The Laboratory of Process Analysis and Design (LPAD) at the School of
Chemical Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens
(NTUA) is one of the oldest laboratories of the School, with a
continuous contribution to education and research since its foundation
in 1908. With more than two decades of expertise in product development
and process integration, LPAD has evolved into a leading research unit
equipped to simulate and integrate a wide range of state-of-the-art
industrial processes. The laboratory has actively participated in more
than 400 national and international research and educational projects,
consistently delivering innovative solutions and high-impact results in
chemical engineering. LPAD focuses on developing novel functional food
products, including their design, quality, sensory evaluation, and
shelf-life assessment. It also creates toolboxes and user-friendly
databases for food properties and processing, data analysis, and
mathematical modeling of physical and thermophysical processes. The
laboratory conducts experimental studies on industrial operations such
as drying, extraction, and encapsulation, supports process scale-up, and
promotes the valorization of food waste and by-products. Additional
activities include recovering functional compounds from natural sources
like plants and algae, in vitro digestion studies, and life cycle
assessment to evaluate processes and products’ economic and
environmental impacts. The laboratory hosts a multidisciplinary team of
two professors, three administrative staff members, ten postdoctoral
researchers, twenty PhD students, and ten external collaborators. With
more than 200 publications in peer-reviewed journals, over 7,200
citations, and an H-index of 48, LPAD has established a strong presence
in the international scientific community.