The CoReACTER logo: A cartoon of a reactor, with swirls of blue and green against a light blue background. Under the cartoon is text saying 'CoReACTER'.

Humans of the CoReACTER

ReACTERs

A white person standing and smiling against a bright, mostly white background. They are wearing glasses and a white dress shirt with small dots. Half of their face is lit.

Evan Walter Clark Spotte-Smith (EWCSS) (they/them)
Current Position: Ad Astra Fellow and Assistant Professor of Chemistry, UCD; Adjunct Professor of Chemical Engineering, CMU
E-mail: ewcspottesmith@cmu.edu

A South Asian man with thick black and gray hair standing up looks dead at the camera with tight lips. He is wearing a patially buttoned striped cream shirt, and his hand is on his hip (hip not visible). In the background are mostly green plants, with some white and red flowers.

Mohammad Nahidul Islam (he/him)
Current Position: Incoming Master's Student in Chemical Engineering, University of Calgary
E-mail: nahidulislam.che@gmail.com

Collaborators

A white man with a beard and short, curly hair. He is wearing a white shirt, suit vest, green tie, and glasses, and he is slightly smiling at the camera. The background faintly shows some hills and trees.

Samuel M. Blau (he/him)
Current Position: Career Research Scientist, LBNL
E-mail: smblau@lbl.gov

A white woman is giving a wide smile. She stands against a plain, gray background. She is wearing glasses and a black and yellow top.

Rachel C. Kurchin (she/her)
Current Position: Assistant Research Professor, CMU
E-mail: rkurchin@cmu.edu

Visiting Researchers

Alumni and Former Affiliates

A South Asian woman with curly, wavy black hair gives a slight smile to the camera. She is wearing a striped white dress shirt against a light gray background.

Shreya Pagaria (she/her)
Current Position: Master's Student in Artificial Intelligence Engineering-Chemical Engineering
E-mail: spagaria@andrew.cmu.edu

A South Asian woman with wavy shoulder-length hair. She is wearing a white t-shirt and glasses. She faces right and looks at the camera with a cocked head.

Vanshika Raj Singh (she/her)
Current Position: Bachelor's Student in Chemical Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra
E-mail: vanshikarajsinghv@gmail.com

A Black woman with a round face is smiling at the camera in front of a blue-gray background. She wears her hair in braids, some of which are silver. She is wearing a white shirt under a sea green and silver layer.

Katherine (Kitty) Pierre-Louis (she/her)
Current Position: Visiting Student
E-mail: kpierrel@andrew.cmu.edu

A Southeast Asian woman with brown eyes and long brown hair streaked with blonde gives a slight smile to the camera. Standing in front of a white background, she is wearing several gold earrings and a black sleeveless top.

Punna Amornvivat (she/her)
Current Position: Bachelor's Student in Chemical Engineering, CMU
E-mail: pamornvi@andrew.cmu.edu

Interested in Joining?

Before you reach out or apply to work with us, it's a good idea for you to check out The CoReACTER Manual. If you like what you see and you feel aligned with our goals and philosophies, great! If you find yourself disagreeing with a lot of our core principles, this might not be a place where you want to devote your energy.

Graduate Students

We are looking for one PhD student to work on a funded project based on Ad Astra Fellowship startup funding. This position would begin January 1, 2026. The aim of this project is to develop and apply computational methods for statistical learning on chemical reaction network (CRNs) structures. Of particular interests are (directed) hypergraph neural networks, which can be used to predict vertex (molecule), hyperedge (reaction), or hypergraph (network) features. While this project will be heavily focused on algorithm design and software development, especially in its early stages, we also intend to employ the methods developed for such applications as electrolyte decomposition in metal-ion batteries or biomass pyrolysis. One scholarship of stipend €25,000 per annum is available for 4 years for the successful applicant. Fees will be also covered. There will be a requirement to teach in undergraduate laboratories and tutorials as part of the scholarship.

The opening is listed on the UCD vacancies page, and a full description (with job expectations and desired qualifications) is posted here. See Instructions below for a brief outline of how to express your interest. Applications are due October 31, 2025. We will reach out with further details, including information related to (virtual) interviews, after the closing date.

Postdocs

We do not currently have funding for postdoctoral researchers, but interested candidates who currently hold external funding or are willing to pursue postdoctoral fellowships are always welcome to reach out. Some opportunities for postdoc fellowships are provided in our resources page.

Undergraduates

The CoReACTER always welcomes undergraduate researchers! No prior research experience is required to work in the CoReACTER, but a background in chemistry, chemical engineering, materials science, or computer science may be helpful.

UCD: There are some formal systems in place for UCD students to get research experience. You can receive summer research placements, though opportunities are limited. You can also work in the CoReACTER as part of your fourth-year research project. Of course, you can work with us even without this formal support, but we may not be able to compensate you (and we really don't support uncompensated labor)!

CMU: CMU students can also perform research for credit. It may also be possible to obtain funding for undergraduate research (e.g., through HURAY, SURF, or ChESS). Note that, since EWCSS is an Adjunct Professor who is not physically located in Pittsburgh, collaboration with the CoReACTER may be more logistically challenging than working in other research groups.

Instructions

If you are interested in working in the CoReACTER, please send an e-mail to EWCSS. In your message, please provide a CV and answer the following questions:

  1. What project(s) you are interested in working on?

  2. Why you are interested in this work, and why are you interested in performing this work within the CoReACTER?

  3. What is your dream vacation destination?

All source code and software associated with this website is released under the MIT license. The text, including blog posts, are released under the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license. Please attribute this work overall to The CoReACTER; Evan Walter Clark Spotte-Smith. Individual posts should be attributed to their authors. Last modified: October 11, 2025. This website was built with the Julia programming language and the Franklin.jl static web framework, building off of the "basic" template.