TIES Phase I Project at UGA
Universidad Veracruzana-University of Georgia:
A Partnership for Rural Economic, Educational, and Human Capital Development

	Diana Santiago conducting sensory evaluation of fortified tortillas at Pinewood Estates Community Learning Center.

On May 9, 2009, Diana Iris Santiago San Martin graduated with a Master's degree in Food Science and Technology under the direction of professors Yao-Wen Huang, William Kerr, and Ronald R. Eitenmiller. Diana's thesis, "Evaluation of corn tortillas fortified with whole and partially defatted flax meal," focused on strengthening the protein content of a basic food item in the Mexican diet. Diana is the seventh scholarship recipient to graduate under the Training Internships Exchanges and Scholarships (TIES) project entitled Universidad Veracruzana-University of Georgia: A Partnership for Rural Economic, Educational and Human Capital Development. In addition to her coursework and research at the University of Georgia, Diana participated in the Learn & Serve Hispanic Healthcare Pilot Program in Pinewoods Estates North coordinated by the Office of International Public Service and Outreach.

SEE ALSO
	• Ties I Project

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funds over 60 TIES partnerships linking universities and institutions of higher education in the U.S. and Mexico. Higher Education for Development (HED) in Washington DC administers the TIES program for USAID. The U.S. Agency for International Development has provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for more than 40 years. For more information on USAID, visit www.usaid.gov.

HED engages the resources of higher education institutions in the United States and abroad for global social and economic development through human and institutional capacity building. HED assists the nation's six major higher education associations and their members in partnering with USAID, as well as other development agencies and donor organizations. For more information about HED, please visit www.HEDprogram.org.

Diana Santiago San Martin's sensory evaluation notice (in Spanish). Diana conducted her tortilla taste test survey at Pinewood Estates North, a predominantly Hispanic community, as part of her thesis research in the Department of Food Science and Technoloty.		Alex Arrington carries a try of fortified tortillas samples to the first panelist for sensory evaluation.
TIES students from three different projects celebrate completion of the sensory evaluation panel data collection at Pinewoods Estates in February 2009.		Diana Santiago San Martin, third from left, poses with TIES II grad students Max Vazquez Dominguez and Cintia Ortiz Blanco, Dr. Martha Allexshat-Snider, Associate Professor, and TIES II grad students Bertha Rodriguez Vazquez and Alejandro Arrington Baez, at the UGA commencement.