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Dr Andrew Harris

Lecturer and Head of the Laboratory for Sustainable Technology
School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
The University of Sydney
Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Tel: +61 2 9351 2926
Fax: +61 2 9351 2854
E-mail:

The Laboratory for Sustainable Technology

Education

  • PhD (Chemical Engineering), Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge, 2001.
  • BE (Chemical Engineering, with 1st Class Honours and PC Brooks Medal), University of Queensland, 1996.
  • BSc (Chemistry, Environmental Science), University of Queensland, 1994.

Previous appointments

  • 2002 to 2004, Junior Research Fellowship, Darwin College, University of Cambridge, UK.
  • 2001 to date, Engineering Consultant, Cambridge, UK.
  • 1998 to 2003, Research Scientist, University of Cambridge, UK.
  • 1996 to 1998, Chemical Engineer, RGC Limited, Australia.

Professional activities / Membership of societies

  • Chartered Engineer, CEng (UK), CPEng (Aust)
  • Corporate Member of the Institution of Chemical Engineers, MIChemE
  • Corporate Member of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, MIEAust
  • Corporate Member of the Australian Institute of Energy, MAIE
  • Member of the AIChE Institute for Sustainability

Selected awards

  • 2007, Cosmos Magazine Bright Spark Award (Top 10 Scientists in Australia under 45)
  • 2007, Dean’s Award for Teaching and Learning in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
  • 2007, Australian Institute of Energy (AIE), Excellence in Energy Award - Young Energy Achiever Category (NSW/ACT Chapter).
  • 2006, The Shedden Uhde Medal of Excellence and Prize as one of the most outstanding Chemical Engineers in Australia and New Zealand under the age of 40.
  • 2007, The BioRegional Minimill (Riddlestone, Harris et al.) awarded the Observer (UK) Newspaper’s ‘Ethical Invention of the Year’ from over 7000 entries.
  • 2007, Short-listed for the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE), GlaxoSmithKline Young Engineer of the Year Award (the only Australian nomination in a global field).

Research

My research is based around the concept of “eco-technology”, i.e. creating products and processes that maximise resource and energy utilisation and have minimum environmental impact. Many of these technologies make use of advanced fluidised bed reactors. There are ongoing research projects in renewable energy, zero emission process design and advanced materials.

Renewable energy

  • 'Waste to energy' and 'waste to product' technologies
  • Zero emission coal processes
  • Biomass combustion, gasification and pyrolysis

Zero emission process design

  • Process intensification of fluidisation reactors
  • Hydrogen production from waste materials
  • Phytoextraction and bioremediation

Advanced Materials

  • Carbon nanotube synthesis using fluidised beds

There are Masters and PhD research projects available in all these areas. Please email for details.

Andrew Harris's interests

Andrew is interested in developing cutting edge technologies to assist with the transition to sustainability. He joined the University of Sydney at the start of 2004 from Cambridge University in the UK where he worked for almost six years in the Department of Chemical Engineering. His research typically occurs at the interface between established scientific disciplines, i.e. chemistry, physics, biology, engineering and materials science. Because of this in his work Andrew adopt’s a multi-scale, multi-disciplinary approach which enables him and his colleagues to bring a wide range of skills to bear on pressing environmental and sustainable development problems. In 2006 Andrew received the Shedden Uhde Medal and Prize as the leading early career chemical engineer in Australia and New Zealand.