News, Awards and Recognition

Environmental Award

Dr John Provis has won the Brian Robinson Fellowship from the Banksia Environmental Foundation.  The Fellowship, first awarded in 2005, is an annual grant created to encourage future environmental leaders. This award is in recognition of the late Dr Brian Robinson, the former Chairman of EPA Victoria, whose vision, ideas and leadership were recognised as a force for global sustainability.
 
John is working on the design of aluminosilicate ‘geopolymer’ cements and concretes.  These materials require around 80% less CO2 emission than traditional cement.  The fellowship will fund John’s work with advanced synchrotron-based X-ray microscopy techniques at the University of California.  It is hoped that the findings will assist in the enhancement of sustainability within the construction materials sector.

• Award announcement
• Researcher Profile for Dr John Provis
• Dr Provis also won a Fulbright Scholarship in 2004

David Shallcross named IChemE Vice President
June 2009

Associate Professor David Shallcross, Head of the Department, was recently elected to the Council of the Institution of Chemical Engineers.  He has now been named Vice President – Qualifications of the Institution of Chemical Engineers.  In this role he will be responsible for overseeing the membership and program accreditation processes worldwide.  The IChemE has 30,000 members worldwide and is based in the United Kingdom.  It accredits university and industry-based training programs in a range of countries including the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Ireland and China.  “It is a particularly exciting time to take on this role,” says Shallcross, “as the IChemE begins accrediting chemical engineering programs in China.  We are the first international professional body to accredit any engineering program in China and it is exciting to work with the countries leading chemical engineering programs”.

Emeritus Professor David Wood receives IChemE Council Medal
May 2009

At its Annual General Meeting in London in May 2009, Emeritus Professor David Wood received the 2008 Council Medal from the Institution of Chemical Engineers.  This is the highest award that the IChemE can bestow on its members.  The award was in recognition of Wood’s contribution to the chemical engineering profession particularly for his work over recent years in China.  Professor Wood was Head of the Department from 1982 to 1996 and Dean of the Faculty of Engineering from 1997 to 2002.  Professor Wood has been active in China for over 10 years and helped guide the chemical engineering programs at Tianjin University through the IChemE accreditation process in late-2008.

	The Engineering of Cheese August 2009 Dr Sally Gras has been awarded a prestigious 2009 Victorian Fellowship to further her research into the food science and engineering of cheese.
	Chemical Engineering academic comments on coal-to-oil plant claims SMH, July 2009 According to Associate Professor Sandra Kentish, the CO2 emissions reductions proposed in the new coal-to-oil plant deal between IER and TRUEnergy are "highly unlikely".
	Professor Geoff Stevens named one of Australia's most influential engineers June 2009 Professor Geoff Stevens, is listed as one of Engineers Australia Magazine's 100 most influential engineers. The list focuses on present influence rather than historical achievements. All of the 100 engineers are currently in leadership positions, either in organisations or by virtue of their engineering expertise.
	Environmental Award Dr John Provis has won the Brian Robinson Fellowship from the Banksia Environmental Foundation.  The Fellowship, first awarded in 2005, is an annual grant created to encourage future environmental leaders.
	Drug Delivery with Nanotechnology: Capsules encapsulated May 2009 A team led by Frank Caruso has developed a microcontainer that can hold thousands of individual "carrier units" -- a "capsosome" as a new approach to drug delivery.
	Engineering Fulbright Scholar - Colin Scholes Dr Colin Scholes, CO2CRC Research Fellow will spend four months at the University of Texas (Austin), working on cheaper ways to mitigate carbon emissions from coal fired power plants.
	Professor Frank Caruso elected Fellow of the AAS Frank Caruso was elected as Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science (AAS) on 24 March 2009. Prof. Caruso was recognised for his distinguished work on nanoengineering of surface structures through polymer self-assembly.
	Dr Peter Duxon interview for the Melbourne School of Graduate Research video. Dr Duxon, a Chemical Engineering graduate, won the Next Big Thing Award 2008 for e-crete™ (green concrete) and he is the Business Development Manager for Zeobond.

Researcher awarded prestigious fellowship to study in the US

Dr Luke Connal, a research fellow in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, has been awarded an American Australian Association Fellowship for study in the United States.
Luke will travel overseas to undertake advanced study in nanomaterials and polymer chemistry. His work focuses on methods to prepare nanomaterials for biomedical applications, particularly their potential in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) applications. Nanomaterials – particles less than one-thousandth the size of a human hair – are being studied worldwide for use in drug delivery and medical imaging.
He received the American Australian Association Fellowship on 12 November, 2008 at a function in New York for the Association’s 60th Anniversary Benefit dinner. This event – attended by business leaders, government officials and dignitaries from both countries – featured the presentation of awards to the education fellows and a speech by Rupert Murdoch.
Luke is a member of the Nanostructured Interfaces and Materials Group in the Department. He completed his PhD at the University of Melbourne in 2006. Last year, he was awarded a Victoria Fellowship, presented by the State Government to emerging leaders in science and engineering.

• More information about Dr Luke Connal
• More information about the Nanostructured Interfaces and Materials Group
• More information about the American Australian Association Fellowships

• Photo of education fellows with Rupert Murdoch and Malcolm Binks

UM success at Chemeca 2008

Melbourne School of Engineering students and alumni received several excellence awards in chemical engineering at the Chemeca 2008 conference held in Newcastle in late September.

A design team from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering was awarded the Aker Kvaerner Design Prize for the best final year undergraduate design project submitted from universities in Australia and New Zealand. The team of Josh Leary, Stella Moretti, Julia Ralph and Kip Ingram, received the Pratt Prize earlier in the year for the best submission from Victoria. It is the third time in six years that the Aker Kvaerner Design Prize has been awarded to a team from the University of Melbourne.

The Rio Tinto Award, for outstanding applied chemical engineering, was awarded to Rick Whitelaw, a graduate from the University of Melbourne who has more than 40 years of process design experience. Rick is a Process Consultant at Aker Solutions. He has been active in developing process design procedures and methodology and offering mentoring and training to others.

The Uhde Shedden Award, for practical services to the profession and to the practice of chemical engineering, was awarded to Anthony Pryde. Anthony graduated from the University of Melbourne in 1996 and joined ExxonMobil. He has subsequently worked in a number of engineering, commercial and management roles in oil and gas operations throughout Australia. He has played an important role in the technical and personal development of many young engineers, through direct supervision, technical advisory and leadership of ExxonMobil’s new hire mentor program.

About Chemeca 2008: Chemeca is an annual conference hosted by the Institution of Chemical Engineers in Australia (IChemE), Engineers Australia (EA), the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) and the Society of Chemical Engineers New Zealand (SCENZ). The event provides opportunities for industrialists, researchers and those associated with the process industries to share innovations, discuss current issues and build networks. 

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