ANOOP C

RESEARCHER

Innovative professional with a Ph.D. in Computational Chemical Engineering and experience in developing strategies and analytical solutions for technological projects. Expertise in preparing grant proposals, collaborating with cross-disciplinary stakeholders, and delivering actionable insights for innovation. Passionate about aligning cutting-edge technologies with strategic business objectives, ensuring impactful outcomes in global markets.

WORK EXPERIENCE

AI / GenAI Researcher
Walmart Centre / IIT Madras
India
March–Sept 2025
  • Applied LLM Systems Engineering – designing end-to-end pipelines for data extraction, cleaning, summarization, visualization, and interactive UIs (Flask, Tkinter).
  • Knowledge Graphs & RAG – integrating structured retrieval, optimization, and domain knowledge with LLMs to improve accuracy and insights.
  • Mathematical & Theoretical Foundations – applying statistical physics, diffusion models, optimization (Lagrangian methods), and probabilistic reasoning to GenAI efficiency and learning theory.
  • Domain-Driven AI Applications – adapting AI for engineering, manufacturing, WASH (water, sanitation, hygiene), BOM generation, and educational/interactive tools.
  • AI Infrastructure & Optimization – hands-on with Docker, LLM finetuning, vLLM inference of SLM.
Research Engineer
Solvay Chair: Centrale Lille
Lille, France
Oct 2024
  • Partnered with Solvay for product design and to build computational models as part of the Plastiloop project focused on circular economy innovations.
  • Designed and implemented bio-informatics models (LSTM, GNN).
  • Created technical documentation and presented findings to stakeholders.
Researcher
Procter and Gamble: Ghent University
Belgium
2023–2024
  • Business Decision Making: Associated with behavioral and consumer research team of Product research. Preparing and submitting dossiers for product approvals and conducting risk assessments.
  • Collaborated seamlessly with Product Researchers and Consumer Market Initiatives to leverage data and extract business insights.
  • Conducted consumer/product research using digital technologies (sensor data).
  • Applied data analytical skills to extract valuable insights and informed decision-making.
Dual PhD Researcher
Ghent University / Centrale Lille
Belgium/France
2019–2023
  • Industry Collaboration: Collaborated with Chemical industry partners to develop advanced computational models, both mechanistic (Microkinetic modelling) and Machine learning models like XGBoost, SVM, and neural networks.
  • Internship at GSK Pharmaceuticals on their product development and digitalisation initiative, Wavre, Belgium
  • Data Analysis and Integration: Assessed the model and interpreted it using SHAP, Permutation importance, and PDP, providing actionable insights for process optimization
  • Mentorship: Supervised and mentored 3 master's thesis students, providing guidance on data analysis and modeling techniques.
  • Knowledge Transfer: Conducted and facilitated three technical workshops for groups of students and researchers, ranging from 5 to 30 participants

◢ IMPACT ◣

  • Published 5 research papers in top-tier journals
  • Delivered 3 numerical models to industrial partners for Fischer-tropsch catalysis process (EU circular economy initiative)
Fellowship Researcher
IIM Bangalore - Decision Science Department
India
2017–2018
  • Collaborated with faculty and industry partners on real-world decision science applications
  • Developed data-driven models for business analytics and operational efficiency

EDUCATION

PhD in Computational Chemical Engineering
Ghent University
Gent, Belgium
2019–2022
  • Specialisation: Computational statistical and machine learning model development
  • Achievement: 5 high impact computational papers
Master of Science by Research
Indian Institute of Technology
Madras, India
2014–2017
  • Specialisation: Chemical Engineering, CGPA: 8.94/10
  • Achievement: Rank 4 in the batch
Bachelor of Technology
University of Calicut
Kerala, India
2010–2014
  • Chemical Engineering, Distinction with Honours, CGPA: 8.61/10
  • Awarded MHRD full scholarship (99.5 percentile)

SKILLS & PERSONAL

SOFTWARE

Python (PyTorch, Keras), SQL, Databricks, Microsoft Office Suite

LANGUAGES

English (fluent), Malayalam (native), Hindi (fluent), Dutch (intermediate)

INTERESTS

Reading (Finance), Watching movies (esp. comedy), Playing cricket

PUBLICATIONS

Advancing Bio-catalysis Predictions: Leveraging Machine Learning Models for Accurate multi-class Activity Classification
Under submission 2024, Chemical Engineering Journal
Recent advances in the use of Steady-State Isotopic Transient Kinetic Analysis data in (micro)kinetic modeling for catalyst and process design
2023, Catalysis Communications
Multi-output machine learning models for kinetic data evaluation: A Fischer–Tropsch synthesis case study
2022, Chemical Engineering Journal
Efficient Promoters and Reaction Paths in the CO2 Hydrogenation to Light Olefins over Zirconia-Supported Iron Catalysts
2022, ACS Catalysis
Machine learning based interpretation of microkinetic data: A Fischer–Tropsch synthesis case study
2022, Reaction Chemistry & Engineering
Unravelling the influence of catalyst properties on light olefin production via Fischer–Tropsch synthesis: A descriptor space investigation using Single-Event MicroKinetics
2021, Chemical Engineering Journal