Our 2021 Seminar Series… insert description here
Philip’s culinary background in Michelin-Star and James Beard Award finalist kitchens was succeeded by working with food entrepreneurs’ concept to commercialization at a product development consultancy, where he also led the launch of the Research Chefs Association Evolution of Food Waste product development student competition–the world’s first innovation platform that focused on manufacturing byproducts. His unique food background, involvement with non-profit impact organizations, curiosity about ingredients historically considered “waste,” and passion for formulating delicious products at every scale make him a natural fit for ReGrained, a mission-driven brand ingredient platform that connects urban craft breweries to sustainable food systems, where he oversaw production, innovation, sourcing, culinary operations, food science and every opportunity to do a collaboration dinner popup. Now Philip is excited for an opportunity to work with many types of products alongside companies of all sizes as a Product Developer for CCD Innovation, a chef-driven consultancy in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Mary Leciejewski’s bio: Mary currently serves as the Zero Waste Manager for Ohio State. Her role is centered on advancing Ohio State’s resource stewardship goal for waste, which aims to divert 90% of materials away from landfills by 2025 through recycling, composting, reuse, and waste prevention. She also leads Recycling and Refuse Services to manage the daily waste streams for campus. Prior to Ohio State, she held roles advancing environmental sustainability at University at Albany and Ohio University. She received my B.A. at Provide College and her M.S. at Ohio University. Mary has also collaborated with Know Food Waste in their “Zero Waste” composting initiatives. Kathie Serif’s bio: As an Associate Director of operations, Kathie Serif is responsible for the oversight of half of the Columbus campus Dining Services operations including the Culinary Production Kitchen, Retail food locations at the Ohio Union, University Catering, Coffee Shops, Childcare, and more. In addition, she leads some large projects and initiatives including Guest Services and Zero Waste initiatives. As part of the Zero Waste initiative, she collaborates with faculty, staff and students to leading dining services effort towards food diversion and reducing waste. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Restaurant Management from the Ohio State University. Before joining Ohio State Dining Services in 2010, she worked over 25 years in private-sector restaurant management. During those 25 years she had multiple roles as Director of Operations for several full-service Fortune 500 restaurant companies. Kathie is also helping Know Food Waste with their “Bagel Chips” project.
Luca Serventi’s bio: Originally from Parma (Italy), where Luca started his university studies in food science and technology, he then visited OSU for a 6 months experience. He liked it so much that he stayed for a whole Ph.D., working on saponins from legumes as tool to reduce cholesterol absorption and improve food texture. He was also part of the Coccobello team that won product development in 2010 at the IFT, and president of the Food Science Club in the same year. Industry experience in R&D was earned at an Italian gluten-free company in Trieste, supporting the launch of their first American factory in New Jersey. The passion for research brought him to Denmark, for a postdoc at Aarhus University, learning about sensory, bakery enzymes and sustainable food products (cassava bread for South America). Since 2015, he is involved with teaching and research in New Zealand, specializing in Liluva: upcycling the wastewater of legume processing into texturizers, source of bioactives and packaging.