Dr Mel Holmes
- Position: Associate Professor of Food Processing
- Areas of expertise: mathematical modelling; partial differential equations; ultrasonics; Monte Carlo simulations; risk and exposure assessments; statistical and sensory analysis; food processing; new product development.
- Email: prcmjh@leeds.ac.uk
- Phone: +44(0)113 343 7594
Research interests
My primary research interests lie in the use of partial and ordinary differential equations to model physical systems, for example, heat transfer during processing methods, electromagnetic microwave models and thermoacoustics and using the models to gain an insight into the complex interactions that occur in real systems. Solutions to these problems may be obtained both analytically and numerically and validation achieved by comparison with appropriate experimental results.
I also am interested in Monte Carlo models and other statistical techniques to utilise dietary data to conduct exposure assessments from contaminants. This involves using large datasets such as National Dietary and Nutrition Surveys (NDNS) and specifically conducted dietary surveys in addition to appropriate concentration data relating to the target compound.
Some current areas of research include:
- Modelling and measurement of ultrasound propagation through emulsions
- Ultrasonic characterisation of the bulk viscosity of fluids
- Probabilistic dietary exposure assessments
- Mathematical modelling of physical systems relating to food related topics
Qualifications
- PhD Applied Mathematics
- BSc (Hon) Mathematics
Professional memberships
- FHEA
Research groups and institutes
- Food Colloids and Processing
- Food Colloids and Soft Matter at Interfaces
- Novel Food Design and Processing
- Theoretical Modelling and Simulation
- Food safety, food security and global health