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Our Research
Our world-class research spans five key areas: Healthy Environments, Sustainable Resources, Smart Energy, Medical Technology and High-Tech Manufacturing. Watch the videos below to discover how the Future Industries Institute is tackling tomorrow's challenges today.
Identifying environmental contaminants
Prof Albert Juhasz
Albert is working on better tools for site assessment to identify environmental contaminants. We need to work to minimise the impact of contaminants. Albert is researching methods to ensure remediation can be cost effective.
Natural emulsifiers for food
Prof Marta Krasowska
Marta’s research is looking at emulsions in the food industry. Currently emulsifiers that are used in food are synthetic, quite often made from petrochemicals. Marta’s group is researching the use of natural fats as emulsifiers to remove the impact of synthetic emulsifiers on the environment and our bodies.
Coiled tubing drilling for a green economy
Prof David Giles
David’s research is looking at moving towards a green economy with low carbon emissions. MinEx CRC has developed coiled tubing drilling for use in the minerals exploration industry, which hasn’t occurred in the past. Coiled tubing drilling is cheaper, faster and more environmentally friendly and after many years of research, it has just gone to market for the use in the minerals exploration industry.
Printable water-based materials for neurological diseases
As/Prof Matthew Griffith
Matthew is looking to use simple inkjet-printable, water-based materials to cure neurological diseases. The diseases currently being looked at are blindness caused by macular degeneration and multiple neurological diseases.
Nano-scale devices for fluid sensing
Prof Craig Priest
Craig’s research is looking at creating devices at a very small scale to provide real-time information. This is done using fluids and fluidics in sensing applications for use in many areas – from minerals processing to cancer therapy and everything in between.
Additive manufacturing for industry
Prof Colin Hall
Colin’s research is in the additive manufacturing area. Colin has worked with Stärke AMG to bring electron beam melt printers to Australia. These printers will be for industrial use in areas such as defence, aerospace and the medical industry.
Contrast agent to help treat cancer
Prof Benjamin Thierry
Benjamin’s group is researching the best possible treatment for cancer, and to be able to balance the aggressiveness of treatment with the patient’s quality of life. Benjamin is developing a contrast agent that will work with MRI to help find cancer spread at the smallest scale.
Research Groups
Combining the expertise and talents of the Future Industries Institute researchers and technical staff, our research groups are collaborative, discipline-based environments that support and develop research talent from senior researcher leaders to early and mid-career researchers through to PhD students.
Tomorrow’s processing and sensing will depend on small and smart chips that give quick answers to big questions. Embedding, launching, connecting, or even wearing these devices will transform healthcare, mining, manufacturing, agriculture, defence, and space. The CHIPS research group studies the micro- and nano-scale science and engineering – including next-gen manufacturing - that underpins these emerging technologies.
This group is devoted to the research of renewable energy and clean water supply. With focus on developing advanced functional materials and systems for solar thermal conversion, solar evaporation-based desalination and water treatment, thermal electrochemical cells, moisture-electricity generation and radiative cooling.
Our lab’s philosophy is to create fundamental developments in optical physics, data science, materials science, and fabrication and sensing technology, and apply them to critically needed challenges areas including biomedical applications, health care, heavy industry, and defence. Our latest efforts focus on intelligently exploiting the complexity of multimode photonics to create the next generation of sensors and lasers.
Exposure to legacy and emerging contaminants is inevitable as thousands of industrial chemicals enter the environment leading to their ubiquitous distribution. Exposure to these contaminants may result in an assortment of adverse impacts including social, economic and environmental effects. The Legacy and Emerging Contaminants Group investigates the fate and dynamics of contaminants in the environment to understand human and ecological exposure and to develop remediation strategies for risk minimisation.
We deliver science that is relevant and responsive to today’s environmental challenges, particularly in the fields of food, fisheries, and marine ecology. We also work regularly with media, schools and public to promote STEM, marine research, and the environment and are available for interviews and public presentations.
The Materials Engineering Group undertakes R&D to enhance the performance and manufacturability of a wide range of materials. Not only focused on fundamental materials science, the group also has extensive capability in the design, development and assessment of materials for industrial applications. We work in partnership with industry on materials and their manufacturing for use across a range of applications, including space, defence, automotive, mining, energy, agriculture and biomedical devices. We have demonstrated capability in the translation and commercialisation of research with industry.
Research of nanomaterial interactions with biology, radiation interactions with nanomaterials and nanoparticle augmented radiobiology. The group comprises multidisciplinary skills covering Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Medicine and the Environment. We discover fundamental information through the application of novel methodologies for single cell analytics and apply the discoveries to address real-world problems from pollutants to cancer care.
The Free Radicals team conducts research using electrically generated ionised gas called plasma for improving outcomes in healthcare, environmental, veterinary, agriculture and aquaculture applications.
The regenerative medicine team investigates the mechanisms of wound repair using both cell and molecular biology in conjunction with preclinical models of impaired healing to identify novel targets for the treatment of wounds. With a particular interest in the actin cytoskeleton we are developing new therapeutics, advanced cell-based dressings, diagnostic platforms and new technologies for the treatment of people with impaired wound healing.
A dynamic team of chemists that study the interfaces of colloidal materials, be they solids, droplets, or bubbles. We investigate how molecules can alter the interfacial properties of these materials (liking/hating water, reactive/unreactive, flexible/rigid) and how we can exploit these changes to control the behaviour of macroscopic amounts of these materials and their mixtures. The end goal is to discover the knowledge that will allow colloids to be used in industry, healthcare, and the environment, whether it be to design a delicious dairy dessert, package and protect a therapeutic molecule, or minimise the use of energy and water in industrial processes.
Engaging in real world problem solving at all scales and timelines, from fundamental laboratory studies to processing plant surveys and challenges, the Sustainable Minerals Processing group is focussed on the application of advanced analytical techniques, such as surface spectroscopies and mineralogical microscopies to determine chemical and physical factors influencing separation. Aiming to achieve improvements in recovery and grade to concentrates with reduced energy, water and environmental footprint, through deep understanding and new technologies this group excels in strategic-basic and applied R&D in minerals processing/beneficiation.PARTNER WITH US
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