Shyam K. Singh, PhD, is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Food Science & Technology at the University of California, Davis. He earned his PhD in Food Engineering from The Ohio State University after completing an MS at IIT Kharagpur, India. His research interests center on developing practical, validation-forward solutions for food safety and quality, emphasizing advanced thermal and non-thermal processing technologies, artificial intelligence (AI)-driven safety and quality control tools, and sustainable energy-efficient sanitation strategies. He is an active member of IFT, IAFP, ITPS, the Society of Food Engineering, and Phi Tau Sigma, and contributes to the profession through committee service and peer review. His achievements have been recognized through honors including The Ohio State University Graduate Research Award, the IFTPS Charles R. Stumbo Student Paper Competition, and the Seligman APV Bursary.

His doctoral research addressed the safety-quality trade-off in thermal sterilization by advancing ohmic heating (OH) as an alternative to conventional retorting. He showed that optimized field strength and temperature could reduce bacterial spore populations below detection in green bean purée and fruit juices without a holding step, establishing a “No-Hold” sterilization concept. His work also established a comprehensive understanding for accelerated inactivation of bacterial spores in an electric field by studying how spore components react to applied electricity using tools such as genetically modified spores, molecular dynamics simulations, and other biochemical methods. Together, these findings provide industry with a scalable pathway to produce shelf-stable foods with improved sensory quality. At UC Davis, he is expanding his work into AI, food-derived antimicrobial-assisted processing for beverages, and surface sanitation. He is developing AI-enabled systems for rapid microbial identification, electronic-nose-based predictive shelf-life models, and synergistic pasteurization and sanitation strategies using plant-based extracts and other food-compatible antimicrobials, while collaborating with industry partners to translate laboratory findings into practical solutions.