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The NEMCAT Group applies fundamental concepts and design strategies to develop conventional and advanced ceramic materials with improved performance and new functionalities for industrial technologies.
Research themes
- Development of catalytic films and nanoparticles for water and air purification.
- Development of nanostructured materials for energy storage and water splitting applications.
- Utilisation of industrial resources into value-added products.
- Development of coatings and nanoparticles for biomedical applications.
- Enhancing sustainability of cokemaking and steelmaking processes.
- Development and characterisation of cements and geopolymers for building and construction applications.
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Research funding
Current
Source |
Topic |
Year |
ACARP |
Corrosion behaviour of blended cokes |
2020 - Present |
ARC LP (Vecor) |
Development of Stabilised Zirconia |
2020 - Present |
Vecor Technologies (Industry) |
Development of Novel Products from Fly Ash |
2009 - Present |
ANSTO (Organisation) |
Ion Implantation for Producing Doped Materials |
2015 - Present |
ANSTO (Organisation) |
Designing Wasteforms for Nuclear Waste Storage |
2018 - Present |
ANSTO (Organisation) |
Radiation Damage in Materials |
2018 - Present |
CSIRO (Organisation) |
Characterisation of Functional Materials |
2018 - Present |
Brickworks (Industry) |
Optimisation of Raw Materials in Brickmaking |
2019 - Present |
Allegra Orthopaedics (Industry) |
Optimisation of Biomedical Product Characteristics |
2019 - Present |
Hytec (Industry) |
Assessment of Raw Material Quality |
2020 - Present |
BHP (Industry) |
Designing Coke Characteristics for Sustainable Steelmaking |
2020 - Present |
POSCO (Industry) |
Assessment of Coal Resource Quality for Steelmaking |
2020 - Present |
Map-to-Mine (Industry) |
Assessment of Mineral Quality for Industries |
2021 - Present |
MCM (Industry) |
Investigation of Protection Mechanisms in Concrete |
2021 - Present |
Past
Internships/honours partnerships
- Brickworks
- ANSTO
- Cochlear
- Vecor
- CSIRO
- MCM
Source
ACARP
Topic
Corrosion behaviour of blended cokes
Year
2020 - Present
Source
ARC LP (Vecor)
Topic
Development of Stabilised Zirconia
Year
2020 - Present
Source
Vecor Technologies (Industry)
Topic
Development of Novel Products from Fly Ash
Year
2009 - Present
Source
ANSTO (Organisation)
Topic
Ion Implantation for Producing Doped Materials
Year
2015 - Present
Source
ANSTO (Organisation)
Topic
Designing Wasteforms for Nuclear Waste Storage
Year
2018 - Present
Source
ANSTO (Organisation)
Topic
Radiation Damage in Materials
Year
2018 - Present
Source
CSIRO (Organisation)
Topic
Characterisation of Functional Materials
Year
2018 - Present
Source
Brickworks (Industry)
Topic
Optimisation of Raw Materials in Brickmaking
Year
2019 - Present
Source
Allegra Orthopaedics (Industry)
Topic
Optimisation of Biomedical Product Characteristics
Year
2019 - Present
Source
Hytec (Industry)
Topic
Assessment of Raw Material Quality
Year
2020 - Present
Source
BHP (Industry)
Topic
Designing Coke Characteristics for Sustainable Steelmaking
Year
2020 - Present
Source
POSCO (Industry)
Topic
Assessment of Coal Resource Quality for Steelmaking
Year
2020 - Present
Source
Map-to-Mine (Industry)
Topic
Assessment of Mineral Quality for Industries
Year
2021 - Present
Source
MCM (Industry)
Topic
Investigation of Protection Mechanisms in Concrete
Year
2021 - Present
Key publications
Group leaders
Current personnel
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Florence Lui
Florence is an Australian Ph.D. final year PhD student. Her research is on nature-inspired strategies to mimic the bone microenvironment for orthopaedic applications and research in skeletal disease.
Supervisors: Prof. C.C. Sorrell & Dr. P.Koshy
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Kochurani K Johnson
Kochurani is a final year international Scientia Ph.D. scholar (India) pursuing cross-disciplinary research on the theranostic applications of nanoceria in cancer therapy. She has a biotechnology background with interests in cancer biology, biomaterials research, and cancer nanomedicine.
Supervisors: Prof. C.C. Sorrell, Dr. P. Koshy, and A/Prof. K. Kilian
k.kandamkulathyjohnson@student.unsw.edu.au, opens in a new window
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Tasmia Zaman
Tasmia is an international final year Ph.D. student (Bangladesh) working on synthesizing lead-free piezoelectric ceramics via solid-state sintering route in order to develop high performance, cost-effective and environmentally friendly piezo materials with excellent energy storage and electrocaloric applications. She has a background in glass and ceramic engineering.
Supervisors: Prof. C.C. Sorrell, A/Prof. J. Daniels, and Dr. P. Koshy
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Hao Zhang
Hao is an international 2nd year PhD. Student (China) working on the synthesis of nanoceria based polymer composites and functionalised nanoceria powders for anti-microbial purposes. He has a Bachelors degree in materials engineering from UNSW.
Supervisors: Dr. P. Koshy, Prof. Yao, and Prof. C.C. Sorrell
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Yue (Jerry) Jiang
Yue (Jerry) is an international (China) second year Ph.D student and has a bachelor’s in polymer materials science and engineering fand a master’s degree in materials science and engineering from UNSW in 2019. Jerry’s work is focused on catalytic properties of materials, particularly lead-free perovskites.
Supervisors: Prof. C.C. Sorrell, Dr. P. Koshy, and A/Prof. D. Wang
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Gagan Jalandra
Gagan is a second year Ph.D. student who commenced in 2019. His research explores modifications to microgel-based 3D bioprinting to improve tissue models.
He completed his Bachelor of Materials Science and Engineering/ Master of Biomedical Engineering from UNSW in 2018 with First Class Honours. His Bachelors research focused on investigating the effects of proteoglycans on wound healing and his Masters research investigated the fatigue characteristics of materials used for cardiac models.
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Joel Luke Abraham
Joel is an international (Malaysia) first year Ph.D. student who commenced in February 2021. He currently is undertaking research on developing glass‑ceramics to immobilise nuclear waste safely and efficiently in a collaborative project with ANSTO. Joel completed his Bachelor’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering from UNSW in 2020.
Supervisors: Dr. P. Koshy, Dr. D. Gregg (ANSTO), and Prof. C.C. Sorrell
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Thibault Cosseron de Villenoisy
Thibault is first year Ph.D. student who commenced in February 2021. He is developing metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) for efficiently producing functional nanomaterials for energy and environmental applications, including photocatalysis and water splitting. He completed a double degree in Material Science and Chemical Engineering from UNSW in 2020 and an Honours project on zirconium-based MOFs in collaboration with ANSTO.
Supervisors: Dr. P. Koshy, Dr. J. Hart, and Prof. C.C. Sorrell
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Honghao Li
Honghao is first year Ph.D. student who commenced in February 2021. He is investigating the effects of fabrication route and morphology of the porous materials for enhanced hydrogenation characteristics and the role of catalysts in modifying the absorption and desorption kinetics for hydrogen storage applications at high pressures. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering UNSW in 2020 with an Honours thesis on developing porous material for hydrogen storage for lower pressures.
Supervisors: Dr. P. Koshy and Prof. S. Chan
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Sunny Fan
Sunny is a first-year Ph.D. student who commenced in May 2021. Her research investigates the effects of fabrication parameters, operation pressures, and doping elements on the storage capacity and productivity of carbon based nanomaterials. She completed her Bachelor’s degree in Materials Engineering in 2020 with research on metal doped carbon based nanomaterials for hydrogen storage.
Supervisors: Dr. P. Koshy and Prof. S. Chan
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Xiaoran (Jeffrey) Zheng
Jeffrey completed his Masters Research degree in 2021 from the School of Materials Science and Engineering. His research focus Did his master by research in the group from 2019-2021 and currently, doing the RA. His expertise is on functional materials, energy storage, and electrochemistry.
Supervisors: Dr. P. Koshy and Prof. C.C. Sorrell
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Vienna Wong
Vienna is a final year undergraduate (Materials Science and Engineering / Chemical Engineering) student with experience in fabrication and characterisation of nanostructured and bulk ceramic materials. Her current Honours thesis research is on developing nanomaterials for catalytic applications with focus on their modification for air and water purification.
