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The School’s researchers are developing high-performance structural and functional materials, as well as designing new products and technologies that substantially benefit society. They achieve this by creating materials and sustainable processes that positively impact the environment, improve human health, increase our standard of living, enhance national security, increase productivity of vital resources, and promote economic prosperity.  

Our Research Structure

The School’s research programs are contained within four interconnecting societal impact themes, shown below. Our enabling platform forms the foundation for designing and manufacturing advanced materials and products, utilising a deep understanding of fundamental phenomena, computational methods, correlative structural analysis techniques, and the behaviour and properties of materials. Advanced manufacturing is the cornerstone of this platform and is critical in creating materials that benefit contemporary society. For instance, we are developing new materials for use in renewable energy technologies and medical devices, among other applications.

Our four Theme Leaders are responsible for coordinating the research groups within their respective themes, encouraging communication and collaboration among the groups, as well as fostering cross-disciplinary collaboration among Themes, other Schools, Research Centres, Hubs and Institutes both within and outside of UNSW.

The relationship between our four research themes and the enabling platform is illustrated below. 

UNSW

Our Research Themes

Transport & infrastructure

Primarily structural materials used expressly for creating the means of transportation, to large-scale structures and infrastructure that dominate our daily lives. These include land, sea and aerospace vehicles to buildings, superstructures, machines and any other fixed or moving infrastructure.

Biomedical & health

Structural materials exhibiting specific functionality to largely functional materials that are designed to interact with biological systems for therapeutic and diagnostic medical purposes. These materials are used in dental devices, orthopedic implants, artificial organs, implantable devices, artificial skin and drug delivery.

Energy & environment

Materials that play a critical role in the production, storage and conversion of energy, through to eco-materials, created by sustainable processes. These materials impart an overall positive impact on the environment, and are integral in next-generation fuel cells, solar devices, power generators and recycled products.

Electronics & communications

Primarily functional materials with structural requirements used in electrical, electronics and microelectronic applications. These include components and devices that comprise integrated circuits, circuit boards and visual displays, to cables, wires and optical fibres for transferring power and information.

Key Areas of Materials Expertise

Within the impact theme framework shown above, our staff bring expertise across diverse materials disciplines, contributing to advancements in specific materials and processes aligned with one or more of our research themes. This approach has fostered clusters of excellence in various emerging areas of materials science, where our researchers are conducting leading-edge work in the discovery, design, development, and application of materials across the following six main areas:

Overview

We design and develop environmentally friendly materials and processes, focusing on material life-cycle strategies, recycling innovations, and green material technologies to reduce environmental impact.

Academic staff

Scientia Professor Veena Sahajwalla AO

Dr Samane Maroufi

Professor Michael Ferry

Professor Jianqiang Zhang

Professor Chris Sorrell

Emeritus Professor Oleg Ostrovski

Associate Professor Pramod Koshy

Associate Professor Rakesh Joshi

Professor Sophie Primig

Dr Vitor Rielli

Relevant Impact Themes

Energy & environment

Transport & infrastructure

Overview 

We combine experimental research with AI-assisted computational discovery to design and optimise 2D and 3D materials for energy applications, including batteries, supercapacitors, fuel cells, solar cells, catalysts, and thermoelectric devices.

Academic staff

Professor Dewei Chu

Professor Danyang Wang

Associate Professor Judy Hart

Professor Jan Seidel

Professor Chris Sorrell

Associate Professor John Daniels 

Professor Nagy Valanoor 

Associate Professor Pramod Koshy

Dr Jack Yang 

Professor Sammy Chan

Professor Sean Li

Relevant Impact Themes

Energy & environment

Transport & infrastructure

Overview 

We work on the experimental and AI-assisted computational design of 1D to 3D materials for electronic and photonic applications, including ferroelectrics, multiferroicssemiconductors, quantum dots, topological insulators, and superconductors.

Academic staff

Professor Sean Li 

Professor Dewei Chu

Professor Danyang Wang

Professor Nagy Valanoor 

Associate Professor John Daniels

Associate Professor Judy Hart

Professor Jan Seidel

Professor Chris Sorrell

Associate Professor Shery Chang

Dr Jack Yang 

Dr Zhi Li

Relevant Impact Themes

Electronics & communications

Biomedical & health

Overview 

We create advanced materials for medical and biological applications, including implants, tissue engineering scaffolds, drug delivery systems, aerosols, wearable electronics, and bio-inspired functional materials.

Academic staff

Professor Kris Kilian 

Associate Professor Damia Mawad

Associate Professor Tushar Kumeria

Professor Dewei Chu

Professor Runyu Yang

Professor Chris Sorrell

Associate Professor Shery Chang 

Professor Sean Li 

Professor Michael Ferry

Dr Benjamin Pace

Relevant Impact Themes

Biomedical & health

Electronics & communications

Overview 

We design strong and durable materials for the aerospace, automotive, construction and consumer goods sectors, including advanced steels, light alloys, polymers, ceramics, and composites, manufactured through both additive and subtractive processes.

Academic staff

Professor Sophie Primig

Dr Vitor Rielli

Professor Michael Ferry

Associate Professor Kevin Laws

Professor Paul Munroe

Professor Sammy Chan

Professor Chris Sorrell

Dr Caitlin Healy

Relevant Impact Themes

Transport & infrastructure

Energy & environment

Overview 

We develop metallic, ceramic and composite materials and surface coatings that maintain exceptional performance under harsh, complex conditions, such as elevated temperatures, highly abrasive and corrosive environments, intense radiation, and severe mechanical and thermal stresses.

Academic staff

Professor Jianqiang Zhang 

Emeritus Professor David Young

Professor Sophie Primig

Professor Paul Munroe

Dr Vitor Rielli

Professor Michael Ferry

Associate Professor Kevin Laws

Professor Alan Crosky

Professor Chris Sorrell

Associate Professor John Daniels 

Professor Sean Li

Relevant Impact Themes

Transport & infrastructure

Energy & environment

Electronics & communications

Engagement with Centres, Hubs and Institutes

Our societal impact framework has empowered staff to pursue and successfully secure funding for major multidisciplinary research centres, hubs, and institutes, among other initiatives. These efforts have fostered extensive collaborations with researchers across other universities, industries, and research organisations, as well as within UNSW, as shown below:

School of Materials Science and Engineering