Lisa Antonetti-Ruggiero: An enriching intercultural experience in the food technology laboratory

Lisa Antonetti-Ruggiero is an exchange student from Institute Agro Dijon, France who shared her feedback after her internship at HUST. She stayed in HUST for one semester from March to August 2023, and joined the Food Technology Lab under the supervision of Assoc. Prof. Luong Hong Nga. Her research title: Study on some factors affecting the formation of slowly digestible starch (SDS) from rice

With a warm welcome from most members of the university, I completed a 5-month internship in the C4 building.

Mrs. Nga Luong Hong took me under her wing during this period, and I really enjoyed the conversations with her and the convivial time spent cooking in her home. She has a lovely daughter.

Both inside and outside the laboratory, the Vietnamese were always ready to help and integrate me as much as possible. We all made Vietnamese foods together, and I was able to learn the processes involved, such as tofu and Vietnamese bread. Factory visits enabled me to learn more about the Vietnamese food industry system.

Although the laboratory is equipped with less modern means than those I was familiar with, I had a good time and acquired more in-depth knowledge about starch. I gave a presentation at the end of my stay, which enabled me to pass on my work and results to all the researchers in the department. I’d like to thank once again all the people who welcomed me from March to August, and it’s with nostalgia that I’m going back to France.