(2bx) Accelerated Discovery of Polymer Materials and Chemical Reactions

Future Directions

With polymeric materials being integral components of nearly every aspect of modern life, there is a need for novel sustainable materials to overcome societal challenges, such as pandemics, climate change, and feedstock shortages, on an accelerated timeline. Building upon my chemical synthesis (PhD), automation (Postdoc), and informatics (Postdoc) training, the core drive of my research group will be to develop, validate, and incubate technologies that accelerate the scientific method for chemical reactions and polymeric materials discovery to address society’s greatest challenges. Specifically, my lab will apply fluid mechanics, mass transfer, and control principles to develop custom materials discovery platforms that take advantage of recent developments in informatics and automation. To support these discovery platforms, my work will also include fundamental kinetic and mechanistic investigations, the development and optimization of new catalytic systems to broaden the scope of accessible materials, and the progression of synthetic and multiscale material characterization to uncover the molecular origins of emergent material properties. The initial areas of interest for my research group will be:

Area 1: Reactive Processing for Polymer Material Discovery

Area 2: Directed Evolution of Sequence Controlled Polymers for Catalysts

Area 3: Sustainable Polymer Synthesis from Biorenewable Feedstocks

Prior Experiences

Post-doctoral: Applications of Automation and Data Science to Polymer Materials, Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (advised by Profs. Klavs Jensen and Brad Olsen)

Currently, the realization of data-driven workflows for polymer materials is impeded by our limited access to data, the speed in which data can be generated, and the development of informatics tools. To address these limitations, I have led the development of CRIPT (Community Resource for Innovation in Polymer Technology), which is a community- driven data and informatics ecosystem for soft materials. The key scientific advances that I have contributed are the development of a comprehensive graph data representation, and a robust structural representation for polymers. To support this effort, my work also includes the development of an AI integrated polymer synthesis platform to accelerate the generation of a diverse library of polymer materials.

Graduate: Engineering Approaches to Control Polymer Architecture, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Illinois – Urbana Champaign (advised by Prof. Damien Guironnet)

The properties of a polymer are known to be intrinsically related to their molecular weight, composition, and architecture; however, the precise and independent control of each attributes remains limited. My work has sought to make advances through investigations into catalytic polymerization mechanisms, and the development of an automated flow reactor. Specifically, my investigations into ring opening metathesis polymerization led to mechanistic explanations for the differences in polymerization rates for common catalysts and monomers. This work supported the development of a continuous flow reactor for the synthesis of shape-defined bottlebrush polymers, and the complete control over polymer molecular weight distribution shape with a digital level of precision.

Teaching Interests

Future Direction

As a faculty member, I am interested in teaching core chemical engineering courses such as mass balance, thermodynamics, transport phenomena, and reaction kinetics, as well as more specialized courses in polymer science or numerical methods. I am also excited to develop specialized graduate level courses in areas related to my research, such as ‘applied computational thinking for engineers’ which would have the overarching goal of teaching students how to leverage informatics and algorithms to greatly expand the scope of engineering problems that students can solve. As a chemical engineer by training, I can teach any other courses depending upon departmental needs.

As a faculty member, it will be my priority to create an inclusive and supportive environment that enables scientific integrity, creative problem solving, and critical thinking to flourish. I consider mental and physical well-being an essential ingredient to academic and research excellence, which will be a core value in my group. I also believe it is important to build a diverse research group, as I strongly believe that a diverse way of thinking is necessary to solve some of the greatest problems facing humanity today. Additionally, I plan to promote diversity more broadly in chemical engineering by participating in mentorship programs and by forming strong relationships through outreach and development programs with local communities.

Prior Experiences

• Teaching Assistant - Cross Course Design (Fall 2015)
• Teaching Assistant - Polymers (Fall 2016)
• Teaching Assistant - Mass Transfer Operations (Spring 2016)
  • Outstanding Teaching Designation (Awarded to the top 10% based on student ranking)
• Teaching Assistant - Mass Transfer Operations (Spring 2019)
  • Outstanding Teaching Designation (Awarded to the top 10% based on student ranking)
  • SCS Teaching Award (Award by faculty nomination)

In addition to my classroom teaching experience, I have continued to develop my teaching skills by obtaining the MIT Kaufman Teaching Program, which is an evidence-based training program to prepare future higher-education teachers. Furthermore, during my Ph.D. and postdoctoral training, I have been fortunate to mentor 12 undergraduate students. Seeing my mentees grow and develop their passion for research, co-author several peer-reviewed publications with me, win multiple undergraduate poster competitions, graduate, and pursue their own graduate school has been extremely rewarding.

Selected Awards:

• ACS Polymeric Materials Science and Engineering Future Faculty Scholar (2021)
• DSM Bright Science Award – PMSE ACS (2020)
• Distinguished Young Scholars Seminars (DYSS) hosted by University of Washington (2020)
• Mavis Future Faculty Fellow (2018)
• DuPont Science and Engineering Fellow (2018)
• Spirit AeroSystems Fellow (2016)
• Dow Chemical Company Graduate Fellow (2015)