**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** WITH THE CURRENT GENERATION OF HEATED OIL FRYING TECHNOLOGY, IT IS DIFFICULT TO MAKE FRIED FOODS HEALTHIER WITHOUT COMPROMISING THETASTE, TEXTURE, COLOR, AND AROMA THAT CONSUMERS PREFER. DURING CONVENTIONAL FRYING, FOODS DEVELOP A SUCTION POTENTIAL FOR OIL DUE TO LOSS OF MOISTURE FROM A HYGROSCOPIC MATRIX. IN THE PROPOSED RESEARCH, A POROUS MEDIA MODELING EXPERT WILL COLLABORATE WITH A MICROWAVE TECHNOLOGY EXPERT TO DESIGN AND FABRICATE THE NEXT GENERATION OF MICROWAVE-ASSISTED FRYER PROTOTYPE (MAF) THAT WILL ALLOW BETTER CONTROL OVER FRIED FOOD QUALITY AND OIL CONTENT. A MATHEMATICAL MODEL DESCRIBING THE MOVEMENT OF WATER, VAPORS, AND OIL IN THE PRESENCE OF HEAT AND MICROWAVES WILL BE DEVELOPED AND SOLVED TO DETERMINE THE OPTIMUM DESIGN AND OPERATION OF THE MAF. MICROWAVES WILL BE USED TO CONTROL THE PRESSURE IN THE PORES OF FRIED FOODS, WHICH AFFECTS OIL MOVEMENT IN THE FOOD. THE MODEL WILL BE VALIDATED BY CONDUCTING CONVENTIONAL AND MICROWAVE-ASSISTED FRYING EXPERIMENTS WITH POTATOES AND CHICKEN NUGGETS. THE VALIDATED MODEL WILL BE UTILIZED TO STUDY THE EFFECT OF FRYER GEOMETRY, MICROWAVE FREQUENCIES, WAVEGUIDE LOCATION, FOOD PARAMETERS, TEMPERATURE PROFILES, MICROWAVE ON/OFF PROFILES, POWER LEVELS, ETC. ON THE QUALITY ATTRIBUTES, OIL CONTENT, ANDACRYLAMIDE CONTENT OF FRIED FOODS. BASED ON THE MODEL'S FEEDBACK, THE FRYER DESIGN WILL BE OPTIMIZED. THE RESULTS WILL BE DISSEMINATED TO THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY, FOOD INDUSTRY, ANDOTHERS VIA CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS, JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS, AND REPORTS.