Sangtae Kim, Ph.D.

Verseon is pleased to announce the appointment of its new CTO, Dr. Sangtae (Sang) Kim. Sang, a member of the US National Academy of Engineering, will spearhead expansion of the company’s data-science and AI initiatives. He will also maintain his current role at Purdue as Distinguished Professor and Jay and Cynthia Ihlenfeld Head of the Davidson School of Chemical Engineering. The inaugural executive director of the Morgridge Institute for Research and a recipient of the Ho-Am Prize, Sang brings extensive experience in AI- and data-driven drug discovery and development to the company.

Sang’s engineering and data-science expertise will both complement and expand Verseon’s already significant technological advantages in computer-driven drug design. During the course of its drug discovery programs across many therapeutic indications, Verseon continues to generate large proprietary in vitro and in vivo data sets for novel chemical matter from previously uncharted regions of chemical space. Under Sang’s leadership, the company will leverage its data sets to unveil new therapeutic applications for this novel chemical matter… Continue reading.

Sangtae Kim, Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at Purdue, will be the next Jay and Cynthia Ihlenfeld Head of the School of Chemical Engineering. Sangtae Kim’s and Arvind Varma’s appointments will overlap for the month of July to facilitate the transition, with Varma serving as Jay and Cynthia Ihlenfeld Head through July 31, 2016 and Kim as the Jay and Cynthia Ihlenfeld Head of Chemical Engineering, effective August 1, 2016.

Sangtae Kim’s impressive record of leadership in the public and private sectors includes Division Director, NSF Division of Shared Cyberinfrastructure and Vice President for R&D IT at pharmaceutical companies Eli Lilly and Warner Lambert. His faculty career started at the University of Wisconsin where he made pioneering discoveries in microhydrodynamics and coauthored the 1991 book on this same topic. Dr. Kim is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the AICHE and AIMBE, a Trustee of the AICHE Foundation and past member of the Science Board of the Food and Drug Administration. His research recognitions include the 2013 Ho-Am Prize in Engineering, AICHE’s Allan P. Colburn Award (1993), and the Award for Initiatives in Research from the National Academy of Sciences (1992). Dr. Kim received concurrent BSc and MSc degrees (1979) from Caltech and his PhD (1983) from Princeton.

Distinguished Professor Sangtae Kim was elected Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AICHE). This prestigious recognition is the AICHE’s highest grade of membership and was bestowed upon Kim for his significant professional accomplishment in chemical engineering.

Professor Kim has been a faculty member in the School of Chemical Engineering at Purdue since 2003 and he is a member of the National Academy of Engineering.

Professor Kim’s research includes work in mathematical and computational methods for "microhydrodynamics." The work involves using powerful computers and mathematical methods to learn how proteins interact with other "microstructures" inside cells and to design electronic devices that may "self-assemble," similar to the growth of structures in living organisms. In self-assembly, devices might eventually be fabricated using techniques based on chemical attractions, rather than the complex and expensive processes now used.