Materials Needs for Energy Sustainability by 2050: AI-assisted Materials Development for a Sustainable Future

Karin Strauss
Microsoft Research AI4Science

Jed Pitera
IBM Research

Jed Pitera is currently co-leading a team applying accelerated discovery for sustainable materials. The mission of this team is to use AI, machine learning and quantum computing to accelerate the discovery of advanced materials in areas like energy storage, carbon capture and semiconductor manufacturing.  Previously, he completed an operations rotation as the technical assistant to Jeff Welser, VP IBM Research – Almaden, Australia, China, Japan.  In this role, he helped with operations, strategy, recruiting, technical vitality and business processes for a research site with ~700 inhabitants across a variety of technical disciplines.  Pitera received undergraduate training in biology and chemistry at the California Institute of Technology and a PhD degree in biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), in the laboratory of Peter Kollman.  His postdoctoral work was in computational physical chemistry with Wilfred van Gunsteren at ETH Zürich, Switzerland. In 2001, he joined IBM Research and has been a research staff member for over two decades, applying computational tools and machine learning to challenging materials R&D problems. He has published 50 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, has an h-index of 35, and is a co-inventor on 9 granted US patents. Pitera is also an adjunct assistant professor in the UCSF Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry.

Shijing Sun
University of Washington

Shijing Sun is an assistant professor at the University of Washington (UW), leading the UW Sun Lab. Her research focuses on autonomous materials design and collaborative intelligence specifically aimed at advancing clean energy technologies. Before joining UW, Sun held the position of a senior research scientist at the Toyota Research Institute located in Silicon Valley. During her time there, she dedicated her efforts to the development of AI-powered solutions to accelerate materials discovery and design for electric vehicle (EV) batteries and fuel cells. Previously, Sun worked as a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with Tonio Buonassisi, leading the development of high-throughput synthesis and characterization tools for thin-film solar cells. She completed her academic studies at Trinity College, University of Cambridge, where she obtained a BA degree in natural sciences, and MSci and PhD degrees in materials science under Anthony K. Cheetham.

Steven R. Spurgeon
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Steven R. Spurgeon is a senior research scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and an affiliate associate professor of physics at the University of Washington. His research includes unlocking novel materials for next-generation electronics, quantum computing and energy storage through artificial intelligence-guided synthesis, characterization and modeling. At PNNL, Spurgeon leads a dynamic team of over a dozen researchers and collaborates closely with industry partners in the realm of AI-guided materials science. He also acts as thrust lead for the lab’s ATSCALE Initiative, focused on autonomous materials design. Spurgeon has published over 79 journal articles and serves as Editor for the international journal Microscopy and Microanalysis. His research has garnered awards from the US Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, the Materials Research Society, the Microscopy Society of America, and the US Department of Defense. In 2022, he was awarded PNNL’s Laboratory Director’s Award for Early Career Exceptional Achievement.