Team

Yeonjoon grew up in Daejeon, South Korea. He obtained his PhD in 2018 at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). His PhD research focused on computational investigation of organic/organometallic reaction mechanisms and development of methods for automated prediction of chemical reaction pathways. He was a postdoctoral researcher at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (2018-2020). He joined the Kim group in January 2021. His current research interests include computational modeling to design catalysts for efficient upgrading of biomass to biofuels and to investigate ignition pathways of biofuel compounds. He is pursuing to apply state-of-the-art machine learning techniques to predict catalytic activity and biofuel properties. In his spare time, he enjoys listening to music and embroidering.

Mohammed completed M.S. in Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. He moved to North Dakota State University (NDSU), and obtained Ph.D. in Computational Chemistry in 2020, where he studied surface and interface effects on excited-state processes in metal and semimetal nanoclusters. After the Ph.D. defense in October-2020, he started the first postdoctoral research in the late Dr. Tao Yu group at the University of North Dakota (UND) October-2020. At Yu group, he studied electron beam enhanced surface plasmon in Ag nanoclusters for N₂ dissociation catalysis and excited state dynamics in graphene quantum dots (GQD) to tune the optical properties. He has joined the Kim group in November 2021, where he will study reaction mechanisms using ab initio and machine learning methods. Besides, he loves outdoor activities like – traveling, camping, and hiking.

Chris was born and raised in the Maryland suburbs near Washington, D.C. Before coming to CSU, in 2019 he obtained a B.S. in Chemistry and Mathematics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. At UW-Madison, Chris studied inorganic catalysis in the research groups of Dr. John Berry and Dr. Ive Hermans; his senior thesis examined the thermal conversion of CO2 to single carbon products. Before graduation, he also performed research under Dr. Chris Cahill at George Washington University – studying ligand effects in uranyl halogen complexes as well as bulk inorganic synthesis. Chris joined the Kim group during the Summer of 2022 and is currently examining the use of machine learning to predict material properties. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, biking, and listening to music.

Sabari spent his childhood first in the Bay Area, then in a small town in South India. After leaving Pomona College, where he performed research on electron transfer in dendritic zeolites and novel anti-malarial chemotypes with Dr. Roberto Garza-Lopez, he obtained his undergraduate degree in Chemistry and Mathematics from CU Boulder in 2019, performing a senior project using mathematical modeling techniques to study soil plutonium concentrations at the Rocky Flats Superfund Site. Sabari worked in the tech and environmental engineering sectors before starting his graduate studies at CSU in 2021. As part of the Kim group, Sabari applies machine learning techniques to design novel biofuel candidates, with an interest in exploring enzyme-driven synthetic techniques. In his free time, Sabari loves to explore Colorado’s mountains, and can be found biking, rock climbing, and skiing.

Jessica is a 2nd year undergraduate at CSU pursuing a B.S. in Data Science. She is passionate about the applications of computer science to societal problems. In her free time, Jessica enjoys hanging out with friends, listening to music, and trying out new restaurants.