Dr Andrew Harris

Andrew joined the University of Sydney at the start of 2004 from Cambridge University in the UK where he worked for six years in the Department of Chemical Engineering. He is interested in developing cutting edge technologies to assist with the transition to sustainability, and believes that a multidisciplinary approach to this research is essential to achieve high quality outcomes.

Andrew enjoys riding his bike to work (even in Sydney), skiing, swimming and surfing and is eagerly awaiting the day when somebody, somewhere hosts a chemical engineering conference in Geneva during the ski season.

Nic Florin, Postdoctoral Fellow

"Selective generation of hydrogen from biomass fuels"

Nic joined us as a Sydney University UPA PhD scholar in 2004 after completing his undergraduate studies in Chemical Engineering and Anthropology at Sydney. He submitted his PhD in 2007 and is now continuing his research on the development of tailored nano-porous sorbents for CO₂ capture during biomass gasification, as part of a larger project on the selective generation of hydrogen from biomass and waste fuels funded by the Australian Research Council. Nic recently accepted a position as a Grantham Research Fellow at Imperial College of London.

Jun Liu, Postdoctoral Researcher

"Large scale synthesis of spiral carbon nanotubes"

Jun joined us in 2005 from the East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai where she completed a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering and was ranked in the top 10 in her graduating class (of 325). Jun recently submitted her PhD thesis on carbon nanotube synthesis using fluidised bed chemical vapour deposition and is continuing this work as a Postdoc in 2009.

Susie Wood, PhD Candidate
"Combustion of mine ventilation air methane using porous burners"

Susie joined us in 2005 from Cambridge University in the UK following a spell in industry. She is working on an Australian Coal Association (ACARP) funded project to develop greenhouse gas mitigation technologies for underground coal mines. Susie was awarded a Sydney University Chemical Engineering Scholarship for the duration of her studies.

Susie also has special talents as a paddler. In 2007 she was a member of the medal winning Australian crew at the World Dragon Boat Championships.

Roza Bali, PhD Candidate
"Phytosynthesis of metallic nanoparticles"

Roza joined us in 2005 from the Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology in India where she completed a Masters in Biotechnology. Roza is developing novel synthesis routes for precious metal nanoparticles using plants, and was awarded the prestigious Richard Claude Mankin Scholarship for her work, in late 2005.

Zhao Ming, PhD Candidate
"Enhanced hydrogen synthesis from biomass and waste fuels"

Oscar Dunens, PhD Candidate

"Large scale carbon nanotube synthesis"

Kieran Mackenzie, PhD Candidate

"Large scale carbon nanotube synthesis"

"Development of advanced materials for porous burner reactors"

"Extracellular phytosynthesis of precious metal nanoparticles"

Audra joined us in 2007 to assist with the running of the laboratory, and then started a PhD in 2008. She holds double B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering and in Materials Science & Engineering, from the University of California at Berkeley. Audra's project involves the assessment of plant exudates to synthesise precious metal nanoparticles. Recently, she was awarded Grains Industry Research Scholarship (GRS) by Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) for the duration of her studies.

"Modeling and optimization of photocatalytic processes"

"Development of tailored nanoporous materials"

Xiao Liang joined us in 2008 following the completion of his Bachelor of Chemical Engineering and Technology at Xiamen University, China. For his PhD, Xiao is researching the chemical upgrading of biomass and coal feedstocks to valuable chemicals using supercritical and near supercritical water reaction systems. His project is a collaboration with Prof Brian Haynes and Dr Alejandro Montoya which involves experimentation as well as computational modelling.

"Synthesis of in-situ functionalised carbon nanotubes"

Monica joined the Laboratory for Sustainable Technology from industry in mid-2008. She graduated from the Department with B.E.(Chem) Hons1. Monica's project relates to in-situ functionalised carbon nanotube synthesis. She is currently researching the synthesis of coiled carbon nanotubes in fixed bed and fluidised bed reactors.

"Supercritical water gasification of biomass for hydrogen production"

Shahrir joined us in mid-2008. He holds Master Science degree in Civil Engineering from the Universiti Science Malaysia. Shahrir is researching the synthesis of hydrogen from biomass feedstocks and his postgraduate study is sponsored by the Malaysia Ministry of Higher Education.

"Biomass derived hydrogen production"

Meilina worked with us for 1 year in 2008 researching the synthesis of hydrogen from biomass feedstocks, as part of her Masters degree at the University of Sydney.  Meilina was awarded the prestigious Asian Development Bank Scholarship for her Master course and recently was awarded the University of Sydney World Scholars for her PhD study commencing in 2009.

"Screening grain crops for metal uptake and nanoparticle synthesis"

Ben joined the Laboratory for Sustainable Technology in the beginning of 2009 following the completion of his undergraduate studies in Environmental Science at South China Agricultural University. Ben's research project aims at screening the common grain crops in Australia according to their phytomining potential and further study of their ability of metal nanoparticles formation both intracellular and extracellular. This project is funded by Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC).

"Renewable energy from biomass"

Ocha holds a Bachelor degree in Chemical Engineering from Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB),Indonesia. She joined us in 2009 on Australian Development Scholarship (ADS) sponsored by AusAid (The Australian Agency for International Development) from the Australian Government.

"Synthesis of carbon nanotubes"

Mez joined us in 2009 after obtaining his Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from UNSW. His research project focuses on the synthesis of carbon nanotubes.

"Development of smart membranes for hydrogen separation"

Henry joined us in 2009 after completing a Masters in Tongji University, Shanghai. Henry is developing novel, nanoporous membranes to selectively separate hydrogen from carbon dioxide at high temperatures, and investigating the movement and reaction of hydrogen in porous media. His postgraduate studies are funded jointly by Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation(