Maral Vafaie

Maral holds a BSc and MSc in Materials Science and earned her PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Toronto under the supervision of Prof. Ted Sargent. During her Ph.D., she developed deep expertise in optoelectronic materials and devices, leading to record-breaking next-generation infrared sensors, their translation to 3D imaging technologies, and the commercialization of material processing strategies through industry collaborations. Following this, Maral joined Prof. David Sinton’s group at the University of Toronto as a postdoctoral fellow, expanding her expertise to the design and discovery of electrocatalysts and the development of autonomous experimental platforms for carbon capture and conversion. Her research has made a measurable impact, with over 2,000 citations in leading scientific journals.

Maral is passionate about bridging materials science, robotics, and artificial intelligence to accelerate sustainable materials discovery for real-world applications. She joined the Inorganic Self-Driving Laboratory at the Acceleration Consortium, where she applies her expertise to the development of automated experimental platforms and leverages artificial intelligence to push the boundaries of functional materials discovery for optoelectronic, catalytic, and clean energy applications.