From hand holes to vent holes: what’s next in innovative horticultural packaging?
Date
2011-02
Authors
Opara, Umezuruike Linus
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
Abstract
Umezuruike Linus Opara was born on 1 July 1961 in a rural subsistence
farming and hunting village, Umunam, in Imerienwe, Imo State, Nigeria,
where he lived and obtained his primary and secondary education. He attended
Upe/Umunam CMS (Anglican) Primary School, Upe Primary School and
Umunam Central Primary School, receiving most of the first three years of
classes in nearby rubber plantations, tree shades and other makeshift shelters
during the Nigerian Civil War. At the end of his primary education in 1974, he
baby-sat for one year before attending Owerri Grammar School, Imerienwe.
He completed the West African Examination Council School Certificate
examination in 1980 and won the annual Senior Essay Competition of the School
for his essay entitled 1980 – The year of changes, in which he prematurely and
naively predicted a sudden end of apartheid in South Africa. After high school,
he travelled to northern Nigeria and joined his parents in Yola, the capital city
of present day Adamawa State in Nigeria, where he worked for two years at
UTC (Nig.) Ltd, rising from the position of Sales Assistant to First Sales/Storekeeper. During this
period, he used his weekends for self-study and in 1982 sat as an external candidate and passed
both the General Certificate of Education examination and the Joint Admissions and Matriculation
Board examination, and gained admission to study Agricultural Engineering at the University of
Nigeria, Nsukka, in the same year.
Based on his first-year results, he was awarded the University of Nigeria Foundation
Undergraduate Scholarship for Academic Merit in 1983, which he successfully retained throughout
his undergraduate studies. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Engineering in 1987
with first-class honours (cum laude) and received the Department Prize for Best Graduating Student.
He was an elected member of the University of Nigeria Students Union Senate (Upper House) and
president of the National Association of Ngor-Okpala Local Government Students. In December
1987, he was awarded the prestigious Prize for Academic Excellence by the Mezie Owerri national
community development organisation in Nigeria. For his National Youth Service Corps assignment,
he spent one year as agricultural engineer at the National Centre for Agricultural Mechanization,
Ilorin. He returned to the University of Nigeria in 1988 with a Federal Government Postgraduate
Scholarship and completed his master’s degree in Agricultural Engineering (cum laude) in record
time in 1989. The results of his BEng honours thesis on Nomograph models for selective agricultural
mechanization and his MEng thesis on Computer-aided model for selective agricultural mechanization
(CAM-SAM) provided major inputs for the Agricultural Mechanization Study component of the
1989–2004 National Agricultural Development Strategy of Nigeria, of which he was co-leading
author with the late Prof UGN Anazodo and Dr Taiwo Abimbola.
In 1988 he was awarded a New Zealand University Grant’s Committee PhD Scholarship reserved
for local students who made first class. He commenced his PhD studies in Agricultural Engineering
3
4
at Massey University 1990 and completed in 1993. His dissertation on Studies on stem-end splitting in
apples under the supervision of Prof Cliff Studman and Prof Nigel Banks provided the first scientific
evidence linking the development of stem-end splitting with a precursor internal ring-cracking.
Through the combination of engineering knowledge of the physico-chemical properties of fruit and
horticultural science, industry guidelines were developed and disseminated on practical measures
to predict and reduce the incidence of fruit-splitting damage. He subsequently held the position of
postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Agricultural Engineering from 1993 to 1994.
He joined Lincoln Technology in Hamilton briefly as Postharvest Research Engineer but returned
to Massey in 1995 as lecturer in Postharvest Engineering, was promoted to senior lecturer in 1999
and to program director for Engineering Technology in 2001, and was a founding member of the
Centre for Postharvest and Refrigeration Research. He held several management and administrative
positions, including that of coordinator of the Agricultural Engineering programme and coordinator
of the BApplSc (General) programme. In 1993 he was awarded the inaugural Dean’s Prize for
Meritorious Contributions to the Affairs of the Faculty of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences.
He was an elected member of the Massey University Governing Council (1993–1997),
representing all internal and extramural students, and served on several council committees, panels
and other university-wide committees, including the University Disciplinary Appeals Committee,
chaired by the chancellor, and the panel for the appointment of a new vice-chancellor (1994–
1995). He was also the residential community coordinator (1995–2001) responsible for mentoring
and overseeing the welfare of students living in on-campus university accommodation. He was
executive committee member of the Africa Association of New Zealand, president of the African
Students Association, elected member of the Massey University Students’ Association Executive,
and president of International Students.
He is a chartered engineer (UK), currently chair of Section VI: Postharvest Technology and
Process Engineering and executive committee member of the International Commission of
Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (CIGR), vice-chair of the Roots and Tuber section of
the International Society for Horticultural Science, section chair for Engineering and Information
Technology of the International Society for Food, Agriculture and Environment, and former vicepresident
(Postharvest Technology and Biotechnology) of the Asian Association for Agricultural
Engineering (AAAE). He is a life member of the AAAE and the American Society of Agricultural and
Biological Engineers, and member of several international and national scientific societies. At the
80th anniversary of the CIGR and the World Congress in Quebec in 2010, he received the CIGR
Presidential Citation for significant contributions to the advancement of agricultural engineering
in Africa.
He is founding editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Postharvest Technology and Innovation
and member of the editorial board and regular reviewer for several international peer-reviewed
journals. He has published over 60 articles in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters, co-edited
three special issues of the International Journal of Engineering Education documenting recent advances
in agricultural and biological engineering education, was the editor of two conference proceedings
and made over 150 oral presentations at international conferences, including keynotes and invited
lectures.
Prior to joining Stellenbosch University, he worked at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman (2002–
2008), where he held the positions of associate professor of Agricultural Engineering, director of the
Agricultural Experiment Station, assistant dean for Postgraduate Studies and Research, and acting
dean during summer periods. During this period, he also developed a new research programme
and courses in postharvest technology and received the university’s Distinguished Researcher
Award in 2006. He also served in many university and national policy and advisory committees,
including the university’s Academic Council (Senate), he was a member of the University Quality
Audit Committee, which prepared the first quality audit report, and is a certified quality auditor of
the Oman Accreditation Council.
He is active in the international development arena, serving as visiting expert on postharvest
technology at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United
Nations (UN) in Rome (2000–2001), agricultural mechanisation expert in Iraq for the FAO/UN
(2001–2002), FAO expert panel on microbial safety of green leafy vegetables (2008), FAO expert
on postharvest and marketing systems and member of the technical panel that developed an
agricultural development strategy for Timor-Leste (2009) as well as a member of the International
Advisory Board of the USAID Horticulture Collaborative Research Support Program (Hort CRSP).
Prof Opara holds the South African Research Chair in Postharvest Technology at Stellenbosch
University, and his current research programmes focus on cold chain technologies, non-destructive
technologies for quality measurement and mapping and reducing postharvest food losses.
He is married to Gina and has two daughters, Ijeoma (15) and Okaraonyemma (13), who both
enjoy playing the piano and watching their dad play football.
Description
Inaugural lecture delivered on 2 February 2011.
Keywords
Agricultural development, Horticulture -- Packaging
Citation
Opara, U. L. 2011. From hand holes to vent holes: what’s next in innovative horticultural packaging? Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch University, South Africa.