A UK technician has won Oxoid Ltd's Technician Of The Year, which included a trip to San Diego to collect her prize.
Sera Roberts, who is Laboratory Quality Systems Controller for South CaernarfonCreameries (SCC), Wales, received the Award in recognition of the systems she has established at SCC's laboratory, enabling it to gain third partyaccreditation. Her prize consisted of an engraved trophy, €1600 in cash and a pass to attend the IAFP Meeting.
She travelled to San Diego in July as a guest of Oxoid Ltd, who stage the annual Oxoid Awards in conjunction with International Food Hygiene magazine.
Roberts attended a number of relevant presentations at the conference, including Issues in Cheese Safety, Dairy Waste Management Issues‚ and Listeria Research Update.
"I enjoyed mixing with the many students anduniversity lecturers who were at the conference, and was surprised to meet up with a tutor from the course I attend back home in Wales!" she said.
"I hope that some of the notes I took will be useful to me in my future work."
The Oxoid Awards scheme is designed to reward individuals, laboratories and companies whose activities are making a real difference to quality standards in the food industry, ensuring that their initiatives receiverecognition. In addition to Technician of the Year, there are two other award categories: Oxoid Laboratory of the Year and the OxoidAward for Innovation.
There is still time for laboratories and individuals to enter the 2002 OxoidAwards - the closing date for submissions is 31 October 2002. The winner of the next Technician of the Year Award will travel to New Orleans for the 2003 IAFP Meeting, as well as receiving a trophy and €1600 in cash.
Full details and entry forms are available from Val Kane at Oxoid by emailing val.kane@oxoid.com.