Supervisors: Dr. P. Koshy
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Jiachen Jiang
Jiachen is a final year undergraduate (Materials Science and Engineering) student. She completed an internship at CSIRO on characterising superconducting materials using different analytical techniques, including XRD, Raman spectroscopy, and AFM. She is currently undertaking on her honours thesis on developing novel hermetic coatings for Cochlear implant components.
Supervisors: Dr. P. Koshy
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Bernadette Pudadera
Bernadette is in her final year (Bachelor of Materials Science and Engineering / Masters of Biomedical Engineering). She completed her Honours thesis on examining the of dissolution of neurostimulating platinum in partnership with Cochlear Ltd. She has developed strong experience in multifarious fields including fabrication of photocatalytic thin films, ion implantation (ANSTO), characterisation of building materials (Brickworks Ltd.), and inspection of marine structures (MCM).
Supervisors: Dr. P. Koshy
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Theodora Cheng
Theodora completed a dual Bachelor’s degree in Materials Science and Aerospace Engineering in 2021 and have been working with the research group since 2020. This work has involved processing and characterisation of ceramic materials and was based on interests developed when undertaking a ceramics course.
Supervisors: Dr. P. Koshy
Honours |
|||
Vienna Wong |
T1 2021 |
B.E. (Materials) / B.E. (Chem. Engg) |
Nanostructured Materials for Air/Water Purification |
Jiachen Jiang |
T1 2021 |
B.E. (Materials) |
Coatings for Hermetic Encapsulation (Cochlear) |
Lok Wong |
T1 2021 |
B.E. (Materials) |
Graphene Coatings by CVD (CSIRO) |
Ewing Chen |
T1 2021 |
B.E. (Materials) |
Nanostructured Coatings for Pseudocapacitors |
Clayton Feng |
T1 2021 |
B.E (Materials) / M.E. (Biomed) |
Silicone Degradation during Sterilisation (Cochlear) |
Katherine Firth |
T1 2021 |
B.E (Materials) / M.E. (Biomed) |
Electrode Corrosion Mechanisms (Cochlear) |
Victoria Lam |
T1 2021 |
B.E (Materials) / M.E. (Biomed) |
Electrode Corrosion Mechanisms (Cochlear) |
Daniel Lu |
T1 2021 |
B.E (Materials) / M.E. (Biomed) |
Bioceramic Coatings on Ti Implants |
Zijun Meng |
T1 2021 |
B.E (Materials) / M.E. (Biomed) |
Nanostructured Materials for Cancer Treatment |
Naman Bansal |
T1 2021 |
B.E (Materials) / M.E. (Biomed) |
Doped Bioceramic Coatings on Ti Implants |
Justin Wong |
T1 2021 |
B.E (Materials) / M.E. (Biomed) |
Composite Films for Ti Implants |
Kenfond Xuan |
T1 2021 |
B.E (Materials) / M.E. (Biomed) |
Magnetic Nanoparticles for Drug Delivery |
Marcus Wong |
T1 2021 |
B.E (Materials) / M.E. (Biomed) |
Hydrogel Coatings on Implants |
Christopher Wijaya |
T3 2021 |
Science |
Nanostructured Coatings from MOFs |
Masters Coursework |
|||
Xiaotong Liu |
T1 2021 |
M.Sci.Tech |
Bioceramic Coatings on Ti Implants |
Ce Yan |
T1 2021 |
M.Sci.Tech |
Bioceramic Coatings on Ti Implants |
Dinesh Varma |
T1 2021 |
M.Sci.Tech |
Nanostructured Coatings for Water Splitting |
Quan Liu |
T1 2021 |
M.Sci.Tech |
Ion Implanted Films for Photocatalytic Applications |
Liting Zhang |
T1 2020 |
M.Sci.Tech |
Nanoceria for Biomerdical Applications |
International Collaborators |
||
Prof. Jordi Arbiol | Catalon Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology | Microscopy |
