How Artificial Intelligence is Influencing MOF Discovery
An exploration of how machine learning is transforming the way we design MOFs
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Hey, I am Zainab Tairu.
Machine Learning Engineer | NLP Engineer | Polymer informatics | Ethical AI
About Me
I’m a machine learning engineer focused on NLP and speech technologies. I've design AI-driven systems that support decision-making and automation across industries.
With a background in chemical engineering, I also explore how machine learning helps understand molecular systems in materials. My research explores this through enzymes and more recently through polymers, where I use ML to study structure–property relationships and material behavior.
Beyond technical work, I'm a very curious person so I enjoy exploring connections between AI, science, and food then I document my thoughts and discoveries on them on Medium.
Current Research Explorations
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Evaluation of Lithium-Ion Battery Electrolytes and Degradation through heat transfer with the use of seperators
Investigating electrolyte performance and degradation pathways in lithium-ion batteries to identify factors affecting battery longevity and efficiency.
Publications
From SMILES to Agents: A Decade of Evolution in Language Models for Polymer Discovery
Paper in preparation
Evaluating Retrieval-Augmented Generation for Medication Question Answering on Nigerian Drug Labels in Yorùbá
LoResLM@ EACL 2026
Blog
Jan 2026
Our paper Evaluating Retrieval-Augmented Generation for Medication Question Answering on Nigerian Drug Labels in Yorùbá was accepted to LoResLM @ EACL 2026.
Nov 2025
I was appointed as the Lead of the DSN OAU chapter, where I coordinate community activities, mentor members, and drive data science initiatives within the university.
Oct 2025
Started my internship at NNPC Upstream Investment Management, gaining hands-on experience in upstream operations, data analysis, and strategic investment planning in the energy sector
Aug 2025
At Deep Learning Indaba 2025, I presented two research posters: one on AI-guided design of thermostable lipases, focusing on sustainable enzyme engineering, and another on Dual AI architectures for accessible medication management which compares OCR-LLM and VLM approaches to aid visually impaired individuals
Jul 2025
Joined CoMMa Lab at the University of Texas at Tyler as an undergraduate research intern, contributing to ongoing projects and gaining experience in machine learning applications for molecular modelling.
Articles
Projects
LET ME COOK
Initially designed to help users discover Nigerian recipes based on available ingredients, simplifying meal planning with tailored suggestions. The project has now been extended into a Food Archive for Nigerian meals, serving as a growing collection of recipes and culinary knowledge.
Risk Analyzer
A local tool that helps legal professionals and EB-1A petitioners identify weaknesses in their immigration petition drafts before submission. It simulates a USCIS adjudicator's feedback using LLMs.
Enzyme Engineering
Used transformer-based protein models and the TOMER framework to design thermostable variants of Bacillus sp. lipase with predicted optimal activity around 75°C.
UlcerMate
An AI-powered app that enables users to log meals, pain levels, symptoms, and medications, creating a personalized health record. Uses data to provide tailored ulcer management insights.
MediVoice
AI-powered healthcare voice assistant app (collaborative project) designed to streamline patient-doctor communication through speech technology.
Malaria Blood Smear Classifier
Built a binary classification model to detect infected vs. uninfected blood smear images, contributing to early malaria diagnosis tools.
Resume
Download my resume to learn more about my professional experience and qualifications.