Undergraduate Summer Research

Harnessing machine learning for chemistry research

Alex Leffel, a chemistry senior, uses supercomputers to build a large database of highly accurate chemical data for transition metals.

“On top of getting important information about these elements out of the database, we are looking at how we can use new methods like machine learning to make how we conduct research and simulate molecules even more efficient and accurate,” he said.

As a computational chemist, Leffel said he enjoys using the high-performance computers at Iowa State and working with even larger supercomputers in Texas and California.