Dr. Claudio Cazorla | Polytechnic University of Catalonia | Modelling |
Prof. Sudipta Seal | University of Central Florida | Ceria |
Australian Collaborators |
||
Dr. Armand Atanacio | ANSTO | Ion Implantation |
Dr. Dan Gregg | ANSTO | Nuclear Waste |
Dr. Ave Bendavid | CSIRO Manufacturing | Superconductors |
Prof. Kourosh Kalantar-Zadeh | (UNSW School of Chemical Engineering) | Nanostructures |
A/Prof. Jason Scott | (UNSW School of Chemical Engineering) | Catalytic Testing |
Dr. Jae Yun Sun | (UNSW School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering) | Photovoltaics |
Prof. Chuan Zhao | (UNSW School of Chemistry) | Hydrogen |
A/Prof. John Daniels | (UNSW School of Materials Science & Engineering) | Piezoelectrics |
Dr. Judy Hart | (UNSW School of Materials Science & Engineering) | Modelling |
A/Prof. Kris Killian | (UNSW School of Materials Science & Engineering) | Hydrogels |
A/Prof. Danyang Wang | (UNSW School of Materials Science & Engineering) | Energy Materials |
Supervision Statistics
PhD | Masters Research / MPhil | Honours | M. Coursework | |
Current |
9 |
-- |
14 (9 in 2022) |
5 |
Past |
19 |
16 |
71 |
15 |
Current
- PhD
9
- Masters Research / MPhil
--
- Honours
14 (9 in 2022)
- M. Coursework
5
Past
- PhD
19
- Masters Research / MPhil
16
- Honours
71
- M. Coursework
15
Awards
Edward Whitelock | 2nd Prize: Student Presentation | Materials Australia 17 Nov 2021, Sydney | 2021 |
Vienna Wong | 4th Prize: Student Presentation | Materials Australia 17 Nov 2021, Sydney | 2021 |
Joel Luke Abraham | Post-Graduate Research Award | AINSE Residential Student Scholarship (RSS) AINSE Post Graduate Research Award (PGRA) |
2021 |
Thibault de Villenoisy |
1st Prize: Thesis Presentation |
Materials Engineering Section: Faculty of Science Thesis Presentation |
2021 |
Madi Moar |
University Medal |
Bachelor in Materials Engineering / Master in Biomedical Engineering |
2020 |
Joel Luke Abraham |
University Medal |
Bachelor in Materials Engineering |
2020 |
Bernadette Pudadera |
1st Prize: Student Presentation |
Materials Australia 7 Nov 2020, Sydney |
2020 |
Aurpa Bhuiyan |
3rd Prize: Student Presentation |
Materials Australia 7 Nov 2020, Sydney |
2020 |
Aurpa Bhuiyan |
AINSE Honours Thesis Scholarship |
ANSTO |
2020 |
Pramod Koshy |
Vice Chancellors Award for Teaching Excellence |
UNSW |
2019 |
Vicki Zhong |
University Medal |
Bachelor in Materials Engineering / Master in Biomedical Engineering |
2019 |
Alan Cen |
University Medal |
Bachelor in Materials Engineering / Master in Biomedical Engineering |
2019 |
Keenan Burrough |
University Medal |
Bachelor in Materials Engineering |
2019 |
Sophie E. Armstrong |
1st Prize: Student Presentation |
Materials Australia 23 Oct 2019, Sydney |
2019 |
Michelle Yeoh |
1st Prize: Poster Presentation |
ANSTO Young Researchers Forum 8 September 2019, Sydney |
2019 |
Sajjad S. Mofarah |
1st Prize: Best Presentation |
Intl. Conference of Nanomaterials and Biomaterials, 10-12 December 2018, Barcelona, Spain |
2018 |
Hangjuan Ren |
1st Prize: Best Presentation |
ACS Fall Conference, 19-23 August, Boston, MA, USA – Materials for Energy Session |
2018 |
Kochurani K. Johnson |
1st Prize: Poster Presentation |
CAMS2018, 26-29 November, Wollongong |
2018 |
Michelle Yeoh |
1st Prize: Poster Presentation |
Materials Australia, 5 December 2018, Sydney |
2018 |
Pramod Koshy |
Australian Citation Award for Teaching Excellence |
