Annual Caress Lecture: Dr. Markus Kraft, Churchill College Cambridge, Professor of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering

The GW Department of Chemistry is pleased to present our annual Caress Lecture featuring Dr. Markus Kraft, FREng

Professor Kraft, will discuss Digital chemistry technologies such as machine learning, knowledge engineering and laboratory automation are transforming materials discovery for urgent challenges in energy and healthcare. I will outline a cohesive framework that integrates advanced databases, AI models, ontologies and robotic platforms to address bottlenecks in chemical research. The World Avatar will serve as the central case study. It is a dynamic, agent driven knowledge graph built on FAIR principles that unifies data and models across domains. Ontologies capture materials, reactions, equipment and protocols; semantic agents ingest experimental and computational data, harmonise units and provenance, run simulations and predictors, reason over constraints and trigger actions from hypothesis generation to instrument control. Because the graph is live and interoperable through RDF, OWL and SPARQL, new results are instantly available to other agents, enabling closed loop optimisation and reproducible, auditable decisions. Examples in reticular chemistry and automated laboratory systems will show coordinated molecular design, property prediction, synthesis planning based on literature aware retrieval and robotic execution with real time quality checks, moving towards autonomous discovery.

The talk will be followed by a reception.  Please RSVP to gwchemgwu [dot] edu (gwchem[at]gwu[dot]edu) if you plan on attending from outside of the university.  The building is secure and I want to make certain that you can gain access.

About the Speaker

Professor Kraft,  Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, researches data-driven modelling, machine learning, and semantic web technologies and has pioneered The World Avatar – an all-encompassing knowledge graph approach to developing a dynamic world model. He co-edited the book "Intelligent Decarbonisation" which comprehensively assesses the current and future impact of digital technologies and artificial intelligence on the decarbonisation of key economic sectors. He is a Fellow of Churchill College and a Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology at the University of Cambridge. Until the beginning of 2025 he has been the founding Director of the Cambridge Centre for Advanced Research and Education in Singapore (CARES), the University of Cambridge's first overseas research centre, based at CREATE. In 2025 Prof Kraft is a visiting Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at MIT. He is an elected Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. 

Location: SEH B1220. Please note that this is an in-person and online special presentation. Reception will follow.

The Caress Lecture Series

The Caress lecture series was established by Drs. Edward and Virginia Caress and is designed to feature leaders in their fields who have made substantive contributions to any area of chemistry as determined by a committee of the faculty.

Please join us either virtually or in-person.  If you are outside of GW and would like to join, just drop us an email at gwchemgwu [dot] edu (gwchem[at]gwu[dot]edu) and let us know that you are coming.

All are welcome. If you plan on attending please email gwchemgwu [dot] edu. Thank you.