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Yiming Feng

Assistant Professor
  • Extension Specialist
Yiming Feng, Department of Biological Systems Engineering Faculty
Virginia Seafood Agricultural Research and Extension Center

Dr. Yiming Feng’s group is actively recruiting a PhD student starting Spring/Fall 2025. If you are interested, please email your CV to yimingfeng@vt.edu. Students with materials engineering, sensing, imaging processing and hardware control experience are preferred.

Education

Ph.D., Food Science and Human Nutrition, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

B.S., Food Science and Human Nutrition, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Experince 

Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist, Virginia Tech, 2023

Assistant Professor in Food Engineering, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, 2021-2023

Postdoctoral Associate, Virginia Tech, 2018-2021

Awards

Food Processing Operations 

Introducaton to Principals of Food Engineering

Food Quality Assurance 

Advanced Food Processing

Senior Design Project

The main research areas are agricutural and seafood waste upcycling, quality and safety sensing of seasfood products and thermal process validation and simulation. 

  1. Zhong, C., Feng, Y*., & Xu, Y*. (2023). Production of Fish Analogues from Plant Proteins: Potential Strategies, Challenges, and Outlook. Foods, 12(3), 614.
  2. Su, X., Xu, Y., Xu, Z., Hurley, K., Feng, Y*., & Yin, Y*. (2023). Encapsulation of hop (Humulus lupulus L.) essential oil for controlled release in the non-alcoholic beverage application. Food Hydrocolloids, 134, 108039.
  3. Jin, Q., Tao, L., Feng, Y., Xia, D., Spiering, G. A., Hu, A., ... & Huang, H. (2022). Agricultural Wastes for Full-Cell Sodium-Ion Batteries: Engineering Biomass Components to Maximize the Performance and Economic Prospects. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering.
  4. Guo, H., Feng, Y., Deng, Y., Yan, T., Liang, Z., Zhou, Y., Zhang, W., Xu, E., Liu, D. and Wang, W., (2022). Continuous flow modulates zein nanoprecipitation solvent environment to obtain colloidal particles with high curcumin loading. Food Hydrocolloids, 108089.
  5. Feng, J., Zhang, J., Ma, Y., Feng, Y., Wang, S., Guo, N., Wang, H., Wang, P., Jiménez-Bonilla, P., Gu, Y., Zhou, J., Zhang, Z., Cao, M., Jiang, D., Wang, S., Liu, X., Shao, Z., Borovok, I., Huang, H., Wang, Y. (2021) Renewable Fatty Acid Ester Production in Clostridium. Nature Communications 12(1), 1-13.
  6. Feng, Y., Yu, D., Lin, T., Jin, Q., Wu, J., Chen, C., & Huang, H. Complexing hemp seed protein with pectin for improved emulsion stability. Journal of Food Science. 2021,1–11. (Featured by IFT)
  7. Tao, L., Hu, A., Mu, L., Kautz, D., Xu, Z., Feng, Y., Huang, H., Lin, F. (2021) A Self-sodiophilic Carbon Host Promotes the Cyclability of Sodium Anode. Advanced Functional Materials, 31 (9), 2007556
  8. Wang, W., Feng, Y., Chen, W., Adie, K., Liu, D., & Yin, Y. (2021). Citrus pectin modified by microfluidization and ultrasonication: Improved emulsifying and encapsulation properties. Ultrasonics Sonochemistry, 70, 105322.
  9. Feng, Y., Tao, L., Zheng, Z., Huang, H., & Lin, F. (2020). Upgrading agricultural biomass for sustainable energy storage: Bioprocessing, electrochemistry, mechanism. Energy Storage Materials, 31, 274-309.
  10. Jin, Q., Wang, Z., Feng, Y., Kim, Y. T., Stewart, A. C., O'Keefe, S. F., ... & Huang, H. (2020). Grape pomace and its secondary waste management: Biochar production for a broad range of lead (Pb) removal from water. Environmental Research, 109442.
  11. Zhang, D., Feng, Y., Huang, H., Khunjar, W., & Wang, Z. W. (2020). Recalcitrant dissolved organic nitrogen formation in thermal hydrolysis pretreatment of municipal sludge. Environment International, 138, 105629.
