Title:
Self-driving labs: The revolution will not be televised
Abstract:
In this talk, Professor Alán Aspuru-Guzik will overview the growing field of self-driving laboratories (SDLs). Self-driving laboratories are systems that help accelerate the process of scientific discovery or scale-up by employing artificial intelligence and automation for experiment planning and execution. Several SDLs have been already demonstrated globally, and the field is racing towards more robust and complex applications.
Alan will go over essential elements of SDLs and will use examples from research from his group and collaborators as examples. At the University of Toronto, Alan and his research group have launched the Acceleration Consortium. This new significant initiative recently received CAD 200M in funding to accelerate self-driving laboratories for chemistry, materials science and biotechnology. Alan will briefly discuss what the AC is doing and how to collaborate or get involved with these efforts.
Speaker biography:
Alán Aspuru-Guzik’s research lies at the interface of computer science with chemistry and physics. He integrates robotics, machine learning and quantum chemistry to develop “self-driving laboratories”, accelerating rates of scientific discovery. Alán develops quantum computer algorithms and has pioneered quantum algorithms for the simulation of matter.
Alán is a Professor of Chemistry and Computer Science and is cross-appointed to the departments of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, as well as the Institute of Medical Science at the University of Toronto.
He is a faculty member at the Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence and the Director of the Acceleration Consortium, a University of Toronto-based strategic initiative that aims to gather researchers from industry, government and academia around topics related to the labs of the future. Alán was previously a full professor at Harvard University where he started his career in 2006.
He is currently the Canada 150 Research Chair in Theoretical Chemistry, CIFAR AI Chair at the Vector Institute and co-founder of Zapata Computing and Kebotix, two early-stage ventures in quantum computing and self-driving laboratories.
To book:
This event is by calendar invite only. If you are interested in attending, please email chemeng.comms@imperial.ac.uk.
Attendance type:
In-person encouraged.