A Large Encoder-Decoder Polymer-Based Foundation Model
- 2024
- NeurIPS 2024
Dr. Nathaniel Park is a Research Staff Member at IBM Research—Almaden. His primary research interests are on the effective integration of generative AI and automated experimentation systems for enabling high-performance materials discovery and development of new, sustainable materials platforms.
Dr. Park completed his undergraduate studies at Montana State University, where he conducted research on the stereoselective synthesis of glycosyl ureas in the lab of Professor Hien Nguyen. Following graduation, he joined the lab of the late Professor David Gin at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, where he worked on the total synthesis of alkaloid natural products. He completed his graduate work at MIT in the lab of Professor Stephen Buchwald, where he developed new transition metal catalysts and continuous flow processes for C–N and C–F bond formation. After graduating from MIT in 2015, he joined IBM Research—Almaden where he completed postdoctoral work with Dr. James Hedrick working on the development of new therapeutic material platforms and organocatalysts for ring-opening polymerization. In 2017, he became a Research Staff Member at IBM and his work has focused on automation of polymer synthesis, data representation and management in material science, and the application of generative AI models towards materials discovery.