News and Events

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Lectureships / Senior Lectureships in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

The School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering invites applications from outstanding candidates for two (2) positions.
The research focus for the first position will be in process engineering but with specific expertise required in one or more areas relating to chemical process design and development, chemical kinetic modelling and reaction engineering, and fluid dynamics (including CFD) of single-phase and gas-liquid reacting flows involving simultaneous heat and mass transfer. This position is a fixed-term appointment for three (3) years.
The second position is offered on a full-time continuing (i.e. tenurable) basis. The expected research focus here would be in one or more areas relevant to current School interests/activities. These may be broadly defined as bio-engineering, water and energy management, sustainability and complex systems modelling/analysis.Details and application.

Research Support Officer

We are currently seeking an experienced and customer focused Research Support Officer to support the Orica research group, a newly established and well funded research group in the School.
Details and application.

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Four new Postgraduate Research scholarships available!

Looking for a new and exciting way to spend 2010? Why not apply to be part of the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering PhD Team? There are four new scholarships on offer with A/Prof. Marjorie Valix starting at the beginning of next year. Details can be found on the Research Scholarships page, or by contacting Marjorie Valix.

BioBusiness Seminar!

As concerns grow over energy security and the supply and cost of resources, biological materials and bioprocesses will come to dominate many areas of the process industries. Challenges face engineers, scientists, economists and policymakers, and process efficiencies will have to improve dramatically in areas from pharmaceuticals to fuels. This seminar will present some of the latest thinking on the issues and how the engineering and science community can help the world deal with them.

Run in conjunction with IChemE

For more details, see the BioBusiness Page or view the PDF.

NEW!
A list of speakers for the event is now available here

5th Australian-Korean Rheology Conference

1 - 4 November, 2009

The University of Sydney, Sydney Australia

Conference website:
http://www.chem.eng.usyd.edu.au/akrc09

Organising Committee (University of Sydney):
Assoc. Prof. Howard See
email: H.See@usyd.edu.au
Dr Ahmad Jabbarzadeh
email: ahmadj@aeromech.usyd.edu.au
Prof. Roger Tanner
email: rit@aeromech.usyd.edu.au

Contributions to the following topics will be welcome:

• Materials processing :
  - Injection Moulding, Extrusion, Fibre-Spinning, other processes
  - Idustrial Rheology
  - Crystallization and Phase Changes.
• Experimental methods in Rheology
• Bio-Rheology-Solids and Fluids
• Suspensions, Granular Materials, Minerals
• Colloid Rheology, Gels and Glasses
• Surfactants, Emulsions and Foams
• Microfluidics and Microrheology
• Food Rheology
• General Rheology: Non-Newtonian Fluid Mechanics, Solid Mechanics
• Electro and Magneto Effects in Rheology
• Computational Rheology
• Polymer Rheology
• Composite Materials, Nano-Rheology and Liquid Crystals

Past Events and News

PACE News Item

In the June issue of Process And Control Engineering, the School made the news with some great progress in their education programme. More information can be found on the Foundation website.

The Great Debate 2009!

Is experience relevent in the modern world?

On August 6, 2009, the Chemical and Biomolecular Foundation held its first annual Great Debate, hosted by Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor Stephen Garton. It was an exciting night with both new and old(er) members of the Foundation in attendance. Ultimately, it was seen that experience does have its place, but the Affirmative made some great arguments!

Information about the night is provided below.

Hans Coster recognised for membrane contributions

Professor Hans Coster of the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering has been recognised by the newly formed Membrane Society of Australasia for his extensive contributions to the field. His lifetime honourary appointment was on the grounds of his long history in innovating, developing, mentoring and promoting membrane technology within Australia - instrumental to what Australia now takes credit for globally in its world class research and industry activities. Chair of the Inaugural Board of the Membrane Society of Australasia, Associate Professor Mikel Duke (Victoria University), said, "We believe that this ‘exceptional service’ is [Hans Coster's] founding role in the membrane community, giving reason for a membrane society in the Australasian region to now form in its own right".

More information on the society can be found at the society's website, www.membrane-australasia.org

Professor Tony Vassallo in the Australian Financial Review

On June 3, Professor Tony Vassallo was cited in the highly respected Australian Financial Review with commentary about the collapse of GM and its effect on the electric car industry. In the article, he argues that the failure of GM opens more pathways for sustainable car development, but the source of the fuels has an influence on the reduction of greenhouse gases. The full article is available to subscribers at the AFR website.

