Aldair Gongora is a staff scientist in the Analytics for Advanced Manufacturing group in the Materials Engineering Division under the Engineering Directorate at LLNL. He also serves as a Deputy-Director for the Data Science Institute’s Consulting Service (DSICS). His research work is at the confluence of machine learning, robotics, automation, and advanced manufacturing. He is interested and focused on accelerating scientific discovery by designing, building, and deploying the next generation of (1) research laboratories, such as self-driving laboratories or autonomous experimentation platforms, that leverage modern tools and capabilities and (2) autonomous robotic scientists that are able to work with and assist human scientists with a myriad of experimental tasks.  Both of his efforts are geared toward revolutionizing and accelerating the scientific discovery process by focusing on critical challenges in materials science, climate science, life sciences, and sustainable manufacturing. Aldair holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Rockhurst University and a Master's and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Boston University, where he conducted research on autonomous experimentation for mechanical design. 

 

Research Interests:

Machine Learning and Data Analytics

Automation and Robotics

Self-driving Laboratories and Autonomous Research Systems

Additive Manufacturing and Sustainable Manufacturing

Experimental and Computational Mechanics

Energy and Climate Sciences

Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, Boston University, 2021

M.S., Mechanical Engineering, Boston University, 2018

B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Rockhurst University, 2016