Jakub Radzikowski

I have joined Imperial College London as a Culinary Education Designer in 2019 to work on the Chemical Kitchen project. Prior to that, I have completed a PhD degree in Molecular Biology at the University of Groningen, Netherlands. I used a systems biology approach to investigate Escherichia coli persister cells, which are in a special metabolic state that makes them tolerant to antibiotics. After completing my PhD, I have decided to take a detour to cook, and completed the Grand Diplome course at Le Cordon Bleu London. Subsequently, I worked in fine-dining, Michelin-starred restaurants and design studios in London as a chef. My current part-time role as a Culinary Education Designer involves working at the Imperial College London on the Chemical Kitchen project, which was created in collaboration with Kitchen Theory. This involves designing and running courses for students, in which they learn STEMM-related skills and approaches through a non-threatening parallel of cooking. Since we started in 2019, the project has expanded beyond its initial aims. I design, run and evaluate courses across all faculties, and community or outreach events targeted at both staff and students. Since September 2023, I am also the Lead Culinary Technologist at Kaikaku.ai, a company looking to enact radical innovation through AI, robotics and automation for the food and beverage sector.

• Faculty of Natural Sciences