The largest incoming class yet has begun studying for a bachelor’s degree in culinary science at The Culinary Institute of America (CIA).

The class, started Sept. 30 and consisting of 17 students, continues the program’s growth from nine students in the first group that began in February and 13 students who entered in May, according to a news release from the nonprofit culinary college in Hyde Park.

The college’s new Culinary Science Lab includes a professional kitchen with precision temperature cooking equipment and other cutting-edge cooking tools; analytical lab with centrifuge, rotary evaporator, vacuum dessicator, incubator, and more used to conduct scientific experiments; sensory evaluation room; and lecture hall. Students use this state-of-the-art facility in courses that involve the application of new technologies, biology, physics, chemistry, sensory evaluation techniques, food microbiology and fermentation, and the cultural and social aspects of food and feeding, the news release said.

“We get into the dynamics of heat transfer, ingredient functionality, flavor science,” says culinary science major Kristin McGinn, who is beginning her senior year.

The program is built on the CIA’s foundation of core culinary techniques and traditions and consists of junior- and senior-year studies after students earn associate degrees in culinary arts or baking and pastry arts.

Ronald Hayes, CIA associate director of career services and author of “Creating Your Culinary Career,” said that a culinary science degree opens many doors.
“Graduates with culinary science backgrounds are prepared for positions in some of the top innovative restaurants in the world, like Noma and The Fat Duck, and for research and development opportunities with PepsiCo, Nestlé, and Campbell’s,” said Hayes. “Their options are as unlimited as their imagination.”

For more information, visit the CIA online at www.ciachef.edu.