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Meeting location:

Science and Engineering Building, E8, Room 309, Lv3

Timeslot(s):

Thu 10:00, Thu 11:00

Research Area(s):

Food and Health: Understanding the role of micro and macronutrients and their impact on health and nutrition in humans

Research Overview:

Arcot’s group focuses on food-based approaches to understanding biochemical and physiological effects of nutrients and bioactives in humans aiming to provide a better understanding of their functions, interactions in food matrices, and absorption in humans using stable isotope techniques, and in vitro 2D and 3D (organoid) cell culture models to mimic the human physiological system.  They also involve development of these protocols by collaborating with cancer cell biologists as a cross-disciplinary approach to understanding nutrient absorption. Her projects lead to developing sustainable foods with better nutritional quality by industry. Her work has identified ways to combat malnutrition through fortification of foods in Asia, Africa and the Pacific. She has worked with industry on several projects to address the need to improve protein availability from plant-based foods including from extracting protein from waste (agricultural and manufacturing stream wastes), from edible leaves. In addition, her projects focus on enhancement of Vitamin B12 and iron in plant foods through fermentation; bioactives in foods and their health properties. Her team of researchers currently focus on the bioavailability of Vitamin B12 and iron interactions with plant proteins  to have a more wholistic approach to the development of plant-based protein foods; bioactives (carotenoids) in foods and their impact on eye health. Her work on the quantification and bioavailability of folate from foods were taken on board for development of the folate fortification policy in Australia and as an invited member of the Folate Technical Advisory Group of FSANZ. All research done within the group lead to real-world health impacts on populations. Her involvement as a member of the International Humanitarian Network has also lead to collaborations in Africa and Asia to focus on protein malnourishment. The collaborations with the food industry and other international organisations reinforce the link between academic expertise and population health.

Meeting location:

Meeting location: Science and Engineering Building, E8, Room 331, Lv3

Timeslot(s):

Wed 15:00, Thu 15:00 

Research Area(s):

Polymer chemistry, nanomedicine, energy, 3D printing

Research Overview:

The Boyer research group is focused on the development of new polymer synthesis strategies using visible light, for the fabrication of nanostructured materials, which can find applications as advanced smart materials in the fields of energy and nanomedicine. We combine modern polymer synthesis with emerging chemical engineering processes such as 3D printing, flow chemistry, and high throughput methods to prepare nanostructured materials featuring advanced properties and functions. Our research is highly interdisciplinary and collaborative with numerous groups in chemistry, engineering, materials science, and medicine. By combining polymerisation techniques, we have developed nanostructured 3D printed materials with enhanced mechanical properties that find applications in the energy and the biomedical fields. We also aim to design synthetic polymers capable of fulfilling specific biological functions. Such as the design of synthetic polymers capable to be used as next generation of antiviral, anticancer, and antimicrobial agents. By turning the structure of the polymers, we design new delivery systems for the treatment of hard-to-treat diseases in collaboration with clinicians.

Meeting location:

Hilmer Building, Room 521, Lv5, entry through Science and Engineering Building, E8

Timeslot(s):

Wed 13:00, Thu 13:00

Research Area(s):

Water and wastewater treatment and recycling, desalination, membrane processes, algae treatment

Research Overview:

In our research, we use fundamental Chemical Engineering principles to understand complex environmental systems and their interactions with our modern life to enable the development of sustainable engineering solutions. Our current research activities aim to improve water and wastewater treatment and reuse, including sea and brackish water desalination, enable technology for resource recovery and the circular economy, and develop new environmental monitoring techniques. This has included optimising treatment of harmful algae blooms, characterisation of natural organic matter in water catchments, and the use of conventional membrane technologies (from microfiltration to reverse osmosis) and investigating emerging membrane systems like forward osmosis. In particular, further implementation of membranes in low SES (socio-economic status) regions could have a great impact on the local communities, and humanitarian projects are also conducted. Our research is often developed in in close partnership with technology designers, operators, and other stakeholders (like health regulators) and result in better asset and knowledge management of the treatment processes. For example, a long-term project in collaboration with the water utility in Western Australia aims to assess and manage the risk of contamination of pathogens like Legionella.

Meeting location:

Meeting location: Science and Engineering Building, E8, Room 437, Lv4

Timeslot(s):

Wed 13:00, Thu 12:00

Research Area(s):

Cellular Agriculture, Food & Health

Research Overview

The field of cellular agriculture and in vitro meat production is an emerging solution to growing global concerns regarding resource use by traditional agriculture practices. A major obstacle for this technology is the control of growth and differentiation rates of meat forming muscle cells in culture. Traditional biological supplements used in cell culture include expensive, high-carbon footprint fetal calf serum and recombinant proteins. One of the goals of the global cellular agriculture field is to identify alternatives to these additives. It is of critical importance that these additives do not rely on genetic modification of the muscle cell itself as we aim to use cultured meat for human consumption. This project will identify non-traditional compounds to control muscle cell growth and differentiation in culture.

Meeting location:

SEB 334

Timeslot(s):

Thu 14:00 

Research Area(s):

Theory, computation, machine learning, energy

Research Overview:

My research group is interested in understanding and designing nanomaterials using theory, computation and data-driven methods. We do so by collaborating with experimentalists in relevant areas. Currently, we focus on applications including catalytic systems, batteries, functional polymers and water/gas separation membranes.

Meeting Location:

Kens Hilmer, E10, Room 222, Lv2

Timeslot(s):

Wed 14:00

Research Area(s):

Understanding and Development of Advanced Rechargeable Batteries for EV and Renewable Storage Applications

Research Overview

Storage and release (charge/discharge) of energy in/from batteries rely on a few fundamental transport mechanisms: electronic/ionic transport in the solid electrodes and ionic transport in the liquid and across solid/liquid interfaces. Facilitating and controlling these transport pathways hold the key to developing higher-performance batteries with greater reliability and safety than those available in today’s market, which is the key focus of our research team. Our current goal is the development of high-energy and safe lithium solid-state batteries for portable (e.g., electric transport) applications, and aqueous zinc batteries for stationary – renewable, grid, residential, and industrial – storage. We are doing so through understanding and improving the performance of materials and electrochemical systems, unveiling and validating performance under scaled-up conditions, and engineering tools and methods to probe operation in real-time. As we have demonstrated already, translation of innovation through commercialisation lies at the heart of our research and development endeavours.

Meeting location:

Science and Engineering Building, E8, Room 3, Lv3, meet in front of the lift at level 3

Timeslot(s):

Thu 15:00

Research Area(s):

Food and Allergy Research: Molecular Allergology, Molecular Design of Food, Biomarker Discovery and Diagnostics Technology

Research Overview

Food allergy is a growing global health issue, now recognised as a chronic disease. Our Food and Allergy Research Program at ���������¼� combines food science and molecular allergology to explore how food processing affects allergen structure and immune responses.

Students in our team work on:

- Characterising food allergens and their digestion profiles
- Developing food-based therapeutics and nutraceuticals
- Designing nanoallergen delivery systems with dietary adjuvants
- Creating immunoassays and biosensors for allergen detection
- Identifying epitope markers for non-invasive diagnostics

This is a highly interdisciplinary program with applications in food safety, immunotherapy, and personalised allergy diagnostics. We welcome students passionate about molecular biology, immunology, food science, and translational research.

Meeting location:

Tyree Energy Technologies Building, Rm 366-368, Lv3

Timeslot(s):

Wed 12:00, Thu 12:00

Research Area(s):

nanoparticles, catalysis, energy, renewable fuels

Research Overview:

The Particles and Catalysis Research Group (PartCat) is a leading (photo(electro)) catalysis research group within the School of Chemical Engineering at the University of New South Wales. Co-lead by Scientia Professor Rose Amal, A/Prof Jason Scott and Dr Emma Lovell, PartCat focuses on understanding catalysis (photo/electro/thermal/plasma) and designing new catalytic system. Our experimental research focuses on design, synthesis, catalytic activity testing, and materials characterisation of the catalysts with the aim to gain theoretical insight into reaction mechanism.  Our lab is equipped with material characterisation instrument and catalytic rig/reactor set up for activity testing capable of operating at high temperature and pressure. With operando and in-situ characterisation techniques and strong theoretical support from our collaborators, we strive to develop fundamental understanding on how catalyst work and of processes importance for sustainable energy conversion and production of fuels and chemical. Our projects cover a range of applications in catalysis such as carbon dioxide conversion, and renewable fuels such as green ammonia, e-methanol, e-SAF, and other sustainable chemicals.

Meeting location:

Science and Engineering Building, E8, Room 409, meet in front of the lift at level 4

Timeslot(s):

Wed 14:00; Thu 14:00

Research Area(s):

Microencapsulation, smart drying, functional particles, food engineering, Rheology, Colloids, Interface interactions, Particle Technology, Bioavailability, product structuring, ML optimisations. 

Research Overview:

The global plant-based food industry is at a pivotal moment. Following two decades of rapid expansion, growth has plateaued, largely due to unmet consumer expectations around texture, nutrition, and sensory experience. While demand for alternatives to animal-based products continues to rise, innovation has often focused on formulation tweaks rather than addressing the deeper material and structural challenges that define food quality. This signals a pressing need for engineering-led solutions to enhance performance and scalability. At CRL, our projects strive to bridge this gap by applying chemical engineering principles to plant-based food systems. We treat plant-derived ingredients not merely as culinary components, but as structured chemical systems with tunable properties. By investigating their molecular behavior and interfacial functionality, we design clean, scalable processes that elevate their performance in food applications. Our approach emphasizes functionality, safety, and sustainability, mainly by replacing chemical additives with process-driven techniques such as ultrasonication, pressure homogenization, controlled gelation, and spray drying. A core aim of our work is to demonstrate how structural understanding and sustainable processing can unlock functional performance. From structuring protein networks for dairy analogues to isolating functional cellulose from food by-products, and tuning thermal conditions to control texture, we engineer both ingredients and their application systems. Our research combines rigorous scientific insight with industry-relevant innovation, transforming underutilized plant and algal materials into high-function, scalable food components.

Meeting location:

Science and Engineering Building, E8, Room 224, Lv2

Timeslot(s):

Wed 16:00 

Research Area(s):

Process and reactor design of advanced technology: hydrogen generation, storage and utilisation and solar panel recycling

Research Overview:

My research group focuses on process optimization in chemical engineering, aiming to resolve practical engineering problems and improve the system efficiency. Our research extends from hydrogen generation, storage and utilization in steel industry to recycling of end-of-life solar panels. We work on the design of electrolyser for green hydrogen production, design of metal hydride-based hydrogen storage tank and design of operations of hydrogen-based ironmaking in steel industry in collaboration with Australian hydrogen industry and steel industry. We also work on the recycling of end-of-life solar panels. It is expected that there will be over one million tons of solar panels to be disposed of in 2035. We are developing advanced technologies to cost-effectively recycle the end-of-life solar panels. My team combines the experimental and numerical methods to design the high-efficiency system for these processes, and this prototype will be scaled up and applied in the real industry. Meanwhile, we help the industries map the advanced operating strategies and modify the design defects of their reactors. These close collaborations with the industry reinforce the link between academic expertise and industrial application in the field of chemical engineering.

Meeting location:

Meeting location: Science and Engineering Building, E8, Room Hilmer 316A, Lv3

Timeslot(s):

Wed 11:00; Thu 10:00 

Research Area(s):

Microstructured fluids, biomaterials, advanced imaging

Research Overview:

Unveiling the Hidden World of Microstructures: Shaping the Future of Sustainable Materials 

Have you ever wondered how the seemingly simple products we use every day, from luxurious cosmetics and creams to advanced 3D printed materials, get their unique textures and properties? The answer lies in the fascinating world of microstructures - the tiny, intricate arrangements of molecules, particles, and polymers that dictate the behavior of fluids and materials.

In our lab, we're not just observing these microstructures, we're actively engineering them. Using cutting-edge imaging techniques, we explore the hidden world of fluid dynamics and material science, uncovering the secrets behind the structure and function of everything from biological systems to industrial products. Watch molecules as they self-assemble into complex networks, or track the flow of fluids through intricate channels. Our research provides a front-row seat to these phenomena, offering a unique perspective on the fundamental principles that govern the world around us.

These observations are the engine for innovation. By understanding the relationship between microstructure and material properties, we're developing new strategies to create sustainable alternatives to petroleum-based polymers and animal-derived products. From plant-based foods with improved textures to biodegradable plastics and advanced biomaterials, our research is paving the way for a more sustainable future.

If you're intrigued by the intersection of science, engineering, and sustainability, and you're eager to explore the unseen world of microstructures, our lab offers a stimulating and rewarding environment to pursue your research aspirations. Join us on a journey of discovery, where you'll not only contribute to groundbreaking scientific advancements but also make a tangible impact on society and the planet.

Meeting location:

Science and Engineering Building, E8, Room 321 (let's meet in the lounge area in front of the lift on level 3)

Timeslot(s):

Wed 12:00, Thu 13:00

Research Area(s):

Biopolymers, bioorganic chemistry, nanomaterials, nanomedicine, drug delivery, 3D bioprinting

Research Overview:

The Wich Research Lab for Functional Biopolymers has its research focus in the area of macromolecular chemistry at the interface between nanotechnology and bioorganic chemistry. The main interest is in the chemical modification of natural biopolymers with the aim to engineer multifunctional and biocompatible materials for applications in drug delivery, nanomedicine, bio-catalysis and 3D printing. It is the goal to produce advanced nanomaterials with the potential to revolutionize personalized medicine and biocatalytic industrial processes.

Nature’s toolbox provides us with a variety of biopolymers, such as carbohydrates, lipids, or polypeptides. Our research group applies a variety of chemistry methods to produce functionalized nanomaterials in order to mimic biological properties, while maintaining biocompatibility and degradability. The resulting dynamic biohybrid materials can be formulated into nano- and microparticles for the transport and delivery of a wide range of therapeutic drugs, including therapeutic proteins, as well as DNA and mRNA.

We are looking for candidates who enjoy science and are excited about new challenges. Ideally, you are currently studying in one of these areas: (bio)organic chemistry, chemical engineering, material science, nano­technology (but also, all neighbouring fields would be ok). Don’t worry, no specific pre-knowledge is necessary. You are a good match as long as you are enthusiastic about science and willing to learn! Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us if you have any questions 👍

Visit our website for more details: 

Meeting location:

Science and Engineering Building, E8, Room 436, Lv4

Timeslot(s):

Thu 11:00

Research Area(s):

antimicrobial resistance (AMR), antibacterial, anticancer, infectious diseases

Research Overview:

The escalating global issue of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is now at a critical stage and urgently requires the development of new, effective and safe antimicrobial agents. Utilizing advanced synthetic organic and polymer chemistry tools, my group focuses on the design of antimicrobial (macro)molecules that mimic naturally-occurring antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) to combat these ‘Superbugs’. My group is developing novel, intelligent AMP mimics that can specifically respond to bacteria environment such as bacterial enzymes for targeted on-site activation. The developed intelligent AMP mimics could lead to commercial outcomes and can be translated for use in anticancer applications.