Accelerating Formulation Mixtures with Self-Driving Labs
Dr. Frank Gu
Robert McEwen Chair in Cardiac Regenerative Medicine | Senior Scientist, McEwen Stem Cell Institute (UHN) | Professor, University of Toronto
Date: Friday, May 15, 2026
Time: 1–2 p.m. EDT
Host: Dr. Darius Rackus
Location: In-person and virtual
LKS Auditorium – 209 Victoria Street, and via Zoom
Lecture Takeaways
The main takeaways are as follows:
- Robots are learning to formulate products, and they’re getting better at assisting human researchers.
- Our research makes tackling complex, real-world formulation challenges tractable for biomedical and industrial applications.
Biography
Dr. Frank Gu is Professor of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry at the University of Toronto, Co-Director of the Acceleration Consortium’s Self-Driving Lab for Formulation (SDL-5), and Director of the Institute for Water Innovation at UofT. His research group, the Mixture Lab, sits at the intersection of robotics, artificial intelligence, and formulation science, with a mission to automate the art of formulation discovery. The lab develops self-driving laboratory platforms that combine high-throughput robotic experimentation, computer vision, and machine learning to autonomously navigate complex multi-component formulation spaces. These platforms span the full formulation workflow, from rapid ingredient screening and microstructure characterization to autonomous synthesis and performance optimization, and have demonstrated order-of-magnitude improvements in formulation outcomes across personal care, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, and water treatment. What distinguishes the Mixture Lab is its deep integration with industry R&D supporting product development teams. Frank is also the founder and Chairman of H2nanO, a water technology company commercializing solar-driven treatment systems for industrial wastewater.
No sign-up is required. For more information, contact the iBEST coordinator at ibest@torontomu.ca.
