Indonesia is one of the main producers of Tuna. The proper post-harvest handling by applying a low temperature during various steps between catch and consumption is crucial. In 2017-2018, Fish Product Technology Study Program (FPT-SP), Department of Fisheries, Faculty of Agriculture UGM made a research collaboration with the University of Tasmania to develop a mathematical model for the prediction of microbial growth in tuna in a function of temperature. This research was financially supported by Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education (KEMENRISTEK-DIKTI) year 2017/2018. Our research partner was Prof. Mark Tamplin, professor of Food Microbiology and Leader on Center for Food Safety, TIA-University of Tasmania (UTAS), Australia. In 23-27 August 2017, Prof. Mark Tamplin visited Yogyakarta. During his visit, he delivered his talk on predictive modeling in food industry as one of the keynote speakers in the 2nd International Symposium on Marine and Fisheries Research held by The Department of Fisheries, Faculty of Agriculture UGM. He also provided a brief workshop on predictive modeling and discussed the possibility of institutional academic collaboration (coututelle) between both universities.
This program also brought an opportunity for Ms. Susana Endah Ratnawati, M.Si. (a young lecturer from the study program of Fish Product Technology) to visit UTAS in 23-31 October 2017 to learn more about microbial mathematical modeling directly from Professor David Ratkowsky, the founder of Ratkowsky predictive model of microbial growth.
