The 10 month master’s degree in food, innovation and technology will open its doors to fifty students from all over the world this March in the city of Reggio Emilia, Italy.
Set to kick off early this year, the first edition of the Food Innovation Program, presented by the Future Food Institute, Institute for the future in Palo Alto, CA and the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia will welcome students from across the globe at Reggio Emilia’s Musei Civici. It is here where one will also find the Officucina makerspace, currently being built. Created by architect and head of FabLab in Reggio Emilia, Francesco Bombardi, the Officucina is the heart of this international program, fusing culinary capabilities with traditional craftsmanship.

The Officucina will be the workshop centre for the Food Innovation Program and be the breeding ground for knowledge cross-pollination. Picture this: a workbench station with digital manufacturing machinery specifically for food application; a drafting table for designing, researching, and drafting ideas; a projector; webcams for streaming and augmented reality for authentic cuisine experiences in real time; a mega wall equipped with traditional and contemporary kitchenware hung beside workshop tools and state of the art technology; where students will have the opportunity to transform their ideas into reality, all this under one roof.

“The Food Innovation Program”, says Prof. Matteo Vignoli, Program Director, “is a unique opportunity that integrates the skills needed to shape key players in the food industry that will lead the way into the future. Naturally, Italy is the proper breeding ground to develop a project like this. Italy boasts a rich and vast legacy in all things food related and now it is a matter of optimizing the global opportunities and benefits in a comprehensive approach.”

So why has Reggio Emilia been chosen as the base for the Food Innovation Program? “Reggio Emilia is the world capital of education and hotbed for innovation and innovative thinking”, explains Prof. Vignoli.
“The newly built Mediopadana station located here in Reggio Emilia, adds to the cities accessibility and proximity to Expo Milan. What’s more is that Reggio Emilia is in the heart of the region of Emilia Romagna where food has always been synonymous with culture, thus it was a simple yet intuitive choice for a program in food, innovation and technology to be offered here in the city of Reggio Emilia.”

The Food Innovation Program will prove to stand out through its comprehensive and dynamic approach to the cultural, social and technological challenges of the global food system we currently face. With its state of the art Officucina; distinguished caliber of international experts in food innovation such as Caleb Harper from MIT CityFarm; its active participation in showcasing students in Expo Milan; radical disruptive innovation events (just to name a few), the Food Innovation Program will aim to shape the food leaders of tomorrow, equipped with entrepreneurial insight and the necessary innovative and technological skills in order to face the challenges of the future of food.

For more information on the Food Innovation Program and Scholarship opportunities, check out the program website at www.foodinnovationprogram.org.