ACS GSSPC Fall2026

Symposium Schedule – Tuesday, August 25th, 2026, W176c, McCormick Place Convention Center

Morning Session (8:30 am – 12:00 pm)

• 8:30 – 8:50 AM: Opening Remarks, Introduction of GSSPC Team, Introduction of Speakers and Agenda

• 8:50 – 9:35 AM: Keynote speaker 1 - Dr. Tyrel McQueen - Johns Hopkins University – Can LLMs and AI Transformers Accelerate Materials Synthesis and Discovery?

• 9:35 – 10:05 AM: Dr. Cory M. Simon - Oregon State University – Adaptive, Bayesian experimental design for efficient surfactant characterization

• 10:05 – 10:35 AM: Dr. Sita Sirisha Madugula – Oak Ridge National Laboratory – Navigating your chemistry career in the age of AI

• 10:35 – 11:00 AM: Networking / Break

• 11:00 – 12:00 PM: Lightning Talk featuring student presentation

Afternoon Session (2:00 pm – 6:00 pm)

• 2:00 – 2:45 PM: Keynote speaker 2 – Dr. Rajeev Surendran Assary - Argonne National Laboratory – AIAccelerated Energy Materials Discovery

• 2:45 – 3:15 PM: Dr. Laura Gagliardi – University of Chicago - Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Chemistry for Molecular and Materials Discovery

• 3:15 – 3:40 PM: Networking / Game Session

• 3:40 – 4:25 PM: Keynote speaker 3 - Dr. Pushkar Ghanekar - AI & Molecular Design Expert | Formerly Eli Lilly – AI-Native Operating System for Model-Driven Drug Discovery: From Software-as-a-Service to Service-as-a-Software

• 4:25 – 5:30 PM: Panel Session involving chemistry careers spanning academia, industry, and Government.

• 5:30 – 6:00 PM: Lighting Talk Award Presentation & Closing Remarks