Associate Professor Edward Obbard

I am a nuclear materials engineer in the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, UNSW Sydney. I obtained my PhD in materials science in 2010, at the Chinese Academy of Science Institute of Metal Research and I previously studied Mechanical Design, Materials and Manufacture at the University of Nottingham, UK. I apply fundamental knowledge of materials to industrial problems in nuclear and manufacturing engineering. I have researched manufacture and repair technology in the gas turbine power industry. At the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, I designed, then managed the construction and commissioning of a hot cell facility for nuclear materials research and radioactive materials testing. I also designed, and performed engineering analysis of, nuclear materials testing facilities that are now part of the Open-Pool Australian Light-water Reactor. 

Nuclear energy allows human development in a carbon constrained energy economy, while providing our best chance of preserving the Earth's biodiversity under future climatic conditions influenced by global warming. At UNSW Sydney, I research new materials and technology that enhance the safe and sustainable deployment of nuclear energy. This includes my original field of materials science, plus essentially human focused research such as virtual reality tools for remote handling and blockchain (shared ledger) systems for nuclear materials tracking. I teach courses on the UNSW MEng.Sci in nuclear engineering and I contribute to space engineering research.