If you have any further enquiries, contact Tony Vassallo or Alex Missiris

2009 Graduation Ceremony and Dinner

On May 15, 2009, the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering celebrated another highly successful graduating class. This year, this highest honour went to Mark Leszczynski with the University Medal as well as First Class Honours. Eleven other students also received First Class Honours, and many of our students also achieved double degrees.

Nineteen students this year from the School were also awarded a Doctor in Philosophy in Engineering, one of the largest cohorts to graduate with a PhD ever!

We extend our congratulations on to all students for such a successful outcome, and wish them all the best for the future.

Photos from around the Great Hall, and at the dinner are available to be viewed at http://www.tinyurl.com/CBEgrad and purchased by contacting Jeanne at 9299 1973 or at

Cogen and Trigen - Sustainability in Action

Symposium - 6 and 7 May, 2009

Professional Development Course - 8 May, 2009

The Seymour Centre, The University of Sydney

The School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering hosted a symposium on the future uses of Cogen and Trigen, followed by a professional development course. Delta Electricity Chair in Sustainable Engineering at the University of Sydney, Professor Tony Vasallo and Adjunct A/Prof Don White were present, along with Mr Ian Maitland (Global Group Practice Leader – Thermal Generation, SKM); Mr Jim Ferretti (Group CEO and Principal Mechanical Engineer, MPI Group); Dr Gareth Forde (Sustainability Team Leader, SEMF Pty Ltd (Melbourne)); Dr Ing Jacob Klimstra (Senior Energy and Engine Specialist, Power Plants Department, Wärtsilä, Zwolle, The Netherlands); William Nixey (Network Business Consultant, EnergyAustralia); Mr Toby Roxburgh (MPI Group); Gordon Weiss (Energetics); and Mr Gavin White.

Further information can be found at the Foundation's page

Research Prize Winner

Jean-Philippe Torré, who recently completed his PhD under a cotutelle arrangement between The School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and The Institut National Polytechnique de Toulouse has been awarded the Prix Leopold Escande for his PhD thesis. This prize is highly competitive and is awarded for an outstanding thesis, based on the quality of the thesis itself, the examination reports (French student give an oral defense of their PhD!) and the articles published during the period of canditure. His thesis addressed the understanding of means of suppressing a runaway chemical reaction in a polymerization reactor and involved both sophisticated experimental studies and state-of the art Computational Fluid Dynamics simulations. We were amongst the largest users of the super-computing centre in Toulouse for a period of his thesis. You can learn more at Jean-Philippe’s web site at below. He was supervised jointly by Adjunct Professor David Fletcherand Dr Catherine Xuereb. Anybody interested in undertaking studies in France should contact David Fletcher (d.fletcher@usyd.edu.au) who can provide more information.

Full Detals on Prize Winner

Usyd-LSU Team wins PSE Innovation Prize 2008

Senior Lecturer in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Dr Ali Abbas and graduate PhD student Mr S. Mostafa Nowee along with Louisiana State University colleague Professor Jose A. Romagnoli have won a E5000 Innovation Prize for research on modelling and optimal control of crystal particle size. Understanding crystallisation and controlling crystal properties is a challenging problem critical in pharmaceutical, fine chemical, petrochemical, food and semiconductor industries. "The prize was formally awarded to the team at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers Annual Meeting in Philadelphia on 18 November 2008

Full details of the PSE innovation Prize

School success in latest Australian Research Council Linkage Awards

The School has had great success in winning Australian Research Council (ARC) funding for projects commencing in 2009:

Prof GW Barton, “Numerically Robust Extruder Die Design for Fabricating High-Quality Preforms for Microstructured Polymer Optical Fibres”, $405,000 (2009-2011).

A/Prof F Dehghani, “Benign fabrication of microfluidic hydrogel for improved artificial vasculature in bone implants”, $330,000 (2009-2011).

Prof BS Haynes, “Scaleable Microstructured Chemical Process Systems”, $375,000 (2009-2011).

A/Prof TA Langrish, “Improving Powder Properties by Using Spray Dryers to Process Amorphous Components of Solids into Crystalline Materials”, $325,000 (2009-2011).

A/Prof HT See, “Multiscale modelling of flexible fibrous suspensions under flow”, $310,000 (2009-2011).

ARC Linkage grants are for research in collaboration with an industry partner. Tim Langrish and Howard See are joint recipients of an award to work with BHP Billiton on “Improving iron ore agglomeration by studying underlying mechanisms using experimental studies and dimensional analysis” ($225,000, 2009-2011). Andrew Harris is part of a successful application in conjunction with the University of Wollongong to work on “Nanostructured Carbon Electrodes” in collaboration with CAP-XX Australia ($340,000, 2009-2011).