2007 Alumni Achievement Award

Kamesh Ellajosyula is general manager of India Product Solution Centre for Rich Kwality Products, an international business venture of Rich Products Corporation of Buffalo, N.Y.

The recipient of several scholarships and research awards while at Penn State, Ellajosyula's thesis research on the destruction of gram-negative pathogens (E. coli and Salmonella) in fermented foods was used by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to craft new food safety regulations for the fermented meats industry. Ellajosyula's research showed that through the interaction of fermentation pH, heating temperature, and time, food-borne pathogens like Salmonella and E. coli bacteria would be destroyed in fermented sausage products.

Ellajosyula started with Rich Kwality Corporation as a food safety and stability scientist, was promoted to leadership roles with the Global Research and Development Management Office and the Supply Chain/Global Research and Development Office. Ellajosyula was recognized with Rich Product Corporation's "Wall of Fame Award" for breakthrough innovations to eliminate process problems, playing a key role in implementing multi-million dollar cost reduction initiatives, and establishing a stage gate review process for new product development.

Ellajosyula received a bachelor's degree from Andhra Pradesh Agriculture University in India in 1994, a master's degree in food science from Penn State in 1998, and a master's degree in business administration from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 2005. He has been a member of Gamma Sigma Delta, the agriculture honor society, since 1997 and Beta Gamma Sigma, the international business honor society, since 2005. In 2004, he was recognized with the College of Agricultural Sciences Outstanding Recent Alumni Award.