Martin Hartinger has now been with MEGGLE for a year and works in the Business Development & Research team.

On February 12th, 2021, Martin Hartinger passed his Rigorosum, the oral examination in the doctoral procedure.

We warmly congratulate him on his doctoral examination and are pleased that he answered a few questions about himself and his work at MEGGLE.

Mr. Hartinger, can you tell us something about the subject of your dissertation?

The topic was “Milk protein fractionation by spiral-wound membranes – optimization of process and module design”.

There are two common membrane types in the industry for the fractionation of milk proteins by microfiltration, the spiral-wound membrane and the ceramic membrane. While the ceramic membrane has excellent performance, it is also very expensive. My work focused on ways to improve the performance of the less expensive spiral-wound membranes to make them more competitive in the production of ideal whey by microfiltration of skim milk.

Where did you do your doctorate?

At the Chair of Food and Bioprocess Engineering of the Technical University of Munich.

And how long did you spend researching for your doctorate?

After my master’s degree, I worked as a research assistant at the Technical University of Munich. Since November 2015, I have been working on the topic for my doctoral thesis. So it was almost 5 years from the start of the research to the completion of my doctoral thesis in September 2020.

How much does your work over the last few years affect your current position? What did you personally learn from this time?

I think the doctorate teaches you very well how to efficiently approach new projects.

A year ago, I took the step from university to industry. Thus, it is a great challenge and experience to be able to translate theory to practice now.

What is your position at MEGGLE?

I work as a project manager for milk and whey processing in Business Development and Research.

How can we imagine your daily work routine?

My work is very diversified. I’m currently becoming familiar with a lot of processes in the company in order to gain an overall understanding of the correlations. That’s important because it can often lead to ideas for possible improvements.

For the most part, however, we work on current topics or questions about existing and upcoming products or processes.

In addition, we also plan and carry out our own pilot tests. If they are successful, they can possibly be scaled up to the industrial scale at a later date.

Why did you specialize in this sector? Is there a reason why you chose the dairy industry? 

I have always been very interested in the food industry. Originally, I did an apprenticeship in a small brewery. I went on to study at Weihenstephan, Technical University of Munich. So it is obvious that the university is very much focused on “milk”. My student research projects were also primarily about milk – therefore it gradually became clear that I wanted to specialize in this area.  For me, the product “milk” is still incredibly diverse and exciting.

 

Thank you very much for the exciting insights, Dr. Hartinger 😉

We are glad to have you as a colleague at MEGGLE and wish you only the best on your private and professional path!

 

Sincerely,

Your Marketing Team from the MEGGLE Business Unit Food Ingredients