Early-bird registration for Accelerate ends June 26 + a new keynote speaker!
Based at the University of Toronto, the Acceleration Consortium is a global community of academia, government, and industry that is accelerating the discovery of new materials and molecules needed for a sustainable future.
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Accelerate Conference
August 11–14, 2025
Toronto (in-person only)
There’s just 1 week left to take advantage of early-bird prices for this year’s Accelerate conference. Accelerate returns this August 11–14 for its 4th annual edition, hosted across two of downtown Toronto’s premier innovation hubs: MaRS Discovery District and the Schwartz Reisman Innovation Campus at the University of Toronto.
Attendees can take part in a variety of networking opportunities—from our evening social at Eataly Yorkville to a poster reception and exhibitor showcase featuring today’s most exciting ventures in science and technology.
We’re happy to welcome James Love as our third keynote alongside Rafael Gomez-Bombarelli and Mitra Taheri. Don’t miss the chance to hear from these leaders shaping the future of materials innovation.
James Love, Novo Nordisk
James is the Vice President of Cross Modalities Workflows, championing automation, self-driving labs and innovation across the Novo Nordisk value chain. As a leader within digital science and innovation, his global team is helping to create new data sets that make generative AI work for drug discovery and ultimately patients.
Trained as a protein X-ray crystallographer with education from Oxford and Cambridge, he brings over 15 years of US-based research experience to his current role in Denmark.
Rafael Gomez-Bombarelli, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Rafael brings experience from both academia and industry, with leadership roles at ventures like ZebiAI and Calculario
He is a recipient of Alphabet’s 2019 Google Faculty Award and the 2021 Machine Learning in the Chemical Sciences and Engineering Award from the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation
Mitra Taheri, Johns Hopkins University
Mitra is a professor in the department of materials science and engineering, director of the Materials Characterization and Processing (MCP) facility, and a member of the Hopkins Extreme Materials Institute
She is a 2021 Brimacombe medalist from the Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society for her pioneering contributions to in-situ microscopic and spectroscopic characterization, as well as a commitment to diversity in mentorship of the next generation
…and hear from an additional 50 of the thinkers, builders, and leaders defining what’s next in accelerated discovery, including:
Brandon Keith, Sanofi
Topic: Automated High Throughput Screening for Vaccine Formulation Development
Emily Moore, University of Toronto
Topic: Bringing Sustainability In: Using Group Model Building to Integrate Social, Environmental and Economic Considerations into SDL Research
Shoichi Matsuda, National Institute for Materials Science
Topic: Autonomous and automated high throughput robotic experiments for accelerated discovery of multi-components electrolyte for rechargeable batteries
Olivier Fontaine, Université de Montréal, Institut Courtois
Topic: Battery chemistry meets Artificial Intelligence
Eunice Aissi, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Topic: Ultra-High Throughput Materials Exploration through Inkjet Deposition
Nicholas Sandor, University of Victoria
Topic: Crystal Clear: Applying Computer Vision to Control and Optimize the Growth of Large Single Crystals from Solution
Simon K. Steensen, Technical University of Denmark
Topic: FINALES - Developing a general modular data infrastructure for materials acceleration platforms to facilitate data-driven battery research and design
Nicola Bell, University of Glasgow
Topic: Automating chemistry beyond our reactive atmosphere
Kristen Hallas, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Topic: Speak, See, Sense: How NLP, Robotics, and Computer Vision can Improve Automated Experimentation in Self-driving Laboratories
Woosuck Shin, National Institute of Advanced Science and Technology (AIST)
Topic: Development of automated system for ceramic powder dispensing and grinding
Register for early-bird tickets by June 26 and stay tuned for more programming details! In the meantime, take a peek at our schedule outline.