Nnenna Ariakpomu
- Email: fs17ncu@leeds.ac.uk
- Thesis title: Application of Rasch Analysis in Sensory Difference Testing
- Supervisor: Dr Peter Ho, Dr Melvin Holmes
Profile
Nnenna Ariakpomu is a postgraduate researcher at the School of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Leeds. Her research focuses on optimising sensory testing and consumer insights for food quality management, aiming to enhance actionable insights that guide product development and improve overall user experiences. Currently, she is developing a framework for measuring product differences using Many-Facet Rasch Models.
Before joining the University of Leeds for her PhD, she spent five years lecturing in Food Processing and Product Development, Food Plant Design, and Sensory Evaluation of Foods at Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Nigeria. She is committed to bridging the gap between academia and industry applications through design thinking and translational research.
She holds a BSc in Food Science and Technology from Michael Okpara University of Agriculture and an MSc in Food Quality and Innovation from the University of Leeds. In 2022, she began her PhD at the University of Leeds, funded by the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK.
Research interests
My areas of interest include:
- Food innovation & product development
- Sensory evaluation & consumer research
- Process optimisation & systems design
- AI & data-driven decision making
- Consumer insights
Qualifications
- MSc Food Quality and Innovation
- BSc Food Science and Technology