Brooke wins national dairy study tour

A WONTHAGGI woman is among four graduates to be trained by some of Australia’s leading dairy manufacturers, as a part of Dairy Australia’s 2014 Manufacturing Scholarship program.
For the next two months, Brooke Smith will be working with dairy industry experts to learn about the relevant aspects of dairy manufacturing.
She and others will spend up to five days at the factories of sponsoring companies including Murray Goulburn, Parmalat, Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory, Fonterra, Lion Food and Drinks, Bega and Baroosa Cheese.
The program also includes training through the National Centre of Dairy Education Australia (NCDEA) where scholars will learn about Dairy Science Foundation Studies, practical cheese making, market milk and milk fat products, and evaporation and spray drying of milk.
Dairy Australia program manager Dr Mani Iyer said the scholarship program was aimed at attracting talented new graduates who have a passion for the dairy industry.
“The aim of the program is to attract new graduates into the industry and train them, so they can build long-term careers in the dairy industry,” he said.
Brooke has a specific interest in the industry and dairy farms. With a Bachelor of Food and Nutrition, Major Food Science, Brooke believes in the importance of regularly including dairy products into the diet at all stages of life.
“When I saw the scholarship advertised, I thought it was great opportunity to work with companies and to get an overview of all the different areas of dairy manufacturing,” she said.
“It’s going to be interesting to look specifically into dairy and be able to get into factories. It’s a great way to get out there and start to get known by people.”
Dr Iyer said the 2014 program received many applications.
“The judging panel had a challenging task to choose the winners based on their academic excellence, work experience, and passion for the dairy industry,” he said.
While there is no guarantee of a job at the end of the scholarship training, nearly 80 per cent of trained graduates have found positions with dairy food manufacturing companies within a few months of completing the training.

Dairy focused: Brooke Smith has a won one of four Dairy Australia 2014 Manufacturing Scholarships.

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Posted by Sarah Vella on Feb 25 2014. Filed under Rural News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry