Our Team
Branden Kappes, President
Dr. Kappes is CEO and co-founder of Contextualize. With a background in R&D, materials science, modeling, and data science, he brings a breadth and depth of experience to understanding complex problems through the lens of product-focused research, federated data collection, structure, analysis, and reuse. He advised the Obama Administration on policies to support and maintain a resilient and diverse work force, the Trump administration on issues of sustainable domestic and foreign manufacturing and trade, and the National Science Foundation on the role, importance, and technical challenges facing cyber- and data- security in scientific research. As a consultant, he advises a broad range of organizations on outcome-focused strategies, implementations, and infrastructure needed to enable data-driven discovery.
Lindsey Kuettner
Lindsey Kuettner, who joined Contextualize as a Materials Application Scientist in 2022, brings expertise in polymer materials science through her national lab and industry experiences. Lindsey received her Master’s degree in Polymer Chemistry from the University of Oregon and continued her career in several lab-based research roles. Through her tenure at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Lindsey has garnered a comprehensive understanding of materials characterization, polymer additive manufacturing, and data management. Today, she collaborates closely with students and researchers, leveraging her expertise to develop innovative solutions for the challenges of working in a dynamic lab environment.
Chen Chen
Dr. Chen joined Contextualize in 2023 as a materials application scientist. He is a computational chemist by training and obtained his PhD in chemistry from Wuhan University followed by postdoctoral experience at The University of Chicago and Penn State University. His expertise lies in hierarchical computer simulation methods including classical/reactive molecular dynamics simulations, first-principle calculations, coarse-grained simulations, and finite element analysis. By combining computer simulations, data science/analytics and machine learning, he was working with team members from both academia and industry, and actively involved in various projects in the context of chemistry, physics, biology, materials science, and engineering. His strong academic background, unique skill sets and rich working experience put him in an excellent position for data management solutions development and innovations.
William Silloway
William joined Contextualize in 2023 as our Senior Software Developer. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Software Engineering from Kennesaw State University and has extensive experience in the field. With over a decade of software development experience, William has worked with Indeed, Amazon OTT Video, and the DOD. His expertise in full stack development spans from low level systems programming to user-friendly web interfaces. William is committed to developing intuitive software solutions that address the unique challenges faced by Contextualize's clients.