Shehan Makani

Shehan Makani

Pearl River, New York, United States
7K followers 500+ connections

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About

Chemical Engineer - background in process engineering, design, operations, and project…

Activity

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Experience

  • ChemeNova Graphic

    ChemeNova

    New Jersey, United States

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    United States

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    New Jersey, United States

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    New Jersey, United States

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    New York, United States

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    Chicago, Illinois, United States

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    Houston, Texas, United States

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    Houston, TX

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    Mumbai, India

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    Mumbai, India

Education

Licenses & Certifications

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Publications

  • OrbitChem: An Integrated Machine Learning and Physics-Based Platform for Space-Grade Molecular Design and Spacecraft Material Qualification

    ChemRxiv

    See publication

  • Predictive Circular Chemistry: A Computational Framework for Engineering End-of-Life Fate into Chemical Formulations from First Principles

    ChemRxiv

    See publication

  • Circular Chemistry in Action: Building Sustainable and Smart Specialty Chemical Supply Chains

    University of Illinois at Chicago, ResearchGate

    The specialty chemical sector faces growing pressure to reduce environmental impact while maintaining product performance and scalability. This white paper explores the role of circular economy principles in reimagining chemical sourcing, formulation, and distribution. We introduce a framework rooted in green chemistry, smart sourcing, and AI-enhanced decision-making-aimed at minimizing waste, optimizing inventory cycles, and empowering smaller buyers. Case concepts from ChemeNova LLC…

    The specialty chemical sector faces growing pressure to reduce environmental impact while maintaining product performance and scalability. This white paper explores the role of circular economy principles in reimagining chemical sourcing, formulation, and distribution. We introduce a framework rooted in green chemistry, smart sourcing, and AI-enhanced decision-making-aimed at minimizing waste, optimizing inventory cycles, and empowering smaller buyers. Case concepts from ChemeNova LLC illustrate early-stage strategies that blend sustainability with digital intelligence.

    See publication

  • From Chemistry to Conscious Code: How AI is Shaping the Next Generation of Sustainable Innovation

    New Jersey Institute of Technology, STEM for Success Showcase

    In a world racing toward an uncertain future, we stand at the thrilling intersection of chemistry, artificial intelligence, and human resilience. For many of us in STEM, this is no longer just about mastering equations or coding algorithms - it’s about engineering the future itself. At NJIT, we are not just students and researchers - we are builders, thinkers, and dreamers. And the truth is, the world needs dreamers with tools now more than ever.

    See publication

  • Smart Manufacturing in Chemicals

    SSRN

    The chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturing sectors are evolving toward intelligent, adaptive production systems. This white paper explores how AI-enabled machinery and connected equipment are transforming chemical process efficiency, product quality, and sustainability. Drawing from conceptual case studies at ChemRich USA and ChemeNova LLC, we propose a framework where AI models interface with real-time machine data from centrifuges, filters, reactors, and mixers to enhance formulation…

    The chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturing sectors are evolving toward intelligent, adaptive production systems. This white paper explores how AI-enabled machinery and connected equipment are transforming chemical process efficiency, product quality, and sustainability. Drawing from conceptual case studies at ChemRich USA and ChemeNova LLC, we propose a framework where AI models interface with real-time machine data from centrifuges, filters, reactors, and mixers to enhance formulation, reduce downtime, and enable on-demand customization. The result is a more agile, data-driven, and sustainable manufacturing paradigm.

    See publication

  • Integrating AI, Green Chemistry, and Circular Innovation

    ResearchGate

    This paper explores the transformative potential of integrating artificial intelligence (AI), green chemistry, and circular economy innovations to accelerate sustainable transformation in the chemical industry. It reviews cutting-edge advancements from 2024–2025—such as AI-driven catalyst design, renewable hydrogen production, and direct air capture materials—and proposes a comprehensive conceptual framework combining these technologies. Through analysis of industry trends, empirical case…

    This paper explores the transformative potential of integrating artificial intelligence (AI), green chemistry, and circular economy innovations to accelerate sustainable transformation in the chemical industry. It reviews cutting-edge advancements from 2024–2025—such as AI-driven catalyst design, renewable hydrogen production, and direct air capture materials—and proposes a comprehensive conceptual framework combining these technologies. Through analysis of industry trends, empirical case studies, and pilot projects (including those led by Chemrich USA, ChemeNova, and Chemrich Global), the study demonstrates how converging digital and sustainable strategies can dramatically reduce emissions, increase resource efficiency, and establish climate-tech leadership. The paper also highlights challenges and outlines pathways for data sharing, regulatory adaptation, and cross-sector collaboration, ultimately positioning the chemical sector to meet global climate goals while driving innovation and value creation.

