Digital and AI-Driven Materials Innovation
Date & Time - July 8th, 2025
Location - Hong Kong
We hope you can join us at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) on July 8th for the Digital and AI-Driven Materials Innovation symposium.
Co-organized by the Office of Knowledge Transfer and the Department of Chemistry, this premier industry-academic forum brings together leading experts, pioneering technologists, and academic innovators to explore how artificial intelligence is transforming materials science.
Attendees will:
- Gain insights into how AI and computational tools are transforming materials discovery, from atomic-scale simulations to industrial applications
- Learn from leading experts across academia and industry, including speakers from industry, R&D centers and academics
- Explore real-world case studies on AI-enabled innovations in semiconductors, OLEDs, specialty polymers, and pharmaceutical formulations
- Engage in discussions on the future of materials informatics, high-throughput screening, and machine-learned force fields
- Network with scientists, engineers, and innovators driving the next wave of digital and AI-driven materials research
Through keynote presentations, technical talks, and a panel discussion, participants will gain actionable insights into how AI is accelerating materials innovation across sectors—from lab discovery to commercial impact.
09:30 – 10:00 Guest Registration
HKUST Clear Water Bay Campus
10:00 – 10:05 Welcome Remarks
Speaker: Prof. Tim Cheng, VPRD, HKUST
10:05 – 10:10 Opening Remarks
Speaker: Prof. Jianzhen Yu, Head and Chair Professor, Department of Chemistry, HKUST
10:10 – 10:15 Opening Remarks
Speaker: Dr. Michael Rauch, Associate Director of Materials Science, Schrödinger
10:15 – 10:20 Session Chair: Zhenyang Lin, HKUST
10:20 – 10:40 Physics-Enabled AI for Next-Generation Materials Discovery: Bridging Atomic-Scale Simulation and Machine Learning with Schrödinger
Speaker: Dr. Michael Rauch, Associate Director of Materials Science, Schrödinger
10:40 – 11:10 Materials Design in Electronics Industry: Application of Materials Informatics and High-Throughput Calculations
Speaker: Dr. Nobuyuki N. Matsuzawa, Director, Panasonic Corporation
11:10 – 11:30 Designing Tomorrow’s Materials: The Role of AI in Exchange-Correlation Functional
Speaker: Prof. Guanhua Chen, Chair Professor, Department of Chemistry, The University of Hong Kong
11:30 – 2:00 Lunch
Session Chair: Kevin Chen, HKUST
2:00 – 2:20 AI in Semiconductor Industry
Speaker: Dr. Ziyang Gao, Senior director, Hong Kong Microelectronics Research and Development Institute
2:20 – 2:40 Simulations of Atomic Level Processing with Examples from Metal ALD
Speaker: Dr. Simon Elliott, Senior Research Leader, Schrödinger
2:40 – 3:00 AI-Enabled OLED Materials Discovery
Speaker: Dr. Wei Xu, Research scientist, TCL AI Lab
3:00 – 3:20 Coffee break
Session Chair: Ping Gao, HKUST
3:20 – 3:40 AI-Guided Interfacial Engineering for Rational Design of Polymeric Microcapsules
Speaker: Prof. Jinglei Yang, Professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, HKUST
3:40 – 4:00 Advancing Specialty Polymer Innovation Using Molecular Simulation and Machine Learning
Speaker: Dr. Atif Afzal, Principal Scientist, Schrödinger
4:00 – 4:20 Accelerating Pharmaceutical Formulations using the Schrödinger Software Suite
Speaker: Dr. Sudharsan Pandiyan, Principal Scientist, Schrödinger
4:20 – 5:00 Panel discussion / Closing remarks
Our Speakers
Tim Cheng
Professor, VPRD, HKUST
Jianzhen Yu
Professor, Chem, HKUST
Dr. Michael Rauch
Associate Director of Materials Science, Schrödinger
Dr. Nobuyuki N. Matsuzawa
Director, Panasonic Corporation
Dr. Ziyang Gao
Senior Director, Hong Kong Microelectronics Research and Development Institute
Dr. Wei Xu
Research Scientist, TCL AI Lab
Guanhua Chen
Professor, The University of Hong Kong
Dr. Simon Elliott
Senior Research Leader, Schrödinger
Dr. Atif Afzal
Principal Scientist, Schrödinger
Dr. Sudharsan Pandiyan
Principal Scientist, Schrödinger
Jinglei Yang
Professor, HKUST