Meet the Master's Advisory Board
Bea Braun
Research Fellow, DOW
Birgit (Bea) Braun, Ph.D., is the R&D Fellow for Digital Innovation in Dow’s Plastics & Hydrocarbons business, where she leads initiatives in digital transformation, machine learning, and AI for chemical manufacturing and materials innovation. With more than 15 years at Dow, she has a strong track record of translating AI/ML and scientific computing into practical impact across R&D and manufacturing, including leading multiple enterprise scale data science initiatives.
Braun holds degrees in process engineering, environmental science, and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the Colorado School of Mines. She is an active leader in the professional community, particularly within AIChE and FOPAM, contributing to the advancement of analytics and AI in chemical engineering. She also publishes her work in papers and patents, reflecting a sustained commitment to both scientific excellence and industrial application.
Anya Castillo (B.S. '05)
Director, NextEra Energy Marketing
Anya Castillo, Ph.D. is the director of proprietary trading at NextEra Energy Marketing, LLC, a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources that markets and trades physical and financial energy commodities. In this role she leads systematic power and transmission trading across the U.S. electricity markets. Previously, Castillo developed algorithmic trade strategies for over 2 GW of batteries and hybrid facilities in the NextEra fleet.
Prior to joining NextEra, Castillo was a senior member of technical staff with Sandia National Laboratories where she was principal investigator on a $3 million annual portfolio of low-to-mid technology readiness-level research focused on facility aggregation, infrastructure resilience, and electricity market design. She also served as an Operations Research Analyst with the Federal Regulatory Commission (FERC) and has held various research appointments through DNV Kema, Resources for the Future, MIT Energy Initiative, and IBM Research.
Castillo holds a doctoral degree in environmental engineering from Johns Hopkins University, a master’s degree in engineering systems division from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a bachelor’s degree in electrical and computer engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.
Sarah Feicht (Ph.D. '16)
Business Developer, ExxonMobil
Sarah Feicht has a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University under the guidance of Professor Aditya Khair, and a decade of experience at ExxonMobil spanning both research and business roles.
Feicht began in R&D, leading development and scale up of new technologies in biofuels and hydrogen, advancing low carbon energy solutions.
Feicht transitioned into business development within ExxonMobil Upstream, with a focus on power sector policy and strategy.
Vikram Jayaram
Founder, Neuralix
Vikram Jayaram, Ph.D. is a recognized AI scientist, industrial technologist, and entrepreneur whose work over the past two decades has bridged advanced research with real-world operational transformation.
From leading data science and R&D initiatives supporting $7B+ operations at Pioneer Natural Resources (Acquired by ExxonMobil) to architecting next-generation AI systems at Sabre, his career reflects a rare combination of deep scientific rigor and large-scale industrial impact.
Today, as founder & CEO of Neuralix, he is leading an award-winning mission to build physics-grounded, mission-critical AI systems transforming the future of energy, manufacturing, and industrial intelligence.
Lance Miller (B.S. '23, M.S. '24)
Integration Engineer, Epic Systems
Lance is an integration engineer at Epic Systems who earned both his bachelor's and master's degrees in chemical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.
At CMU, he held leadership roles in the university’s chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and served as the first president of their ChemE Cube team, where he not only led the team in designing and building a first place water purification cube, but also created the names and the logos for the Water Mellon and Tartan Dioxide cubes.
Outside of ChemE, he engaged with the community and prospective students as a Tartan Ambassador, performed in Scotch'n'Soda Theatre, the D Flat Singers, and CMU's Vocal Jazz choir, and contributed to Carnegie Mellon Mission Control's Iris and MoonRanger lunar rover projects. In 2023, he was recognized as one of the Manufacturing USA network's inaugural Modern Makers.
Tanmay Raj (M.S. '19)
Senior Data Scientist, Cargill
Tanmay Raj works at the intersection of business operations, supply chain, and AI at Cargill. He specializes in building AI/ML systems at scale — from enabling food scientists to develop novel formulations using AI-driven platforms, to deploying state-of-the-art computer vision solutions across supply chains, and developing foundation models that transform global manufacturing operations.
He brings deep cross-industry experience from global Fortune 500 organizations including BP and Aditya Birla Group — spanning Oil & Gas, Energy, Metals & Mining, and Food & Agriculture. His work has been recognized through the Edison Awards in 2025 and 2026, as well as Cargill’s Innovator Circle Award.
Raj holds a master’s in chemical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University (2020), where his research focused on applying machine learning to catalyst discovery, and a bachelor’s in chemical engineering from BITS Pilani (2016). He is passionate about bridging academic research with real-world industrial impact, mentoring the next generation of engineers, and expanding access to quality education.
Kanika Suri (M.S. '16)
Senior Scientist, Takeda
Kanika Suri, Ph.D., is a drug product scientist with nearly a decade of experience advancing CMC development across proteins, peptides, nucleic acids, and small molecules, including nanoparticle-based delivery systems.
At Takeda, she leads pipeline drug product programs spanning parenteral, oral, and topical routes, delivering pragmatic, phase-appropriate formulation solutions from early development through the clinic and launch. Her academic work underscores a long-standing focus on drug delivery.
During her Ph.D. at Northeastern University, she developed a novel oral lipid nanoparticle delivery platform for nucleic acids, while her master's research at Carnegie Mellon University focused on bioactive intestinal permeation enhancers to improve macromolecule absorption. An advocate for women in STEM, she brings both technical depth and genuine investment in the next generation of scientists to her role on the Master's Advisory Board.
