Data, computation, and experiment are key pillars for achieving competencies required for the future of manufacturing and cross-cutting, convergent, and interdependent fields of research that could offer long-term economic impact and enhance the national security of the United States. The DMREF project advanced next generation workforce competencies in data handling, atomistic methods, advanced experimentation, and integrated workflows through data-driven research projects.

To that end, both Raymond Wang and Peiwen Ren developed these skills and successfully graduated with PhD and BS degrees, respectively, from Northwestern University and gave them competitive advantages to secured positions in industry:

• Dr. Raymond Wang is a Research Scientist at ByteDance Inc., focusing on AI-driven computational drug discovery (specifically, geometric deep learning for drug molecule design)

• Mr. Peiwen Ren is research staff at QuesTek Innovations, focusing on computational methods to develop new high-performance alloys, which is well known for their Materials Genome Initiative style of research.

Peiwen Ren also received the Hilliard Award for Undergraduate Research and Design by the MSE Department at Northwestern. This award has only been awarded for computational research once in the last ten years.