By Nitipol Kiravanich
June 20, 2022 — Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) Alumna Prof. Nguyen Minh Thuy received the 2021 Kovalevskaya Award (a prestigious annual award for female scientists with excellent research achievements in applied sciences) for her career contributions to Vietnam’s national development and scientific community.
The Kovalevskaya Award was named after Sofia Kovalevskaya (1850-1891: One of the first prominent Russian female mathematicians), who made significant contributions to mathematics, physics, chemistry, agriculture, healthcare, and information technology, and over the last 36 years, the award has honored 50 female scientists and 21 groups. This year the awarding ceremony was held on May 19 by the Vietnam Women’s Union Central Committee to celebrate the 130th birthday anniversary of late President Ho Chi Minh.
In addition, the Vietnam Kovalevskaya Award Committee was founded in 1985 and is headed by Ms. Nguyen Thi Binh, former vice president of Vietnam; which is the first national award for female scientists — also the first national award for female scientists.
Prof. Nguyen Minh Thuy is an AIT Alumna who earned her Master’s Degree in Post-Harvest Technology (class of 1992) and received a Ph.D. in Food Technology at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven) in Belgium in 2007. Upon receiving this prestigious national award, she responded this is considered the highest award in her scientific career. She is a renowned researcher and scientist with a specialism in Food Technology, Food Processing, Food Quality, Food Security, and Nutrition — and a lifelong contributor to propelling Vietnam’s economy and society through scientific approaches.
“Awards are always a sign of real recognition for one’s achievements. I feel very honored to receive the Kovalevskaya Prize in 2021, which can be considered the highest award in my scientific research life”, Prof. Minh Thuy highlighted.
This award also portrays the support and improvement of Vietnam’s female scientists in elevating economic values in the country. The AIT Alumna Prof. Minh Thuy here pointed out, “I find it meaningful; I have accompanied the development of Vietnamese science and affirmed the role of female scientists in research and application to bring economic values to the country. The more I realize my role and responsibilities in research work, the more I see the need to support the improvement of the quality of high-quality female human resources in the whole country, especially in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam”.
A Degree at AIT Lays Foundations to Her Thoughts and Career Development
In 1991, Prof. Minh Thuy enrolled at AIT for her Master’s in Post-Harvesting Technology (advised by Prof. Athapol Noomhorm). She vividly recalled how AIT taught her the fundamentals and importance of Post-Harvesting Technology — that it is “a source of life of each country,” particularly minimizing the loss of quality and quantity of agricultural products.
At AIT, she learned the critical issues of food shortages that many countries encountered. From her perspective, in low-income countries, when faced with food shortages, post-harvest losses are a matter of greater concern. All foods are fresh when harvested; however, they will gradually enter the stage of spoilage. “I had thoughts on how to keep them longer when the people in my country still don’t have enough to eat, so we can’t waste that food source,” the AIT Alumna explained her thoughts to solve the issue of food security.
Therefore, in 1992, she returned to Vietnam and began focusing on the group of local specialty ingredients, especially in the Mekong Delta. Establishing her research focuses on capitalizing on the quality of ingredients; at the same time using local specialties with two parallel activities; preserving raw materials for fresh use and processing products to convert them into value-added products from specialty sources in localities throughout the country; and increasing farmers’ incomes and helping them improve their quality of life.
“I can say that AIT is the starting place for my research directions,” Prof. Minh Thuy emphasized how AIT shaped her research career.
In 2013, Prof. Minh Thuy had the opportunity to visit and walk through her memory lane at AIT, where she reunited with her advisor Prof. Athapol Noomhorm.
Encouragement to Young Applied Sciences Scientists
Prof. Minh Thuy believes scientific research plays a crucial role in universities and higher education. From the contribution to promoting the development of high-quality human resources to meeting the requirements of the industrial revolution and international integration — when participating in scientific research, students and lecturers will be more confident in organizing activities, developing creative thinking, and accumulating experience and practice skills.
She further elucidated that although scientific research still has many challenges, scientific research is borderless.
“We can completely achieve certain successes when we have enough faith, determination, and maintain a passion for scientific research. And I also want to say to everyone to be passionate, to work hard, push yourself (and your team) to ensure that you’ve reached your ultimate potential and be persistent, you will also find success and triumph”, Prof. Minh Thuy encouraged.
Her Next Goal in Developing Technologies for Different Individuals
Her journey continues from being a renowned scientist to receiving the Kovalevskaya Award. Prof. Minh Thuy is now eyeing to continue research on local specialties. Her current and upcoming research will focus on developing technologies to process nutritional products for different audiences in the community. From combining plant and animal sources to creating a balance of energy and nutritional value, she explained the products designed here would be convenient and fast service. They will improve resistance, increase the body’s immunity, prevent diseases, and even support patients during the recovery period —especially when the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic situation is still present and protracted.
“Food coloring is increasingly used quite commonly in food processing and production. However, most consumers do not distinguish between harmless and harmful food coloring”, Prof. Minh Thuy warned. Nonetheless, she will work on extracting natural color compounds, bioactive compounds, and phytonutrients from fruits and vegetables with beautiful colors by new techniques.
“Synthetic pigments, if used regularly or in high concentrations, can be hazardous to human health. Our research activities help people have the right awareness and understanding of natural colors inherent in diverse food sources in the country. It supports households and production facilities to use safe, natural sources of colorants in processing commercial products,” Prof. Minh Thuy concluded.
Prof. Minh Thuy is currently a Professor at Can Tho University, Department of Food Technology.