    See publication

Projects

  • FormulAI

    - Present

    Description: Architected a premium AI formulation assistant for specialty chemical R&D teams.

    Key Features: Streams structured JSON from Groq API for real-time formulation generation and regulatory watch-outs.

    Functionality: Enables rapid screening of first-pass concepts with exportable PDF views for technical sales and internal review.

  • Gold Price Forecasting - Walk-Forward ML Pipeline

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    Built a genuine next-day gold price forecasting system addressing
    the most common flaw in financial ML: same-day data leakage.

    Key contributions:
    - Walk-forward cross-validation across 121 folds — no random splits
    - 29 strictly lagged features including macro context (DXY, VIX,
    Crude Oil, US 10Y yield) fetched via live API
    - Regime-switching ensemble: Ridge (calm markets) → RandomForest
    (volatile markets) triggered by 21-day volatility threshold
    - Multi-step…

    Built a genuine next-day gold price forecasting system addressing
    the most common flaw in financial ML: same-day data leakage.

    Key contributions:
    - Walk-forward cross-validation across 121 folds — no random splits
    - 29 strictly lagged features including macro context (DXY, VIX,
    Crude Oil, US 10Y yield) fetched via live API
    - Regime-switching ensemble: Ridge (calm markets) → RandomForest
    (volatile markets) triggered by 21-day volatility threshold
    - Multi-step forecasting: t+1, t+5, t+21 horizons
    - Trading signal layer with Sharpe ratio 3.59 and max drawdown −2.53%
    - USD/oz normalization for COMEX benchmark comparison ($28.26/oz RMSE)
    - Published on Kaggle — open source on GitHub

    Tech stack: Python · scikit-learn · XGBoost · pandas · yfinance ·
    statsmodels · walk-forward CV · GridSearchCV · TimeSeriesSplit

  • Renewable Fuel Production from Biomass - ASPN Inc.

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    Simulated using Aspen Plus, identified control strategies and safety concerns, and carried out economic analysis to model plant producing 128 million gallons/yr Bio-oil.

    Youtube: https://youtu.be/QtrWBndQJ8c

    See project

  • Chemical Reaction Engineering

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    Defined assumptions, boundaries, reaction kinetics and relative rates programmed using Polymath and Matlab.

  • Lab Experience

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    Organic chemistry and steam distillation, gas chromatography, thin layer chromatography and synthesis of various organic compounds. Analytical Chemistry - theory and application of chemical equilibria and instrumentation in quantitative analysis.

  • Thermodynamics

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    Worked with Excel and VBA macro scripts to troubleshoot and find pressures, critical pressure and temperatures, densities, mass and molar flow and fluid properties.

  • Calorimeter

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    Implemented Arduino Nano micro-controller and 3D printed using SolidWorks to develop a calorimeter and compare several food group calories.

    See project

  • Ammonia Recovery System

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    Conducted troubleshooting by simulation of absorption tower to solve the problem of ammonia slippage in a live ammonia producing system at a Fertilizer Company.

  • Agro - Waste as an Adsorbent

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    Lead a team of 5 people to perform adsorption for removal of heavy elements such as Cu, Zn, Pb, and As from waste water using rice husk.

  • GitHub

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  • Portfolio

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Honors & Awards

  • Dean's List

    UIC

  • Scholarship

    UIC Global

    Recipient of UIC merit based Scholarship.

Organizations

  • American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AICHE)

    Member

    - Present

    -Participated in workshops, fundraising and networking events. -Met and built connections with likeminded people and industry peers.

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