The Acceleration Consortium (AC) is pleased to announce collaborative research agreements with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) to build capacity for self-driving labs (SDLs) in Canada. The two main objectives of the agreements are to increase SDL adoption across the country and to grow the Canadian SDL talent pool through training and upskilling programs.

As part of this agreement, the AC will occupy two labs in the NRC’s newly built advanced materials research facility in Mississauga, part of the NRC’s Clean Energy Innovation Research Centre. These two spaces will be used as training labs and, when complete, they will be one of the world’s very first purposefully designed training facilities that will teach participants how to design, build and operate an SDL. SDLs, also known as materials acceleration platforms (MAPs), combine material science with the power of artificial intelligence, robotics, and advanced computing to autonomously and rapidly design and test new materials.

“The new AC training lab at the NRC’s advanced materials research facility is a game changer for SDLs,” said Alán Aspuru Guzik, director of the Acceleration Consortium. “Together with the NRC, we’re providing real-life research settings for people to practice with SDLs. This is likely the first of its kind facility in the world. Researchers can explore and ‘break things’ without the risk of having to try it first in a company or research setting first. This will help increase adoption of SDLs, when people can learn in a safe environment and preview see the impact they have on research and development.”  

“This partnership will not only allow for the training of highly qualified personnel in a cutting-edge, automated laboratory environment but will also build scientists’ confidence to venture into this transformative field,” said Dr. Caroline Cloutier, Director, Research and Development of the NRC’s Mississauga facility.

“By facilitating learning, strengthening competencies, and imparting multidisciplinary capabilities, we are supporting the NRC's entry into the fourth wave of research revolution: digitalization,” she said. “This collaboration exemplifies our commitment to leveraging advanced technologies like robotics and artificial intelligence to drive the future of materials research for clean energy innovation.”

With this new facility in Mississauga, the six new SDLs being built ​ as a new expansion of​​     ​ Lash Miller building at the University of Toronto and the AC’s first micro-credential SDL course, the AC and the NRC have effectively made a new SDL development corridor in the Greater Toronto Area.  

“We’re building critical mass and capacity in the GTA,” said Aspuru-Guzik. “I came to Canada to build SDLs and democratize their use. This partnership is going to benefit      Canada and the world. ”This agreement builds upon a successful existing partnership between the University of Toronto, an AC member, and the NRC.  

Dr. Mohamad Moosavi, Assistant Professor in the Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry Department at the University of Toronto, is working with Dr. Robert Black of the NRC on the computational algorithms and large language models that will enable design and discovery of nanoporous materials derived from metal-organic framework (MOF).

“Our project uses artificial intelligence and an SDL for the discovery of MOFs that can be used for the capture and electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide,” said Dr. Moosavi. “In partnership with the NRC, we bridge the gap between theoretical and computational research and practical materials discovery. Our focus is on creating materials that will effectively enable technologies to reduce carbon emissions.”

Dr. David Sinton, Professor in the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering at the University of Toronto and AC Scientific Leadership Team Member, is also using NRC facilities for his research. His researchers are using both NRC and University of Toronto labs as part of an iterative high-throughput electrocatalyst screening project with the AC.

“Our connections with the NRC are increasingly important as we move from research to application, and confront the challenges of scaling CO​₂ ​technologies - in our case for electrically powered CO​₂​ capture and CO​₂ ​conversion,” said Sinton.  

“This effort requires the screening of many materials and many device configurations. So, high-throughput experimentation and AI-guided experimentation are of critical importance to our work. The NRC facilities in Mississauga and Vancouver are playing a key role in this work.”

The work by Drs. Moosavi and Sinton are just two examples of what future collaborations between the AC and the NRC might hold for accelerating materials discovery. By supporting materials research and development, scaling up their production, and de-risking and demonstrating their application, the AC and the NRC are realizing their shared vision of accelerating the discovery of materials for a sustainable future.