Tianhong Tan

Education

Expected 2029
Ph.D. in Chemical and Biological Engineering
University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI
2023
M.S. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
2020
B.E. in Chemical Engineering and Technology
East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai

Research Experience

2024 – now
Graduate Research Assistant
University of Wisconsin–Madison and The Ohio State University
  • AlloyBot self-driving laboratory: vision foundation models for scanning electron microscopy analysis, within a human-in-the-loop framework that integrates domain knowledge into the system
  • Bayesian design and optimization for expensive experiments and simulations, including MD-BAX for molecular dynamics campaigns and a generate-then-optimize framework for multi-objective molecular design
  • Collaboration with Honda Research Institute on time-series representation learning for catalyst performance characterization data
2021 – 2024
Graduate Research Assistant
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
  • Deep learning and Monte Carlo tree search for plastic-binding peptide design
  • Deep learning for digital soil organic carbon mapping, quantifying the relative importance of environmental predictors

Industry Experience

2019 – 2021
Research Intern
Solvay (now Syensqo) Eco-Efficient Products and Processes Laboratory (E2P2L), Shanghai
  • Descriptor-based machine learning for fluorinated organic reactions regioselectivity prediction
  • Density functional theory studies of silica grafting reactions with solvation effects

Honors and Awards

2025
Robert S. Brodkey Scholarship, The Ohio State University
2024
University Fellowship, The Ohio State University
2020
Excellent Undergraduate Thesis, East China University of Science and Technology

Teaching

Spring 2026
CBE 470 Process Dynamics and Control
Teaching Assistant University of Wisconsin–Madison
Fall 2023
SYSEN 6888 Deep Learning
Guest Lecturer Cornell University
Spring 2022
SYSEN 6880 Industrial Big Data Analytics and Machine Learning
Teaching Assistant Cornell University

Professional Services

Journal reviewer
Science Advances · Digital Discovery · Review of Scientific Instruments
Conference reviewer
IFAC Symposium on Dynamics and Control of Process Systems, Including Biosystems (DYCOPS)