Ishant Khurana
Ph.D. Chemical Engineer | R&D Scientist & Manager | Catalysis, Reaction Engineering & Sustainable Process Development | Analytical Problem Solving Across Technical & Business Contexts
- Role
- Ai Tutor, Chemical Engineering at xAI
- Location
- Pittsburgh, PA, US
- LinkedIn followers
- 500 followers
About Ishant Khurana
I am a PhD Chemical Engineer with 6+ years of industrial R&D experience in catalysis, reaction engineering, and sustainable process development. Over my career I have co-led multimillion-dollar technology programs, filed 10+ patents, contributed to high-impact publications with >2,500 citations, and managed cross-functional teams of 10+ scientists and engineers to deliver innovations in carbon neutrality, plastics recycling, and biomass-to-chemicals conversion.As a Research Scientist and R&D Manager at Braskem America, I specialized in the early-stage and pre-commercial phases of innovation: guiding ideas from ideation and experimental design through validation, conceptual process design, IP strategy, and techno-economic modeling to establish a credible commercial case. I care deeply about the intersection of rigorous science and practical impact.During my current transition, I have stayed technically active through independent research, applied AI-assisted workflows for technical intelligence and patent synthesis, and taken on cross-functional consulting work that extends my analytical and operational capabilities beyond the lab.Outside of technical work, I am a certified wellness coach with The Art of Living, which I bring into how I lead teams: with resilience, clarity, and attention to the human side of high-stakes work.
Experience
Ai Tutor, Chemical Engineering
Apr 2026 — Present
Contributing chemical engineering domain expertise to support AI model development and evaluation at a frontier AI research company. Applying deep technical knowledge in heterogeneous catalysis, reaction engineering, and process chemistry to assess, generate, and refine technical content used in AI training and evaluation workflows.
Education
Purdue University
PhD, Chemical Engineering, Heterogenous Catalysis
Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), Mumbai
Bachelor of Engineering - BE, Chemical Engineering
Skills
- Teamwork
- Visual Basic
- Microsoft Office
- Process Simulation
- Chemistry
- Microsoft Excel
- Powerpoint
- Scilab
- Python
- Thermodynamics
- Organic Chemistry
- Engineering
- Separations
- Catalysis
- Powder X-Ray Diffraction
- Microsoft Word
- Reaction Engineering
- Research
- Chemical Engineering
- Distillation
- Public Speaking
- Uv/Vis Spectroscopy
- C++ Language
- Characterization
- Customer Service
- Heat Transfer
- Ftir
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