Course Topics
Elements of energy and basic concepts for understanding plants. Electrical energy: basic concepts and distribution networks. Refrigeration systems: the refrigeration cycle, system components, types. Food preservation and air conditioning systems: Mollier diagram, main quantities. Elements of energy balances, carbon footprint and environmental certifications. Hints on environmental impacts and sustainability. Smart catering and enabling technologies. Elements of technical-economic choice of plants: definition of industrial plant applied to catering, fixed costs and variable costs, economic indices for evaluating the performance of a plant. The Food Cost. Design and management: methodological criteria and input and output elements of a catering project. Integrated design: safety-hygiene-environment. The premises for mountain catering: the kitchen, consumption premises, service premises. Influence of food destination and organisation of spaces. Types of lay-out: restaurants, canteens, self-service. Analysis of cases. Lay-out analysis techniques. The concept of hygienic design of equipment: reference standards, application concepts, food contact materials. The main equipment in catering: definition, sizing, powers. Waste management systems. Elements of logistics and procurement. Food distribution: internal handling systems. (systems, flows, influences on lay-out). Food distribution: external handling systems (procurement, distribution); vending machines. Modelling logistics systems for the catering industry: logistics and storage systems. IT solutions.

Propaedeutic courses
None

Teaching format
Lectures, numerical exercises and development of a project.

Educational objectives
The course falls within the integrative related area as it allows the student to grasp some engineering aspects necessary for the management of mountain restaurants. The teaching aims to provide professional knowledge on the sizing criteria of systems and equipment for mountain catering, with particular regard to the main regulations on the safety of systems and equipment. Another main objective is to analyze the logistics models used in the catering sector with the aim of optimizing supply.

Additional educational objectives and learning outcomes
Students, after following the course, will be able to: 1. Identify (both qualitatively and quantitatively) the management and design elements required for a mountain restaurant structure. 2. Know the different layouts and equipment for mountain catering 3. Know how to apply (problem solving) quantitative methods for the management and design of mountain catering establishments. 4. They will have acquired the ability to work in a team following a project to be developed. 5. They will be able to assess the functionality of mountain restaurant facilities 6. They will be able to describe catering facilities by identifying the flows of materials and people. 7. They will have acquired the ability to represent a mountain restaurant facility in a simplified manner.

Assessment
Written and project work: 1) Written with numerical exercises and test questions on the course programme. There will be two intermediate tests on the partial programme or, alternatively, a single written test on the entire programme at the end of the course. 2) Students will then be divided into groups (max. 4 people per group) and will be assigned a project topic (project work) that they will have to develop and present to the lecturer.

Evaluation criteria
The grade is the sum of the two parts of the examination: - The written test contributes 80% to the overall grade; - The project contributes 20% to the overall grade. The criteria adopted are: - Written test: the correctness of the execution of the exercises (problem solving) clarity of the answers and the property of language, the ability to synthesise, the argumentative pertinence and the relevance of the topics dealt with are assessed; - Project: the ability to collaborate, the creative ability and critical originality, the ability to rework are assessed.

Required readings

Material distributed and recommended in class.

Text: A. Montanari -Progettare la Ristorazione Professionale - Tecniche Nuove.

Supplementary readings

AA. Professional Kitchens, FCSI - HUSSB.Milson, D. Kirk - Principles of design and operation of catering equipment - Ellis Horwood Limited

 

C.Katsigris, C. Thomas - DESIGN and EQUIPMENT for RESTAURANTS and FOODSERVICE - John Wiley & Sons, Inc. D.

Further information
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