Experience
Senior AI/ML Scientist, Merck & Co., Inc.
- Develop generative models for small-molecule drug design, transitioning from SMILES-based RNN approaches to GFlowNet-based architectures that generate molecules over validated reaction templates using commercially available building blocks. Focus on R-group optimization, core-hopping, and knowledge-based design with multi-stage curriculum learning.
- Built an automated benchmarking and deployment pipeline for ADMET property prediction spanning gradient-boosted trees, message-passing neural networks, and foundation models. Models are deployed directly to medicinal chemists for real-time predictions during design cycles.
- Mentored interns and contributed to shared ML platform infrastructure across drug discovery teams.
Graduate Researcher, Caltech, Zhen-Gang Wang Group
- Combined enhanced-sampling molecular dynamics with unsupervised deep learning to map phase diagrams for proteins and polymers in solution. Identified precipitation mechanisms and quantified structure-activity relationships.
- Developed generative diffusion models for polymer design. Built an automated pipeline to compute binding free energies at solid-liquid interfaces.
- Managed high-performance computing resources using Slurm and Ansible, increasing computational throughput for the research group by 10x.
Graduate Researcher, Caltech, John F. Brady Group
- Built CPU and GPU parallelized simulations of suspended bodies in C++, CUDA, and OpenMP for computational fluid dynamics study of self-propelled swimmers and collective phenomena.
- Developed theoretical models of hydrodynamic interactions for self-propelled bodies across viscous and inviscid flow regimes. Found universal symmetries linking body shape changes to swimming efficiency.
Research Assistant, UC Berkeley, Kranthi K. Mandadapu Group
- Introduced the Scriven-Love number, a dimensionless ratio comparing out-of-plane forces from intramembrane viscous stresses to elastic bending forces. Showed that viscous response cannot generally be neglected in biological membrane dynamics.
- Modeled phospholipid bilayer dynamics using differential geometry and nonequilibrium thermodynamics. Characterized how membrane curvature couples to viscous flow within the bilayer.
Battery Cell Quality Assurance Intern, Nissan (Automotive Energy Supply Corporation)
- Designed an automated battery quality control system for testing 25,000 cells/day on electrochemical stability, producing annual savings of $50k.
- Diagnosed electrode misalignment issues contributing to cell failures and proposed tolerance revisions that cut $55k in annual material scrap costs.
Battery Management Systems Intern, Bosch
- Evaluated electrode additive stability in lithium-ion batteries by analyzing dissolution under electric vehicle usage conditions, identifying key degradation mechanisms to improve battery lifetime.
- Established a training program on plasma spectroscopy for 3 colleagues to measure trace lithium content in cycled battery components.
Research Assistant, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Nitash Balsara Group
- Characterized electrochemical properties of solid-state polymer electrolyte batteries via impedance spectroscopy across temperatures, identifying electrode degradation mechanisms.
- Fabricated lithium metal batteries with polymer electrolytes to study the effects of molecular weight and cross-linking density on ionic conductivity, verifying theoretical predictions.