Alán Aspuru-Guzik
About
Alán Aspuru-Guzik is a professor of Chemistry and Computer Science at the University of Toronto since July 1st 2018.
He is also the Research Chair of Canada 150 in Theoretical Chemistry and a Canada CIFAR AI Chair at the Vector Institute. Alán began his independent career at Harvard University in 2006 and was a Full Professor at Harvard University from 2013-2018. He received his B.Sc. from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in 1999 and obtained a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley in 2004, where he was also a postdoctoral fellow from 2005-2006.
Alán conducts research in the interfaces of quantum information, chemistry, machine learning and chemistry. He was a pioneer in the development of algorithms and experimental implementations of quantum computers and quantum simulators dedicated to chemical systems. He has studied the role of quantum coherence in the transfer of excitonic energy in photosynthetic complexes and has accelerated the discovery by calculating organic semiconductors, organic photovoltaic energy, organic batteries and organic light-emitting diodes. He has worked on molecular representations and generative models for the automatic learning of molecular properties. Currently, Alán is interested in automation and “autonomous” chemical laboratories.
Among other recognitions, he received the Google Focused Award for Quantum Computing, the Sloan Research Fellowship, and was selected as one of the best innovators under the age of 35 by the MIT Technology Review. He is a member of the American Physical Society and an elected member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and received the Early Career Award in Theoretical Chemistry from the American Chemical Society.
Awards
- Canada 150 Research Chair in Theoretical & Quantum Chemistry, 2018
- Google Focused Award for Quantum Computing, 2018
- Elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 2017
- MIT Technology Review Young Innovator Under 35 (TR35), 2010
- American Chemical Society Hewlett-Packard Outstanding Junior Faculty Award, 2010
Relevant Publications
- Blau, S.M., Bennett, D.I.G., Kreisbeck, C., Scholes, G.D., & Aspuru-Guzik, A. (2018). Local protein solvation drives direct down-conversion in phycobiliprotein PC645 via incoherent vibronic transport. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 115(15), E3342–E3350. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1800370115
- Chiykowski, V.A., Cao, Tan, H.,…Y., Aspuru-Guzik, A., et al. (2018). Precise control of thermal and redox properties of organic hole-transport materials. Angewandte Chemie, 130(47), 15755-15759. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.201810809
- Blaskovits, J.T., Bura, T., Beaupre, S., Lopez, S.A.,…Aspuru-Guzik, A.,et al. (2017). A study of the degree of fluorination in regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene). Macromolecules, 50(1), 162-74. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.6b02365
- Lopez, S.A., Sanchez-Lengeling, B., de Goes Soares, J., & Aspuru-Guzik, A. (2017). Design principles and top non-fullerene acceptor candidates for organic. Joule, 1(4), 857-70. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2017.10.006
- Chandrasekaran, S., Aghtar, M., Valleau, S., Aspuru-Guzik, A., et al. (2015). Influence of force fields and quantum chemistry approach on spectral densities of bchl a in solution and in fmo protein. The Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 119(31), 9995-10004. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcb.5b03654
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