Australian Government |
2017 |
Benjamin Fishburn |
2nd Prize: Student Presentation |
Materials Australia 6 Dec 2017, Sydney |
2017 |
Zhao Liu |
3rd Prize: Poster Presentation |
Materials Postgraduate Society Poster Competition, UNSW |
2016 |
Pramod Koshy |
Vice Chancellors Award for Teaching Excellence |
UNSW |
2016 |
Sultan Albarakati |
1st Prize: Poster Presentation |
Materials Postgraduate Society Poster Competition, UNSW |
2015 |
Zhao Liu |
3rd Prize: Poster Presentation |
Materials Postgraduate Society Poster Competition, UNSW |
2015 |
Pramod Koshy |
Faculty of Science Award for Teaching Excellence |
UNSW Faculty of Science |
2014 |
Wen-Fan Chen |
3rd Prize: Poster Presentation |
Materials Postgraduate Society Poster Competition, UNSW |
2014 |
Hao Qiu & Wai-Ling Kwong |
Best Paper: Nanotechnology |
10th Eco-Energy and Materials Science and Engineering (EMSES2012) 5-8 December 2012, Ubon-Ratchathani, Thailand |
2012 |
Hsin Chen |
2nd Prize: Presentation |
10th Eco-Energy and Materials Science and Engineering (EMSES2012), 5-8 December 2012, Ubon-Ratchathani, Thailand |
2012 |
- Edward Whitelock
- Vienna Wong
- 2nd Prize: Student Presentation
- 4th Prize: Student Presentation
- Materials Australia 17 Nov 2021, Sydney
- Materials Australia 17 Nov 2021, Sydney
- 2021
- 2021
- Edward Whitelock
- Joel Luke Abraham
- 2nd Prize: Student Presentation
- Post-Graduate Research Award
- Materials Australia 17 Nov 2021, Sydney
AINSE Residential Student Scholarship (RSS)
AINSE Post Graduate Research Award (PGRA)
- 2021
- 2021
- Edward Whitelock
Thibault de Villenoisy
- 2nd Prize: Student Presentation
1st Prize: Thesis Presentation
- Materials Australia 17 Nov 2021, Sydney
Materials Engineering Section: Faculty of Science Thesis Presentation
- 2021
2021
- Edward Whitelock
Madi Moar
- 2nd Prize: Student Presentation
University Medal
- Materials Australia 17 Nov 2021, Sydney
Bachelor in Materials Engineering / Master in Biomedical Engineering
- 2021
2020
- Edward Whitelock
Joel Luke Abraham
- 2nd Prize: Student Presentation
University Medal
- Materials Australia 17 Nov 2021, Sydney
Bachelor in Materials Engineering
- 2021
2020
- Edward Whitelock
Bernadette Pudadera
- 2nd Prize: Student Presentation
1st Prize: Student Presentation
- Materials Australia 17 Nov 2021, Sydney
Materials Australia 7 Nov 2020, Sydney
- 2021
2020
- Edward Whitelock
Aurpa Bhuiyan
- 2nd Prize: Student Presentation
3rd Prize: Student Presentation
- Materials Australia 17 Nov 2021, Sydney
Materials Australia 7 Nov 2020, Sydney
- 2021
2020
- Edward Whitelock
Aurpa Bhuiyan
- 2nd Prize: Student Presentation
AINSE Honours Thesis Scholarship
- Materials Australia 17 Nov 2021, Sydney
ANSTO
- 2021
2020
- Edward Whitelock
Pramod Koshy
- 2nd Prize: Student Presentation
Vice Chancellors Award for Teaching Excellence
- Materials Australia 17 Nov 2021, Sydney
UNSW
- 2021
2019
- Edward Whitelock
Vicki Zhong
- 2nd Prize: Student Presentation
University Medal
- Materials Australia 17 Nov 2021, Sydney
Bachelor in Materials Engineering / Master in Biomedical Engineering
- 2021
2019
- Edward Whitelock
Alan Cen
- 2nd Prize: Student Presentation
University Medal
- Materials Australia 17 Nov 2021, Sydney
Bachelor in Materials Engineering / Master in Biomedical Engineering
- 2021
2019
- Edward Whitelock
Keenan Burrough
- 2nd Prize: Student Presentation
University Medal
- Materials Australia 17 Nov 2021, Sydney
