods and flavors, and to teach students, as well as the public, new techniques, innovations and culinary craft.
Sensory Analysis Teaching and Research Lab
The Sensory Lab will be used to train students and conduct research to determine insights into consumer goods and new food and beverage products. Evaluations include basic discrimination testing between products, testing to determine how well products will likely be accepted or preferred by the consumer, and testing to determine quantitative differences between products. Food companies will have the opportunity to sponsor research, joint projects and consumer testing.
Food Safety Labs
Food safety is of critical importance and this lab will support the need for risk assessment data in food and agriculture industries. This lab is designed as a biosafety level 2 (BSL-2) facility suitable for experiments involving foodborne pathogens of moderate potential hazard to people and the environment. The lab will be used to conduct studies to determine the ability of pathogens to grow, survive, or die-off during processing and/or subsequent storage. Additionally, the development and assessment of new food safety mitigation processes or strategies will be supported by this lab.
Teaching and Research Instrumentation Lab
This lab will use analytical methods to gain a more complete picture of the metabolic consequences of dietary interventions and disease processes. The lab will be used to conduct food science projects that involve the quantification of phytonutrients, vitamins, amino acids, carbohydrates, and fatty acids in order to assess food composition and the effects of food processing on diet and health.
Nutrition and Food Studies Lab
This lab supports new food and beverage product development, and possesses analytical instrumentation for determining nutrient levels and other food components. The lab will also support the evaluation of nutrition products and supplements designed to support exercise recovery, including analysis of metabolic response to nutrition and exercise.
Experience Collaboration Lab
This lab will be a creative space at the center of designing technological, digital, and personal traveler experiences for consumers and industry. An interdisciplinary collaboration led by Cal Poly's pioneering Experience Industry Management Department, the lab will consider architecture and design, food science and wine, and marketing and graphics in creating impactful user experiences across a spectrum of products and industries.