Discovering New Materials with Innovative Properties is the Key for a Sustainable Future
In this episode, we discuss the integration of computation-based approaches and machine learning/AI in materials science research with Dr. Abhishek Singh, professor at the Indian Institute of Science and the Founder/CEO of SciDentAi.
Using AI for Accelerated Development of new materials and optimising manufacturing process
Abhishek Singh was instrumental in developing aNANt, India’s first, and the world’s largest, freely available 2D-computational materials database. It led the Bengaluru-based Professor at the Materials Research Centre, Indian Institute of Science (IISc) to work with defense laboratories on structural and functional materials. And this gave shape to his idea of helping manufacturing companies improve their processes with the use of artificial intelligence (AI), while also enabling them to discover new materials at an accelerated pace.
The twin objectives prompted Singh to found SciDentAi with Madhaw Anand, who had extensive experience in the steel industry and whom he had known for long. “We started developing machine learning models and algorithms to build models that are highly predictive, which can help accelerate the development of new materials,” says Singh, who has a Master’s in Physics from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi and a PhD in Computational Materials Science from Tohoku University, Japan.
Incubated at IISc, SciDentAi went through a process of customer discovery at the Gopalakrishnan-Deshpande Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at IIT Madras. Within months, a major steel-producing company had signed up as its first customer, Singh says. SciDentAi has developed a SaaS platform that will help manufacturing companies optimise their industrial processes and cut down their fuel and carbon footprint. “Sustainability is our main DNA,” Singh says.
The startup also aims at helping companies develop new materials using Al-driven computational methods. Usually, the process of developing materials takes two to three decades, but SciDentAi’s method will help companies complete the process within a year, he says.
Image from the Shaastra Magazine IIT Madras
Both these processes have been validated by the industry. The company is talking to a few more leading producers of steel and aluminium in India and abroad as potential customers. According to Singh, the company will look at process industries such as copper, polymers, chemicals, petrochemicals and cement in the future. These are high-polluting industries and helping them cut down their carbon footprint will play a major role in protecting the environment.
SciDentAi – the name is derived from Science-Driven Enterprise Artificial Intelligence-seeks to deal with the pain points of these industries using core knowledge combined with Al tools and computational modelling technologies. Singh asserts that there is a global market for their product. It has signed up a few partners and is in the process of enlisting more for markets such as South East Asia, the Gulf region and Europe Singh says investors are interested and SciDentAi is looking to raise funds to scale up operations over the next 12 months.
-N. Ramakrishnan
Image from the Shaastra Magazine IIT Madras
