Kaylie Young, Staff Scientist
Kaylie graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Rhode Island’s Brown University, before earning her PhD in Materials Chemistry from Northwestern University, in Illinois. Her research at Northwestern focused on controlled self-assembly of optically-active metal nanomaterials, which led her to specializing in the treatment of oilfield produced water at the beginning of her career.
Since joining ChampionX, Kaylie’s primary focus has been on building the firm’s water expertise and product lines from the ground up, ensuring they meet the evolving needs of their customers. Kaylie’s team aims to commercialize these solutions, helping operators do more with less, ultimately advancing water management in oil production.
Her role is diverse, and she thrives on balancing lab work with customer interaction and innovation. One of her current projects is focused on developing extended-release oilfield additives to increase the lifetime and reduce the carbon footprint of chemistries injected into reservoirs. Kaylie also supports global customer teams, providing expertise on water treatment challenges.
In addition to her technical contributions, Kaylie is heavily involved in leadership initiatives within ChampionX. She co-leads the professional development committee of the company’s RISE ERG, promoting gender equality and hosting events such as the "Brag Clinic" to help colleagues showcase their achievements. She is also passionate about science outreach, regularly organizing events like “Bring your child to work day” with engaging science demos for kids.
Kaylie’s love for both hands-on lab work and engaging with teams across the globe keeps her job interesting and fulfilling. She remains committed to driving innovation and sustainability in water management, while also championing professional development and inclusion at ChampionX.
Kaylie will be presenting her paper ‘Evaluation of Polymeric Dispersant Chemistries to Reduce Scaling and Fouling in OTSG Systems’ at IWC in Las Vegas on Wednesday, 6th November. Her presentation will focus on innovative technologies for steam generation systems used in Canadian heavy oil production, showcasing both the lab findings and pilot test results, demonstrating how these new chemistries can improve the performance and efficiency of steam generation systems.
Find out more about the paper, which will be presented at IWC’s Session W4: The Next Wave of Produced Water Management, by visiting the ESWP conference site.
