Albert in Action: Helping Scientists Reduce Product Design Iterations
In a materials science lab, the formulation and design process is where the proverbial rubber meets the road. Scientists and product formulators are consistently challenged with the task of transforming customers’ application requirements into innovative, marketable formulations. This is no easy feat, especially considering most materials development formulations are complex and highly specialized.
The evolution of Albert Worksheet is revolutionizing formulation and product design in the lab, read a quick snapshot of Albert Worksheet and how it helps R&D teams accelerate innovation.
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Without Albert: Challenges in Product Design
Many chemists, even those with a deep understanding of the science, processing methods, and materials interactions of a particular chemistry, often find themselves undergoing extensive trial and error in their pursuit of developing the perfect formulation. Key challenges include:
- Repeating past experiments and reaching the same dead ends.
Similar formulations or product designs may have been previously tested by other scientists, but access to this data is often limited because the original formulation data and corresponding experiment results are not stored in a centralized, searchable database. - Loss of time due to hours searching for historical data across multiple systems.
Retrieving data from past experiments can be a time-consuming—or often impossible—endeavor because it is scattered across numerous spreadsheets, electronic lab notebooks (ELNs), lab information systems (LIMS), and even paper-based lab notebooks. As a result, scientists are forced to rely on educated guesswork or spend hours sifting through lab records and multiple systems to determine the best approach for their experiments. - Intellectual property (IP) loss.
The absence of a systematic method for storing, managing, and accessing R&D data results in the loss of precious intellectual property (IP) at the end of each experiment. This requires chemists to reinvent the wheel with each new project rather than being able to leverage and build on the valuable data collected by their colleagues.
These issues not only squander valuable time, resources, and available inventory—but also open the door for competitors to develop better products, faster. Albert changes all of this.
With Albert: Better Results with Fewer Iterations
Albert Worksheet streamlines the formulation and product design process, empowering scientists with the data-driven insights and productivity tools they need to reduce iterations and meet project requirements faster.
With Albert Worksheet, scientists not only gain access to all their organization’s historical data in one centralized and easily accessible location—they also benefit from powerful analytical tools, including artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), to search, track, and predict the property outcomes of material formulations. Here’s how they benefit:
- Generate a simple report for the desired type of formulation they want to develop. Within seconds, they can automatically access every formula ever developed within their organization, complete with corresponding property data and measured results.
- Identify trends regarding how various materials and formulations impact measured properties to effectively modify an existing formula and meet the scientist’s specific needs.
- Leverage artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) capabilities to simulate experiments and run property predictions—guiding effective formula iteration before returning to the laboratory bench.
ALBERT WORKSHEET IN ACTION
Let’s say a scientist is tasked with developing a new rubber material suited for a highly specialized aerospace application, requiring exceptionally high-temperature resistance and tensile strength. Traditionally, this scientist would face numerous dead ends while attempting to create a formulation that meets these stringent requirements.
With Albert, this scientist can do a simple search for rubber formulations and, within seconds, see a comprehensive list of all rubber formulas developed within the company. This list includes detailed information on resulting properties, allowing the scientist to analyze formulations with the highest heat resistance and tensile strength.
- All R&D data is centralized and easily accessible in the Albert R&D Platform.
- Quickly search for past projects with extensive filtering options such as product applications, market segment, technologies used, and more.
- Simulate experiments to predict property outcomes and quickly identify the best direction to go in, reducing time spent running unnecessary experiments during formula iteration.
Bottomline Impact to the Company
Chemists can develop successful formulations faster. This means higher productivity, less waste and frustration, and significantly faster speed to market.
It’s easier than ever for a new chemist to jump right in and begin inventing. Rather than spending months getting up to speed, new chemists can quickly absorb knowledge from past work in Albert with instant access to all product designs, formulations, and experiment results at the click of a button.
Companies can retain valuable intellectual property data. This means subsequent generations of chemists will benefit from and build on the knowledge and expertise of their predecessors.
“Albert is revolutionizing how scientists search for properties. Without Albert, it would be difficult and time consuming to find out if someone in the organization had ever tested a formulation before. But with Albert, leveraging historical data to help validate or optimize a formulation is just a few clicks away.”
Gage Fryz | Technical Success Specialist at Albert, bringing 7+ years of experience in chemistry and laboratory management, primarily focused on elastomer polymer formulations and the development of a variety of rubber recipes.
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