From Lab Bench to Algorithms
Hi, I’m Aravindan Natarajan, and I’m thrilled you’re here.
I remember the exact moment chemistry clicked. Seven years old, watching potassium permanganate bloom into vibrant purple in a test tube – magic! It wasn’t just the color; it was the change, the transformation happening right before my eyes. That spark ignited a journey, a fascination that led me through years of study, culminating in a master’s degree in chemistry. I loved the intellectual challenge, the process of unraveling the mysteries of molecules. But something felt… missing. The lab, while fascinating, felt limiting. The experiments, often tedious and repetitive, seemed to constrain the scope of what I could explore.
Then, in my final year, I discovered electrochemistry. It was a revelation! Suddenly, I wasn’t just observing reactions; I was conducting them. It was like conducting an orchestra of electrons, and I was the conductor, manipulating the flow, and orchestrating reactions that seemed impossible in traditional chemistry. The thrill of controlling these tiny particles, of measuring their responses, was intoxicating. It was science at its most dynamic.
Years of research followed, a symphony of experiments. Electrodes, electrolytes, currents, voltages – each a note in the composition. I delved into the world of electrochemical sensors, supercapacitors, lithium-ion batteries, corrosion, and high-performance coatings – each area a new movement in the symphony. And with each experiment came data, reams and reams of it. Analyzing this data, and extracting meaning from the noise, became a challenge in itself.
As a tech enthusiast in a rapidly evolving world, I had always been drawn to the power of computers. I taught myself programming languages, initially using Matlab to wrangle the growing datasets. But Matlab felt cumbersome, a tool that sometimes got in the way of the music. Then came data science, and Python, my new instrument. It was intuitive, elegant, a language that allowed me to express my scientific ideas with clarity and precision. It was like finding the perfect conductor’s baton.
Now, my lab is code, my experiments are data, and the music is innovation. I build algorithms that predict the future, from optimizing industrial processes to preventing catastrophic equipment failure. I’ve gone from manipulating electrons in the electrochemical cell to manipulating data in complex algorithms. It’s still about understanding systems, about finding patterns and connections, but on a much grander scale. The journey from that first purple bloom to the world of AI has been an odyssey, a continuous exploration of the intersection of science and technology. And the music? It’s still playing.
This site chronicles my journey over these years, and I hope you enjoy my stories!
Aravindan Natarajan
Research Scientist
