Kayla Gerdes
Kansas City
Summary
Chemist & AI Specialist with 9 years of combined experience in chemistry research, chemical engineering, and artificial intelligence. Holds a Master’s in Theoretical Chemistry with a strong interdisciplinary background in machine learning, NLP, and LLM evaluation. Adept at assessing AI models for scientific accuracy, logical consistency, and advanced reasoning, especially in chemistry and scientific domains. Capable of bridging chemistry and AI across both academic and commercial settings.
Overview
9
9
years of professional experience
Work History
AI Model Evaluator – Chemistry Focus
Multiple Clients: AI Startups, Research Lab
05.2020 - Current
- Evaluated AI chatbot outputs for chemistry problem sets, including synthesis, formulation, and molecular analysis.
- Built benchmark tests for reasoning quality and logical consistency in AI models.
- Worked with AI/ML engineers to fine-tune LLMs with domain-specific chemistry datasets.
- Reported quality assessments to improve model accuracy and reduce hallucination in scientific answers.
- Promoted products and services by posing for commercials, live shows, and photo shoots.
Computational Chemist & Data Scientist
ChemNexus Analytics
02.2017 - 04.2020
- Conducted high-throughput virtual screening and ligand-receptor docking using AI-enhanced models.
- Developed custom pipelines using Python and RDKit for compound classification and QSAR modeling.
- Automated chemical data extraction from research articles using NLP techniques.
- Trained junior analysts on tools for chemical data processing and modeling.
- Performed standardized tests on organic and inorganic compounds to observe fundamental differences in properties.
R&D Associate – Analytical Chemistry/Formulation
TriaForm Technologies
08.2016 - 01.2017
- Worked on formulation strategies for industrial chemical compounds.
- Designed experiments to test chemical stability, performance, and efficacy.
- Collaborated with software teams to digitize lab records and analytical data using custom dashboards.
- Reviewed staff competencies to build employee skill sets based upon future technical requirements.
Education
Theoretical Chemistry
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Bachelor of Science - Chemical Engineering
University of Kansas
Skills
Languages & Tools: Python, R, SQL, Git, Bash, Docker, Jupyter, LaTeX
AI/ML Frameworks: TensorFlow, PyTorch, Hugging Face Transformers, Scikit-learn
Chemistry Tools: RDKit, Open Babel, ChemDraw, Gaussian, Schrodinger Suite
Data/NLP Tools: Pandas, NumPy, SciPy, NLTK, spaCy, OpenAI APIs
Model Evaluation: Prompt Engineering, Logic Validation, Chain-of-Thought QA, CoT-RAG
Platforms: Google Colab, AWS Sagemaker, Azure Notebooks, Streamlit
Timeline
AI Model Evaluator – Chemistry Focus
Multiple Clients: AI Startups, Research Lab
05.2020 - Current
Computational Chemist & Data Scientist
ChemNexus Analytics
02.2017 - 04.2020
R&D Associate – Analytical Chemistry/Formulation
TriaForm Technologies
08.2016 - 01.2017
Theoretical Chemistry
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Bachelor of Science - Chemical Engineering
University of Kansas
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