Vici Thahir

Vici Thahir is currently a graduate student in Food Science at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.  She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Food Science from the University of California, Davis, where she researched the characterization of olive oil quality.  After obtaining her Bachelor’s degree, Vici worked at alternative protein startups in the San Francisco Bay Area.  She worked as a food formulation scientist at Air Protein, where she developed benchtop prototypes of dairy and meat alternatives using novel microbial protein.  She also worked as a production technician at SIMULATE, where she was involved in the pilot-scale production of plant-based whole muscle chicken breast using fiber-spinning technologies.

Vici‘s current research focuses on flavor retention in high-protein dairy systems. Her research leverages lipid, analytical, and flavor chemistry to develop processing strategies that retain the intrinsic milk flavor and minimize off-flavors in high-protein dairy systems.  With the growing demand for high-protein products, her research aims to lay the foundation for developing high-quality dairy ingredients that are both nutritious and aligned with consumer flavor preferences.

With her passion for flavor and analytical chemistry, Vici hopes to become a flavor chemist who combines scientific rigor and creativity to address real-world challenges in flavor innovation and ingredient development.  She is passionate about elevating food experiences that put consumer enjoyment at the forefront.