Robert Epps

Robert Epps joined the Materials Science Center as a postdoctoral researcher in June 2022. He is an expert in data-driven research and autonomous experimentation system development. Robert received his bachelor’s in chemical engineering from Vanderbilt University, where he worked to develop void space tracking algorithms for microconcrete samples with nuclear waste containment applications. He then received his master’s and doctorate from North Carolina State University, where he developed autonomous microfluidic technologies for high-throughput analysis of colloidal nanocrystal reactions and machine learning driven experimentation. At NREL, Robert is working to build a data integrated lab space with robotics, automation, and machine learning driven experimentation. The aim of this work is to streamline the development of advanced functional materials through human-machine integrated research. 

Automation

Machine learning

Data science

Design of experiments

Closed-loop experimentation

Materials science

Chemistry