Education
- Bachelor of Science in Engineering in Chemical Engineering, Tulane University, New Orleans, 2018
- Doctorate of Philosophy in Chemical Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, 2023
Project & Work Experience
- R&D Data Scientist (2023-Present) - Dow Chemical, Polyurethanes Product R&D
- Global analytics focal point for the Predictive Intelligence platform
- Lead the planning and execution of projects to enhance analytics capabilities and deliver business value through digital solutions
- Develop and implement machine learning, artificial intelligence, and other digital solutions to address complex formulation and business challenges
- Coordinate cross-functional collaborations between digital and experimental teams to identify opportunities, define needs, and apply innovative digital solutions effectively
- Lead digital internship projects for Polyurethanes R&D
- Coordinate project funding, recruitment, and chartering for projects to advance digital technologies
- Lead 6 projects spanning reinforcement learning, optimization, web app development, data and modeling pipeline automation
- Graduate Research Scientist (2018-2023) - University of Illinois at Chicago, Supervised by Shafigh Mehraeen, PhD, and Gang Cheng, PhD
- Thesis titled “Zwitterion Hydration and Ion Association Design Principles Elucidated by Simulation and Machine Learning”
- Conducted dissertation research on structure-property relationships of polybetaines using computational simulations, data analysis, and machine learning techniques
- First author and co-author for several peer-reviewed publications and a textbook chapter. Presented accepted and invited posters and talks at several regional and national conferences
- President of the Chemical Engineering Graduate Student Association, co-chair of the Chemical Engineering Department’s committee on diversity and inclusion, founder of the Graduate Seminar Series and Data Science in Chemical Industries workshop series, organized Department Graduate Research Symposium
- Graduate coursework includes advanced chemical engineering concepts, machine learning, statistics, data science, numerical analysis, data management, and technical writing
- R&D Digital Innovation Intern (Summer 2022) - Dow Chemical Data Science Internship, Supervised by Fabio Aguirre, Yuri Alencar
- Worked in a fast-pace, highly collaborative team of interns and research scientists to update and implement a modularized design of the Polyurethane Predictive Intelligence capability
- Responsible for software management, design of several internal components, and effective onboarding of new interns
- Lead author of project learning report on developed software in “Dow Research and Intelligent Formulation Toolkit V.1.0 - Machine learning prediction of polyurethane material properties”
- Completed the 2022 AIChE Academy Data Analytics Internship program
- R&D Digital Innovation Intern (Summer 2021) - Dow Chemical Data Science Internship, Supervised by Fabio Aguirre, Will Koonce
- Developed chemical and physical theory-based models and identified cheminformatic descriptors for input to predictive intelligence models, resulting in improved model accuracy
- Created a uniform data structure for chemical identification and programmed descriptor calculations using open-source software which may be included in existing architectures
- Worked with co-interns to schedule, organize, and present monthly progress updates for corporate sponsors. Co-author of a conference publication and patent application in preparation
- Completed the 2021 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Data Analytics Internship Program pilot
- Undergraduate Research Assistant (Spring 2016-Spring 2018) - Tulane University Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department, Supervised by Julie N. L. Albert, PhD
- Performed raster solvent vapor annealing on semicrystalline homopolymer thick films to induce change in optical and mechanical properties
- Undergraduate Research Assistant (Summer 2017) - SMART REU, Louisiana State University Department of Chemistry, Supervised by John A. Pojman, PhD
- Designed experimental methods, material synthesis and characterization techniques for the design of fast-curing polyethers
- Found a novel epoxy resin which was UV and thermally set-on-demand, curing in seconds
- Undergraduate Research Intern (Summer 2016) - Summer Undergraduate Laboratory Internship, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Biology and Climate Science Department, Supervised by John Heiser
- Designed a low-cost, microcontrolled datalogger for deployment with a large-area dispersed solar sensor array
- Responsible for programming, circuit design, testing and validation, and product durability testing
- Final design evaluated to be 97% accurate compared to research-grade, while only 3% of the cost
- Project report submitted to the US Congress and work presented for the Biology and Climate Science Department summer seminar
Skills
- Data Science: Data analysis and visualization, supervised machine learning, LLMs for chatbots, advanced statistics, web scraping and data retrieval, experience with large datasets
- Programming: Python, MATLAB, VBA, BASH, perl, HTML, CSS
- Chemical modeling: GROMACS molecular dynamics, LAMMPS, Gaussian 16 quantum chemistry, Visual Molecular Dynamics (VMD), ASPEN Plus/Properties/HYSYS
- Polymer science and wet lab: Synthesis and characterization of organic polymers. Tensile and compression testing, optical and atomic force microscopy
- Selected python modules: Scikit-Learn, pandas, numpy, orange3, multiprocessing, scipy, matplotlib, plotly, streamlit
- Cheminformatics: Mordred, RDKit, OpenBabel, JCHEM, SciFinder, alvaDesk
- Software: git, github, Jupyter Notebook, orange3, Avogadro, VSCode, MS Office
- Multiprocessing and acceleration: TORQUE PBS, HTCondor, GPU acceleration, hardware construction for distributed and parallel systems
- Soft Skills: Technical writing, editing, teaching, presenting, data management and visualization, grant and resume writing, leadership of non- and for-profit organizations
- Coursework: Polymer science, Nanotechnology, Machine Learning, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Numerical Analysis (Finite Differences, Elements, and Volumes), Process Control, Advanced Thermodynamics, Fluid Dynamics, Colloid Interfacial Phenomenon, Data Management, Technical Writing
Teaching
Teaching Assistantships
- Undergraduate courses
- Introduction to Thermodynamics
- Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics
- Computational Methods in Chemical Engineering
- Polymer Science
- Chemical Process Control
- Graduate courses
- Process Simulation with ASPEN Plus
- Numerical Methods in Chemical Engineering
- Mathematical Methods for Chemical Engineers
Service, leadership, and professional affiliations
- Dow Chemical
- Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure Learning Team leading the Digital Academy 2024-Present
- Digital Innovation Internship Program Management Team 2024-Present
- AIChE Midwest Regional Conference
- Co-chair of 2023 General Arrangements Committee
- Co-chair of 2022 poster session
- Theta Tau Professional Engineering Fraternity
- Founder of Nu Epsilon Chapter, President 2015-2017
- Host of the Southeast Regional Conference, 2018
- University of Illinois at Chicago Graduate Association of Chemical Engineers
- President 2020-2021, 2022-2023
- Organized 2022 Department Research Symposium, Graduate Seminar Series, Preliminary Exam workshop, Data Science in Chemical Industries workshop series
- Member of the University of Illinois at Chicago Graduate Student Association representing the Department of Chemical Engineering
- Society of Women Engineers
- Mentor of the Semester, Fall 2018
- American Institute of Chemical Engineers
- American Chemical Society
- Order of the Engineers
- National Eagle Scout Association
Awards
- Edison Gold Award for Digital Transformation and Governance, 2024
- Award for Graduate Research, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2020
- Dean’s Grant, Tulane University, 2017
- Silver Award, Venturing, BSA, 2014
- Eagle Scout Honor, Boy Scouts of America, 2014
