AT A GLANCE MATERIALS
CITRINE INFORMATICS Taking artificial intelligence to the materials research lab
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C&EN | CEN.ACS.ORG | NOVEMBER 6, 2017
to access a huge store of untapped data— information about failed experiments that is traditionally trashed. “These companies are driven by confirmation bias,” says Mulholland. “They celebrate a successful materials win, but when a material doesn’t work, they just throw that away as a failure.” Materials science was ripe for AI, says Mulholland, looking back on his experience in commercial R&D. “We were very good at generating data about our processes and our materials, but we weren’t good
electric materials. The firm worked with other academic research groups and began marketing to industry in 2014. Citrine isn’t naming customers, but in September, it reported that scientists from UCSB and a joint venture of General Motors and Boeing used its software to solve a long-standing challenge hindering the
Cloud support Citrine has combined the principles of artiicial intelligence and machine learning in cloud-based sotware that expedites and advances materials research through modeling based on in-house and publicly available data. Academic
Proprietary
Input results
Company Analyzing
AI-driven learning conducted using multiple data sets
Synthesizing
Fewer experiments
at using it for anything. We didn’t do much with it other than look for pretty straightforward trends.” As a result, R&D was slower and more challenging than Mulholland felt it should have been. He and his partners also sensed urgency, viewing the sector as on the cusp of changes that would require a leap forward in the lab. “Materials are about to take center stage in the next generation of products. The companies that will succeed will be the ones that can innovate most rapidly,” Mulholland says. While developing ideas, the company began working with a research group at the University of California, Santa Barbara, which had put together a database on thermo-
Market-ready materials
use of aluminum alloys in three-dimensional printing. Citrine, which has eight Ph.D. materials chemists on its staff of 26, has completed two rounds of investment, most recently a $7.6 million series A led by Innovation Endeavors, Prelude Ventures, and Data Collective. The World Economic Forum selected the company as one of the 30 most promising technology pioneers for 2017, and Citrine won the World Materials Forum Start Up Challenge Award this year. Mulholland says Citrine, which opened an office in Pittsburgh over the summer, has no plans to move beyond materials science, despite inquiries from other sectors, notably pharmaceuticals. “We respectfully decline,” he says, “because we are focused on advancing the next generation of advanced product development software in materials rather than for general chemistry.”—RICK MULLIN
C R E D I T: YA N G H . KU/C & EN / S H U TT E RSTOC K
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hen Greg Mulholland and Bryce Meredig met as graduate students at Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2012, they discovered a shared interest in materials research, one which they came at from different angles. Mulholland, an electrical engineer, had previously managed R&D at a transistor materials firm. Meredig, a materials scientist, had just completed his Ph.D. at Northwestern University with a focus on using artificial intelligence (AI) in R&D. Both were interested in developing software to accelerate research in materials. “Our backgrounds clicked naturally,” Meredig recalls. “It was a nice kind of handshake,” leading to a partnership that included Kyle Michel, a scientific computing expert Meredig met at Northwestern. The three launched Citrine Informatics, which has taken a unique tack among the armada of new companies developing AI for research. AI has made significant inroads in laboratories in recent years, allowing researchers to glean meaning from overwhelming stores of data that traditional digital technology can’t handle. While most AI software developers initially crafted products that can be used in any research or business setting, Redwood City, Calif.-based Citrine caters strictly to the problems of one industry. Launched in 2013, the company developed algorithms that allow computers to zero in on the chemical and physical laws underpinning materials research, Mulholland says. Its software was also designed
⚫ Launched: 2013 ⚫ Headquarters: Redwood City, Calif. ⚫ Focus: Materials R&D ⚫ Technology: Artificial intelligence ⚫ Founders: Bryce Meredig and Greg Mulholland ⚫ Funding or notable partners: $7.6 million from investors including Innovation Endeavors, Prelude Ventures, and Data Collective
