Our enabling platform provides the foundation for designing and manufacturing advanced materials and products by integrating expertise in fundamental phenomena, computational methods, correlative structural analysis techniques, and materials behaviour and properties. Advanced manufacturing and materials synthesis is the cornerstone of this platform and is critical in creating materials that benefit contemporary society. As shown below, our staff contribute across these five supporting areas, supported by a range of School, University, and National research facilities, opens in a new window.
Staff have expertise in a broad range of advanced processing and synthesis methods to create and manipulate materials. Their expertise spans solidification processing, thermomechanical treatments, additive manufacturing, powder processing, sol-gel processing, electrochemical techniques, biofabrication, self-assembly methods, nano- and atomic-scale thin-film deposition, and advanced lithographic methods.
Certain staff have specific expertise in one or more advanced structural analysis techniques, including high energy X-ray and neutron scattering, atom probe microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and diffraction, and a range of advanced spectroscopic and scanning probe methods.
Staff have broad experience in quantifying the behaviour and properties of materials through experimental, computational, and theoretical methods. Their expertise covers nano- to macro-scale mechanical properties, oxidation and corrosion behaviour, deformation mechanisms, phase transformations, and the characterisation of electrical, magnetic, thermal, and optical properties of materials under various conditions.
Staff possess in-depth knowledge of the fundamental principles governing materials science and engineering. Their expertise includes thermodynamics and kinetics, crystal defects, diffusion theory, dislocation mechanics, phase transformations, annealing mechanisms, electrochemical reactions, molecular interactions, piezoelectric and dielectric phenomena, superconductivity, and semiconductor physics.
Certain staff have in-depth expertise in advanced computational methods for simulating material structures, properties, and behaviour across atomic to macroscopic scales. Their expertise includes ab initio molecular dynamics, density functional theory, classical molecular dynamics, finite element analysis, computational fluid dynamics, microstructural modelling, and the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning in materials discovery, structure-property relations, and process optimisation.
