Accelerating Materials Development with Greg Mulholland from Citrine Informatics

Sustainability is finally getting the attention it deserves as the global drive to reduce our carbon emissions gets more frantic each day. Thankfully, the progression of AI has accelerated the way materials and chemical manufacturers can go about their business in an environmentally friendly and sustainable manner.

Today I am joined by Greg Mulholland, the Co-Founder and CEO of Citrine Informatics, a technology company that is focused on accelerating the development of the next generation of materials and chemicals. We discuss the role of machine learning in Citrine’s technology, the challenges they are forced to overcome regarding their data sets, the model accuracy and explainability balance, and how Greg and his team validate their models. There is no doubt that Citrine’s work is vital for the global sustainability effort, and our guest explains his company’s collaborative programs, how publishing research articles has boosted Citrine’s profile, what this AI-powered business hopes to achieve in the next five years, and so much more! 

Key Points:

• Introducing Greg Mulholland, his professional background, and how he ended up at Citrine. 
• Greg explains what Citrine does and why this work is important for sustainability. 
• The role of machine learning in Citrine’s technology. 
• Taking a closer look at Citrine’s data sets and the data challenges that they encounter.
• The techniques that Greg and his team use to successfully handle small data sets. 
• Examining the balance between model accuracy and explainability. 
• How he validates his models. 
• An explanation of Citrine’s collaborative program with external researchers. 
• The benefits of publishing research articles. 
• Greg’s advice to other leaders of AI-powered startups. 
• His vision for Citrine’s impact and influence over the next five years. 

Quotes:

“I trained as an electrical engineer and got into material science because I believed that material science was really an important technology set of disciplines that we needed, to solve the world's most pressing environmental challenges.” — Greg Mulholland

“We started the company 10 years ago now; we've been able to show that machine learning and artificial intelligence, among other things, can be used to really accelerate the future of the materials and chemicals industry. It was the vision all along, but it really required a lot of technology development and we're really proud of how far we've come.” — Greg Mulholland

“The scientists in our community are brilliant people.” — Greg Mulholland

“Explainability is important. Accuracy is also important. Neither is dominant over the other. It turns out, a less accurate model that is more explainable can often help unlock new thinking in a scientist's mind, that then unlocks the next-generation product.” — Greg Mulholland

“Publishing what we do as a starter for more conversations; I think it helps us attract good talent. It helps people understand that we're doing cutting-edge research and continue to invest in driving forward the field. I take it as a little bit of a feather in our cap and a source of pride that we get to help the world move along into this new era of AI.” — Greg Mulholland

“We've seen companies remove toxic chemicals from important products much more quickly than they could have otherwise. We've seen companies reduce their energy consumption. We've seen companies reduce costs and reduce carbon input. Those are all really exciting to me.” — Greg Mulholland

Links:

Greg Mulholland on LinkedIn

Greg Mulholland on Twitter

Citrine Informatics

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