Robert Epps joined the Materials Science Center as a postdoctoral researcher in June 2022. He is an expert in data-driven research and autonomous experimentation system development. Robert received his bachelor’s in chemical engineering from Vanderbilt University, where he worked to develop void space tracking algorithms for microconcrete samples with nuclear waste containment applications. He then received his master’s and doctorate from North Carolina State University, where he developed autonomous microfluidic technologies for high-throughput analysis of colloidal nanocrystal reactions and machine learning driven experimentation. At NREL, Robert is working to build a data integrated lab space with robotics, automation, and machine learning driven experimentation. The aim of this work is to streamline the development of advanced functional materials through human-machine integrated research.

Research Interests

Automation

Machine learning

Data science

Design of experiments

Closed-loop experimentation

Materials science

Chemistry

Education

Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, North Carolina State University

M.S., Chemical Engineering, North Carolina State University

B.E., Chemical Engineering, Vanderbilt University 

Associations and Memberships

Member, Order of the Engineer

Featured Work

Artificial Chemist: An Autonomous Quantum Dot Synthesis Bot, Advanced Materials (2020)

Accelerated AI Development for Autonomous Materials Synthesis in Flow, Chemical science (2021)

Accelerated Development of Colloidal Nanomaterials Enabled by Modular Microfluidic Reactors: Toward Autonomous Robotic Experimentation, Advanced Materials (2020)

Automated Microfluidic Platform for Systematic Studies of Colloidal Perovskite Nanocrystals: Towards Continuous Nano-Manufacturing, Lab on a Chip (2017)

Modern Nanoscience: Convergence of AI, Robotics, and Colloidal Synthesis, Applied Physics Reviews (2021)

Universal Self-Driving Laboratory for Accelerated Discovery of Materials and Molecules, Chem (2021)

Multiscale Modeling and Optimal Operation of Millifluidic Synthesis of Perovskite Quantum Dots: Towards Size-Controlled Continuous Manufacturing, Chemical Engineering Journal (2021)

An Automated Flow Chemistry Platform to Decouple Mixing and Reaction Times, Reaction Chemistry & Engineering (2020)

Autonomous Nanocrystal Doping by Self‐Driving Fluidic Micro‐Processors, Advanced Intelligent Systems (2022)

Continuous Biphasic Chemical Processes in a Four-Phase Segmented Flow Reactor, Reaction Chemistry & Engineering (2021)

Patents

Reduced Pathlength Flow Cell for Inline Sample Characterization in Modular Fluoropolymer Tubing Microfluidics, U.S. Patent No. US20220241783A1 (2022)

Automate Microfluidic Platform for High-Throughput Screening and Optimization of Colloidal Semiconductor Nanocrystals, U.S. Patent No. US11499948B2 (2022)

Awards and Honors

First Place Winner, MicroTAS CHEMINAS Young Researcher Poster Award (2020)

First Place Winner, Edward M. Shoenborn Research Award (2020)

Honorable Mention, National Science Foundation Research Fellowship Program (2018)