Seonah Kim, Ph.D.

Education

M.S., Computer Science, University of Houston
Ph. D., Computational Chemistry, University of Florida
Postdoc, Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles

Bio

Seonah completed an MS in Computer Science at the University of Houston with B. Montgomery Pettitt in 2003 and obtained her Ph.D. with Adrian Roitberg at the University of Florida in 2007 in protein simulation. In 2008 she joined the group of K. N. Houk at the University of California, Los Angeles, as a postdoctoral research associate working on de novo enzyme design using a combination of quantum chemistry and classical simulation techniques. In 2011, Seonah joined the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), where she remains as a senior scientist in the Biosciences Center until 2020. Seonah is experienced in using computation to understand and design catalysts in biotechnology. Mechanisms of various catalysts, both biological and inorganic, have been explored in biochemical and thermochemical conversion processes. Seonah has expanded her research area to consider the reaction mechanisms involved in combustion, the kinetics of autoignition and soot formation, and the development of a fuel property prediction tool using machine-learning and quantum chemistry. She sits on the organizing committee of the American Chemical Society Computers in Chemistry (COMP) Division since 2015 and served as Chair position in COMP Division in 2020. In January 2021, she moved to join the Chemistry department at Colorado State University as an associate professor to start a new scientific journey.