Scientific and Technological Advancement through Materials and Chemicals Design

Many of the products that have led to advancement in our world today have come through the discovery of new materials and new chemicals. In the past, the discovery for these new compounds came through laborious trial-and-error or serendipity. In recent times, however, there is a drive to make systematic searches using high-throughput methods and, even more recently, by the use of Machine Learning (ML) methods from Artificial Intelligence (AI).

In this discussion, Omololu Akin-Ojo will present efforts in Africa, especially at the ICTP East Africa Institute for Fundamental Research (EAIFR) Kigali Rwanda in the use of ML and other systematic methods to search for new materials and chemicals. Specifically, their work in the search for new superconducting materials, new catalysts for water splitting, and new catalysts for the production of useful products (hydrogen and methanol) from methane gas will be presented. How this work fits into their strategies for the development of fundamental research in EAIFR Rwanda, a hub for Physics in Africa, will also be briefly discussed.

Speakers

• Omololu Akin-Ojo, Director, ICTP East Africa Institute for Fundamental Research (EAIFR), University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda

Hosted by

• Marta Losada, Dean of Science; Professor of Physics, NYU Abu Dhabi