Hi! I am Max Liu, a chemical engineer and programmer working in the Green Group at MIT. I am a PhD candidate and lead developer of the open-source Reaction Mechanism Generator (RMG) software, with a research focus on modeling polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) formation in pyrolysis and combustion.
I was born in China and raised in the United States, spending my formative years in a suburb near Atlanta before attending Georgia Tech for my undergraduate studies. My love of chemistry and desire to do fundamental research led me to MIT, where I joined the research group of Prof. William Green to work on chemical kinetics.
As part of my research, I was introduced to open-source software devleopment through RMG, and a large part of my thesis work involves improving the capabilities and accuracy of RMG in modeling gas phase chemistry, particularly for PAH formation. My roles within the group also grew to include being the webmaster of the interactive RMG website, admin of one of our Linux computing clusters, and now the lead developer of RMG.
Additionally, I had the opportunity to participate in the Chemical Engineering Practice School as part of my masters work, which involved 4 very different projects over 4 months at 2 companies. This gave me invaluable experience in project management, meeting deadlines, and presenting. Being able to travel to Australia was also a huge plus!
In my spare time, I enjoy traveling, cooking, playing piano and violin, and gaming. I am a member of the MIT Video Game Orchestra, a student-led group which arranges and performs music from various video games. I also learned how to sail while at MIT, which provides a nice break from research with an incredible view from the Charles River.
On the programming front, I have 3+ years of experience in open-source development in Python, in Linux/MacOS environments using git/GitHub. As admin of a Linux server and Django website, I am also familiar with shell scripting, Django, HTML+CSS, JavaScript, and sqlite. In addition, my chemical engineering background gives me experience with chemical kinetic modeling and simulation (RMG, CHEMKIN, Cantera), quantum chemistry calculations (Gaussian, QChem, ORCA), process simulation (Aspen), computational fluid dynamics (COMSOL), 3D modeling (Solidworks, Inventor). Finally, MATLAB, Mathematica, LaTeX, and Microsoft Word/Excel/Powerpoint/Visio have been vital tools throughout my academic and professional work.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
Expected 2019
GPA: 4.8/5.0
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
June 2017
GPA: 4.8/5.0
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA
May 2014
GPA: 3.98/4.0
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
I work in Prof. William Green's research group in fundamental and applied chemical kinetics. I am currently the lead developer of Reaction Mechanism Generator, an automatic mechanism generation program developed by our group, written in Python. My research focus is on modeling the formation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
As a teaching assistant for 10.37 Chemical Kinetics and Reactor Design, I worked with a class of 60 undergraduate students through weekly office hours and occasional review sessions. Other tasks included grading exams, reviewing homework solutions, and coordinating homework grading with 4 graders.
Woodside Energy, Perth, Australia
I worked at Woodside for my second Practice School station. Our first project was resolving mass balance discrepancies within the high pressure fuel gas system at the plant via meter calibration and data reconciliation. Our second project was focused on heat exchanger design and analysis via CFD to explore geometries made possible by 3D printing.
MedImmune, Gaithersburg, MD
I worked at MedImmune for my first Practice School station. Our first project focused on developing computational tools to simplify data analysis for hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry, and our second project focused on improving understanding of protein solution behavior through both experimentation and computation.
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA
I was a teaching assistant for MATH 2403 Differential Equations for three semesters, in charge of one or two class sections of around 35 students each per semester. Responsibilities included teaching two 50 minute recitation sessions per week per class, holding office hours for individual help, as well as writing, proctoring, and grading quizzes and exams.
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA
I worked with Dr. Wei Liu in the research group of Prof. Yulin Deng on the development and optimization of a polyoxometalate (POM) based fuel cell. We successfully designed an air breathing PEM fuel cell that uses POMs as a mediator between raw biomass and oxygen. We performed tests with various POMs and biomass sources, including starch, cellulose, lignin, switchgrass, and wood powder.
Georgia-Pacific Gypsum, Decatur, GA
As an R&D co-op at GP Gypsum, I worked on improving the performance of wallboard and underlayment products along with product testing. Screened various additives to understand effects on product performance. Evaluated methods to improve lab practices to better replicate full scale process conditions. Developed preliminary plans to implement pilot line at the research facility. Learned about industry standards and regulations as well as standard testing procedures for wallboard products.