PHILADELPHIA — Negin Sharafbafi has been named senior food technologist for the innovation team at Ottens Flavors, an international supplier to the food and beverage industries. Ms. Sharafbafi will report to David Thomson, technical director for Ottens.

Prior to joining Ottens, Ms. Sharafbafi worked in research at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. She also was an instructor and conducted research as part of the sensory team at the Guelph Food Technology Center in Guelph, Ont. She began her career at Coca-Cola in Tehran.

“Negin brings Ottens a wealth of research experience and an enthusiasm for understanding the function of flavor and flavor delivery in product applications,” Mr. Thomson said. “She will be a great asset to our ongoing efforts to create innovative and novel flavors and delivery processes.”

Ms. Sharafbafi received a bachelor’s degree in food science and technology from the University of Kazeroon, Iran, and a doctorate and master’s degree in food science from the University of Guelph in Ontario.

Ottens also named Steffen Scheide as senior flavorist in the savory group. He will report to Nancy Chumney, vice-president of technical. Mr. Scheide has experience in the savory industry having worked as a flavorist at Summit Hill Flavors in Middlesex, N.J. In addition he managed research, product development and applications for the company. He also previously held positions in quality, operations, sales, regulatory, research and technical services.

Mr. Scheide received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He currently is section chair-elect for the Washington section of the Institute of Food Technologists.