On Tuesday 11th November, AIchemy and the Sustainable Chemicals and Materials Manufacturing Hub (SCHEMA) came together for a one-day symposium at the SCI Headquarters in London. The event united researchers, industry partners, and technologists from across the UK to examine how AI, digitalisation, and sustainable manufacturing can work hand-in-hand to transform the future of chemicals and materials.
The session also welcomed a brief visit from Sharon Todd, SCI Chief Executive Officer, reflecting SCI’s continued support for interdisciplinary collaboration in emerging technologies.
Symposium Overview
The day opened with Prof. Charlotte Williams (SCHEMA, University of Oxford) and Prof. Kim Jelfs (AIchemy, Imperial College London), who introduced the aims of the symposium and highlighted the value of bringing AI-driven chemistry and sustainable manufacturing communities together.
Next up, our keynote speaker, Prof. Matt Rosseinsky (University of Liverpool) discussed methods used for the discovery of new inorganic functional materials. His talk highlighted the advanced methods and tools utilised at Liverpool such as the integration of generative ML models into CSP and MACS (Multi Agent Reinforcement Learning for optimization of Crystal Structures.)
Dr. Ayme (University of Liverpool) presented the latest advancements in the Mobile Robotic Chemist, specifically, putting a brain in the Robot. He presented examples of autonomous exploratory synthetic chemistry workflows that employ and advanced LLM based Bayesian Optimisation Research Assistant. Next, Dr. Andrews (CPI) discussed the challenges to digitalise the UK manufacturing industry, highlighting one specific case studies from Therma-Chem. Challenges highlighted included stakeholder buy in, access to sufficient high quality data sets for model development and poor adaptability within legacy infrastructures.
Afternoon session
After our networking lunch, Prof. Petit (Imperial) kicked of the afternoon with an exciting talk focusing on the design of materials for adsorption of CO2 via direct air capture (DAC). The talk covered the challenges facing DAC from scale and location through to energy required for targeted materials to be deemed efficient. Prof. Petit also highlighted the research on going within her group tackling these challenges and the capabilities of the ATLAS facility to accelerate materials discovery.
Dr. Chitre’s talk took us on a journey that explored the use of AI and automation within Unilever to accelerate the design of new product formulations. Unilever’s drivers for AI and automation development hinged around sustainability and regulatory pressures and faster superior product development. The talk also showcased Unilever’s desire to develop end to end ‘data driven’ formulation workflows.
We then moved onto our breakout session consisting of facilitated discussions to jointly explore priorities, challenges, and opportunities for future collaboration. Themes included:
- Overlapping research themes – What research ideas and thoughts overlaps with the hubs overarching visions and goals.
- Existing project enhancement – How can the Hubs enhance existing projects and promote collaboration across industry and academia.
- Project idea generation – Idea generation fuelled by overlapping research themes.
- Funding & Industry Engagement – How can the Hubs help support the academic community and ECRs through funding calls, collaborative research and training.
Prof. Kim Jelfs closed the formal programme by reflecting on the day’s discussions before concluding with refreshments and networking, offering further opportunities for attendees to connect, share ideas, and initiate potential collaborations
Looking Ahead
Thank you to everyone who joined us and contributed to a day full of insight, discussion, and forward thinking. The symposium provided a valuable opportunity to exchange ideas across both Hubs, and the conversations throughout the day highlighted the importance of continued innovation in AI, chemistry, and sustainable manufacturing.
We look forward to seeing you at our next event!
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