First SensorFINT workshop held in Porto

The first SensorFINT International Workshop of the COST Action 19145 “European Network for assuring food integrity using non-destructive spectral sensors” was hosted by the Faculty of Biotechnology of Universidade Cat olica Portuguesa, in Porto, on 30 September and 1 October 2021 (https://www. porto.ucp.pt/pt/sensorFINT2021). The workshop, which took place in a hybrid format, welcomed a total of 127 participants from 38 nations, with 57% attending in person and 43% online (Figure 1). See more details in our photo gallery (https://www.sensor fint.eu/2021/10/05/1st-sensorfint-international-worksh op-porto-photo-gallery/). The event, entitled “Smart Spectral Sensors for Agri-Food Quality and Process Control,” aimed to stimulate the interaction between a range of stakeholders with particular attention paid to highlighting the opportunities for including NIR sensors as a key part of the on-going digital transformation in food industries. In that regard, the event included several showcases from industry both from equipment manufacturers including Perkin Elmer and Bruker, industrial service providers such as AUNIR, and industrial endusers such as Barilla (Figure 2). From the local agrofood industrial ecosystem, and very importantly, the active presence of Portugal Foods, a federation of the majority of food companies in Portugal, deserves to be highlighted. The event counted also with Hamamatsu, EndressþHauser, and Siroco (mechatronics) as sponsors and active participants. The scientific programme included 16 oral and 36 poster presentations, which were articulated around three main topics. The first, “Smart Sensors in AgroFood,” covering the state of the art and the new domains of application, demonstrated the big advances that have been observed with the application of NIRS in the agri-food production process aiming to assure food integrity. The second topic covered the “Current Challenges in Process Control (PAT) for Food Analysis,” with the requirements for accuracy and sensitivity as well as calibration transferability between different devices being popular subjects. The Figure 2. Session dedicated to companies. Figure 1. Group photo in the First SensorFINT Workshop in Porto.