**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** NON-UNIFORM HEATING HAS BEEN A CONSISTENT ISSUE IN THE HOUSEHOLD MICROWAVE HEATING OF FROZEN PACKAGED MEALS, WHICH NOT ONLY AFFECTS THE FOOD QUALITY BUT ALSO RESULTS IN SEVERE FOOD SAFETY ISSUES. ALTHOUGH HIGH-QUALITY INGREDIENTS ARE USED, MICROWAVEABLE MEALS ARE OFTEN CONSIDERED AS LOW-QUALITY FOOD, WHICH IS MAINLY DUE TO THE NON-UNIFORM HEATING ISSUE. THE INTRACTABLE PROBLEM IS ROOTED IN BOTH THE MICROWAVE OVEN AND FOOD PRODUCT CHARACTERISTICS AND THEIR COMPLICATED INTERACTIONS. ON THE ONE HAND, CURRENT HOUSEHOLD MICROWAVE OVENS USING SINGLE-MAGNETRON-BASED POWER SOURCES HAVE AN INHERENT STANDING WAVE PATTERN, WHERE HOT AND COLD SPOTS ARE FIXED IN THE CAVITY, EVEN WITH ROTATIONAL TURNTABLE AND/OR MODE STIRRERS TO DISTURB THE ELECTRIC FIELD DISTRIBUTION IN THE CAVITY. ON THE OTHER HAND, THE STANDING WAVE PATTERN AND THE TEMPERATURE-DEPENDENT DIELECTRIC AND THERMAL PROPERTIES OF FOODS RESULT IN A THERMAL RUNAWAY PROBLEM, WHERE HOT SPOTS IN FOOD PRODUCTS ABSORB MORE ENERGY AND HEAT AT INCREASINGLY FASTER RATES THAN COLD SPOTS. THE COMPLICATED MICROWAVE-FOOD INTERACTIONS MAKE IT A CHALLENGING WORK FOR FOOD SCIENTISTS TO DEVELOP A PRODUCT THAT CAN BE COOKED UNIFORMLY IN A VARIETY OF OVENS ON THE MARKET. THE RECENT DEVELOPMENT OF SOLID-STATE MICROWAVE TECHNOLOGY ALSO POSES AN EMERGING CHALLENGE TO THE MICROWAVEABLE FOOD MANUFACTURERS ON PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT. THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP TWO INTEGRATED PLATFORMS (I.E., PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PLATFORM AND KNOWLEDGE GENERATION PLATFORM) BY INTEGRATING MULTIPHYSICS MODELING AND MACHINE LEARNING TO ASSIST FOOD DEVELOPERS IN DESIGNING BETTER MICROWAVEABLE FOOD PRODUCTS THAT CAN BE COOKED UNIFORMLY IN CURRENT SINGLE-MAGNETRON-BASED OVENS AND ALSO TO HELP THEM BETTER UNDERSTAND THE SOLID-STATE MICROWAVE TECHNOLOGY FOR FUTURE PRODUCT DESIGN. THIS PROJECT WILL SIGNIFICANTLY ADVANCE MICROWAVEABLE FOOD MANUFACTURING TO DELIVER NOVEL FOOD PRODUCTS WITH HIGH QUALITY, SAFETY, AND NUTRITIONAL VALUES TO CONSUMERS. THIS PROJECT WILL BENEFIT NOT ONLY THE MICROWAVEABLE FOOD INDUSTRY BUT ALSO OTHER U.S. AGRICULTURE AND FOOD-RELATED SECTIONS, INCLUDING FOOD PACKAGING AND OVEN MANUFACTURERS. THE PROJECT OUTCOMES WILL LEVERAGE THE U.S. FOOD PROCESSORS' COMPETITIVENESS IN MEETING THE DEMANDS FOR HIGH-QUALITY FOODS, NOT ONLY FROM THE DIVERSE POPULATION IN THE UNITED STATES BUT ALSO AROUND THE GLOBE.