Dmitriy Yarmarkin, alumnus of the Department of Food Technology and Biotechnology of the SUSU School of Medical Biology, spoke on how he made sausages and dairy products at classes, how the obtained knowledge became useful in career and life, and what makes him proud of the profession he had chosen.
What brought you to the Department of Food Technology and Biotechnology of South Ural State University?
I chose this department deliberately. Food production will always be a priority industry that develops every year: state-of-the-art technologies, innovative products that set a new level of development for the modern market are introduced. SUSU is one of the most advanced and technologically-savvy universities in the Chelyabinsk Region with creative academic staff, so the question "Where to study?" did not arise.
What are the most memorable moments of the educational process?
After some time one can see only positive sides of it: all disciplines were of use not only in the future professional activity but also in everyday life, for example, when I am buying products in a store I always evaluate their quality. During the laboratory classes we used to make semi-finished meat products, sausages, fermented milk products, cheese, and learnt about the meat products manufacture technology itself. Moreover, we designed production departments and calculated the cost of equipment. We were kept busy during each class. Everything was done with great enthusiasm, only good memories remain.
What do you do at the moment, and what are your professional responsibilities?
I am working as a part-time technologist at OOO Fabrika Uralskie Pelmeni. My responsibilities include providing control over the meat products manufacture, planning the raw materials consumption for semi-finished meat products manufacture, controlling their quality, everyday sampling of the finished products, and experimental development of new recipes and names.
Are there any career growth perspectives?
Sure. Knowing the production technology one can learn almost everything. Working as a part-time technologist one can later become senior or chief technologist, production manager or take on any other managerial job.
Do you have any regrets that you chose this career?
My job is really interesting but requires responsibility and great commitment. Sometimes, the thoughts like “I chose a wrong profession” do come to my mind. But I get rid of them real fast when I do experimental development, fixing defects in production, or launching new equipment, and see the positive result in the form of the appearance of a new product on the market. As a whole, that makes you feel proud for the profession that you chose.