Rafael Gomez-Bombarelli joined the MIT faculty in January 2018. He received a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Chemistry from Universidad de Salamanca in Spain, followed by postdoctoral work at Heriot-Watt University and Harvard University after which he was a senior researcher at Kyulux NA applying Harvard-licensed technology to create real-life commercial organic light-emitting diode (OLED) products.
Dr. Gomez-Bombarelli’s research trajectory has evolved from experimental mechanistic studies of organic molecules with emphasis on environmental toxicity to computer-driven design of molecular materials. By combining first-principles simulation with machine learning on theoretical and experimental datasets he aims to accelerate the discovery cycle of novel practical materials.
Through his research at MIT he plans to address the role of molecular transformation in materials discovery, in areas such as catalyst design, the environmentally-minded development of novel and replacement chemicals, and designing for stability in advanced materials.
Rafa's work has been featured in journals such as Technology Review and the Wall Street Journal. He was also co-founder of Calculario, a materials discovery company that leverages quantum chemistry and machine learning to target advanced materials in a range of high-value markets.
