Viki Kumar Prasad hired at the University of Calgary

Viki Kumar Prasad joined the Department of Chemistry at the University of Calgary in July 2024. Viki is also affiliated with the Institute for Quantum Science and Technology and Centre for Molecular Simulation at the University of Calgary. As the principal investigator of the Prasad Research Group, he currently oversees research in the development and application of novel computational chemistry methodologies for molecular property predictions. In this regards, the group develops techniques that enhance conventional quantum chemistry methods leading to physics-aware methodologies. They adopt quantum computing principles to create quantum machine learning models and design algorithms for efficient quantum resource use. Additionally, the group works on training classical machine learning models with improved generalization and accuracy.

Prior to his independent research appointment, Viki served as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Toronto from 2022 to 2024, working in Hans-Arno Jacobsen's Middleware Systems Research group. During his postdoctoral research, he explored the application of quantum computing to predict chemical properties in an interdisciplinary collaboration. With the Data Sciences Institute postdoctoral fellowship, he continued his work at the University of Toronto, focusing on quantum machine learning methods for chemistry. Previous to this, Viki obtained his PhD in theoretical and quantum chemistry in 2021 from the University of British Columbia supervised by Gino DiLabio and co-supervised by Alberto Otero-de-la-Roza (University of Oviedo). His doctoral thesis focused on developing new quantum chemical methods for the efficient and accurate electronic structure modeling. In 2016, he completed his MSc at the Indian Institute of Technology (Kharagpur), working with Anoop Ayyappan. He earned his BSc in 2014 from St. Xavier's College (Kolkata). Additionally, Viki had a brief postdoctoral experience in early 2022 in computational materials science at the University of British Columbia, participating in a collaborative project with Robert Szilagyi and the "AtomDec" consortium to design carbon-based materials. He also spent time at the University of Melbourne in the summer of 2016, working under Lars Goerigk's supervision.