After a defeat in the final round by University of Minnesota, Iowa State’s Food Sciences Club is ready for revenge in this year’s North Central Regional Institute of Food Technologists College Bowl.

The team will have the home-campus advantage, with five to seven other universities arriving on campus for the contest Friday evening.

After check-in, participants will be able to interact with other contestants and exchange ideas about current issues. Saturday morning will begin with a tour of the Center for Crop Utilization and Research and the Center for Designing Food to Improve Technology, followed by a short program featuring Charles Hurburgh, professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering, about genetically modified organisms.

Hurburgh, manager of the ISU Grain Quality Research Laboratory, will focus much of his discussion on the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision regarding the StarLink corn issue.

After a catered lunch and a short break, participants will contest other student’s knowledge on food chemistry, microbiology, food laws, current issues and food processing beginning at 2 p.m. in 1951 Food Sciences Building, said Stanley Prawiradjaja, co-chair for the college bowl.

Four-member teams will see who has the quickest fingers to buzz in the answers to hundreds of questions during the nearly five-hour competition. David Stevenson, graduate assistant in food science and human nutrition, is the only returning team member from last year’s defeat. He has been helping the three undergraduates on his current team.

“I’ve learned a lot from Dave,” said Maria McKean, senior in food science. “He’s been helpful by telling us the tricks of the trade.”

Stevenson knows many of the mistakes his team made last year and has a good feeling of what to expect this year.

“There’s quite a crowd that’s watching,” he said. “It’s hard anticipating what the answers are going to be.”

Tien Vinh, co-chair for the college bowl, said Stevenson is amazing. “He’s pushing the button before the question’s even finished,” said Vinh, senior in food science.

Mark Love, associate professor of food science and human nutrition, is beginning to see more eagerness from the club as the competition nears.

“The Food Sciences Club has been a miraculous creation of good leadership and wide-based student involvement,” he said. “We have a good strong team for the college bowl who’ve put forth a lot of good effort.”

The team formed prior to winter break, and many interested students spent their vacations studying packets of old questions and current issues. “We choose by those who volunteer and persevere,” Love said.

Each week during the spring semester, team members meet Monday afternoons to enhance their knowledge for the competition. “We also have a practice run against faculty,” Stevenson said. “This is helpful because it has helped me settle down for the real competition.”

Vinh said the team really wants to win. “I think it will be a fun, friendly competition,” she said. “If anything, it’s going to be fun because we’re really going to be going all out to win this year.”

Prawiradjaja, graduate student in food science and human nutrition, said he is also looking forward to the weekend.

“I expect things to go well and that people will enjoy coming to Iowa State and looking at the various food sciences facilities,” he said, adding, “we will beat Minnesota.”