  12. Feng, Y., Tao, L., He, Y., Jin, Q., Zheng, Y., Hou, Q., Zheng, Z., Lin, F., Huang, H. (2019). Chemical-enzymatic fractionation to unlock the potential of biomass-derived carbon materials for sodium ion batteries. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 7(47), 26954-26965.
  13. Wang, W*., Feng, Y.*, Chen, W., Wilder, G., Liu, D., Yin, Y. (2019) Ultrasonic modification of pectin for enhanced 2-furfurylthiol encapsulation: process optimization and mechanisms. Journal of the science of food and agriculture
  14. Feng, Y., Ibarra-Sánchez, L. A., Luu, L., Miller, M. J., & Lee, Y. (2019). Co-assembly of nisin and zein in microfluidics for enhanced antilisterial activity in Queso Fresco. LWT - Food Science & Technology, 111, 355-362.
  15. Li, X., Feng, Y., Ting, S., Jiang, J., & Liu, Y. (2019). Correlating emulsion properties to microencapsulation efficacy and nutrients retention in mixed proteins system. Food Research International, 115, 44-53.
  16. Feng, Y., & Lee, Y. (2019). Microfluidic assembly of food-grade delivery systems: toward functional delivery structure design. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 86, 465-478.
  17. Li, X., Feng, Y., Ting, S., Jiang, J., & Liu, Y. (2019). Effect of processing conditions on the physiochemical properties and nutrients retention of spray-dried microcapsules using mixed protein system. CyTA-Journal of Food, 17(1), 25-35.
  18. Feng, Y., & Lee, Y. (2019). Microfluidic fabrication of wrinkled protein microcapsules and their nanomechanical properties affected by protein secondary structure. Journal of Food Engineering, 246, 102-110.
  19. Li, X., Chen, W., Jiang, J., Feng, Y., Yin, Y., & Liu, Y. (2019). Functionality of dairy proteins and vegetable proteins in nutritional supplement powders: a review. International Food Research Journal, 26(6).
  20. Feng, Y., Albiol Tapia, M., Okada, K., Castaneda Lazo, N. B., Chapman‐Novakofski, K., Phillips, C., & Lee, S. Y. (2018). Consumer Acceptance Comparison Between Seasoned and Unseasoned Vegetables. Journal of Food Science, 83(2), 446-453.
  21. Wang, W., Wang, L., Feng, Y., Pu, Y., Ding, T., Ye, X., & Liu, D. (2018). Ultrasound-assisted lye peeling of peach and comparison with conventional methods. Innovative Food Science & Emerging Technologies, 47, 204-213.
  22. Feng, Y., & Lee, Y. (2017). Microfluidic fabrication of hollow protein microcapsules for rate-controlled release. RSC Advances, 7(78), 49455-49462.
  23. Olenskyj, A. G., Feng, Y., & Lee, Y. (2017). Continuous microfluidic production of zein nanoparticles and correlation of particle size with physical parameters determined using CFD simulation. Journal of Food Engineering, 211, 50-59.
  24. Feng, Y., & Lee, Y. (2016). Surface modification of zein colloidal particles with sodium caseinate to stabilize oil-in-water Pickering emulsion. Food Hydrocolloids, 56, 292-302.
  25. Feng, Y., & Lee, Y. (2014). Effect of specific mechanical energy on in-vitro digestion and physical properties of extruded rice-based snacks. Food and Nutrition Sciences, 5(19), 1818-1827.

BOOK CHAPTERS

  1. Feng, Y. Liu, X., Lee, Y. (2021) Chapter 3: Designing food structure using microfluidics. Food Structure and Functionality, Elsevier
  2. Feng, Y. Killer, S., Lee, Y. (2020) Chapter 7: ζ-potential: origin, principals, measurements, and applications. Nanoencapsulation in the Food Industry, Elsevier

Hyperspectral imaging for the real-time detection of microplastic particles in seasfoods, $30,000 (4-VA Collaborative Research Grant, 2023-2024, PI)

Comprehensive Utilization of Olive Byproduct for Improved Economic Feasibility and Environmental Sustainability, $435,282 (USDA-SCBGP, 2022-2025, site PI)