Bob Hanson followed a technical path in the meat industry, helping people solve thermal processing problems. The first step on this path was when Bob was a freshman at the University of Minnesota studying Agricultural Engineering Technology. He needed a part time job, and by chance, he found one at the university meat lab. He completed his engineering technology degree at Minnesota, but that random choice of a job at the meat lab ultimately led to graduate school in meat science at Iowa State University. For his Master’s degree, Bob built on his engineering education in thermodynamics to study heat and mass transfer during cooking. This thesis project led to a life-long fascination with thermal processing that continues to this day.

After graduating from Iowa State, Bob took a job with Alkar supporting its thermal processing ovens, and spent 19 years there helping develop new equipment and processes for Alkar customers worldwide. In 2006, Bob decided to start his own technical services company, HansonTech LLC, with the aim of providing unbiased, independent guidance on thermal processing to the meat industry across North America. HansonTech started out as a one-man show, but gradually expanded to include four process engineers all focused on designing thermal processes intended to meet the same three goals—ensuring food safety, optimizing quality, and maximizing production.

Along with field work, Bob has contributed to the advancement of thermal processing through presentations and demonstrations at scientific conferences, workshops, and industry short courses. He also authored or co-authored numerous scientific papers, trade articles, and book chapters on thermal processes and equipment. The methods he developed for thermal validation of ovens and cooking processes are used as standards across the industry today. Other contributions included developing a simple method of measuring smoke absorption, a new oven design that reduces color and temperature variation, an oven control system that uses both surface and internal temperatures to optimize processes, and a flash pasteurization process that surface pasteurizes products during packaging. To improve thermal processes, Bob pioneered the use of surface temperature measurement during cooking for insights into food safety, smoke absorption, color development, and defect reduction. This field work led to a collaborative project with the University of Wisconsin that resulted in a new method of surface pasteurization known as Hydrated Surface Lethality that is used across the industry today. His goal in all of this work was to help move the industry towards thermal processes based on first principles of process engineering instead of just intuition—problems are a lot easier to solve if you are measuring the right things.

Bob’s time at Iowa State was more than just academics. He was lucky to have landed there with a terrific group of students, staff, and professors that became mentors and lifelong friends. Bob met his wife, Wendy, at Ames, too, and she has been his confidant and refiner of crazy ideas ever since. Mention his daughters, Skye and Sage, and you’ll see an instant smile.

Bob’s contributions to the industry are recognized here by this induction into the Wisconsin Meat Industry Hall of Fame. Bob will tell you that one of the benefits of following a technical path is that you get to stay focused on what fascinates you, and you get to travel all over the world helping people solve problems. And the solution is always simple . . . once you find it.