Bachelor in Materials Engineering
- 2021
2019
- Edward Whitelock
Sophie E. Armstrong
- 2nd Prize: Student Presentation
1st Prize: Student Presentation
- Materials Australia 17 Nov 2021, Sydney
Materials Australia 23 Oct 2019, Sydney
- 2021
2019
- Edward Whitelock
Michelle Yeoh
- 2nd Prize: Student Presentation
1st Prize: Poster Presentation
- Materials Australia 17 Nov 2021, Sydney
ANSTO Young Researchers Forum 8 September 2019, Sydney
- 2021
2019
- Edward Whitelock
Sajjad S. Mofarah
- 2nd Prize: Student Presentation
1st Prize: Best Presentation
- Materials Australia 17 Nov 2021, Sydney
Intl. Conference of Nanomaterials and Biomaterials, 10-12 December 2018, Barcelona, Spain
- 2021
2018
- Edward Whitelock
Hangjuan Ren
- 2nd Prize: Student Presentation
1st Prize: Best Presentation
- Materials Australia 17 Nov 2021, Sydney
ACS Fall Conference, 19-23 August, Boston, MA, USA – Materials for Energy Session
- 2021
2018
- Edward Whitelock
Kochurani K. Johnson
- 2nd Prize: Student Presentation
1st Prize: Poster Presentation
- Materials Australia 17 Nov 2021, Sydney
CAMS2018, 26-29 November, Wollongong
- 2021
2018
- Edward Whitelock
Michelle Yeoh
- 2nd Prize: Student Presentation
1st Prize: Poster Presentation
- Materials Australia 17 Nov 2021, Sydney
Materials Australia, 5 December 2018, Sydney
- 2021
2018
- Edward Whitelock
Pramod Koshy
- 2nd Prize: Student Presentation
Australian Citation Award for Teaching Excellence
- Materials Australia 17 Nov 2021, Sydney
Australian Government
- 2021
2017
- Edward Whitelock
Benjamin Fishburn
- 2nd Prize: Student Presentation
2nd Prize: Student Presentation
- Materials Australia 17 Nov 2021, Sydney
Materials Australia 6 Dec 2017, Sydney
- 2021
2017
- Edward Whitelock
Zhao Liu
- 2nd Prize: Student Presentation
3rd Prize: Poster Presentation
- Materials Australia 17 Nov 2021, Sydney
Materials Postgraduate Society Poster Competition, UNSW
- 2021
2016
- Edward Whitelock
Pramod Koshy
- 2nd Prize: Student Presentation
Vice Chancellors Award for Teaching Excellence
- Materials Australia 17 Nov 2021, Sydney
UNSW
- 2021
2016
- Edward Whitelock
Sultan Albarakati
- 2nd Prize: Student Presentation
1st Prize: Poster Presentation
- Materials Australia 17 Nov 2021, Sydney
Materials Postgraduate Society Poster Competition, UNSW
- 2021
2015
- Edward Whitelock
Zhao Liu
- 2nd Prize: Student Presentation
3rd Prize: Poster Presentation
- Materials Australia 17 Nov 2021, Sydney
Materials Postgraduate Society Poster Competition, UNSW
- 2021
2015
- Edward Whitelock
Pramod Koshy
- 2nd Prize: Student Presentation
Faculty of Science Award for Teaching Excellence
- Materials Australia 17 Nov 2021, Sydney
UNSW Faculty of Science
- 2021
2014
- Edward Whitelock
Wen-Fan Chen
- 2nd Prize: Student Presentation
3rd Prize: Poster Presentation
- Materials Australia 17 Nov 2021, Sydney
Materials Postgraduate Society Poster Competition, UNSW
- 2021
2014
- Edward Whitelock
Hao Qiu & Wai-Ling Kwong
- 2nd Prize: Student Presentation
Best Paper: Nanotechnology
- Materials Australia 17 Nov 2021, Sydney
10th Eco-Energy and Materials Science and Engineering (EMSES2012) 5-8 December 2012, Ubon-Ratchathani, Thailand
- 2021
2012
- Edward Whitelock
Hsin Chen
- 2nd Prize: Student Presentation
2nd Prize: Presentation
- Materials Australia 17 Nov 2021, Sydney
10th Eco-Energy and Materials Science and Engineering (EMSES2012), 5-8 December 2012, Ubon-Ratchathani, Thailand
- 2021
2012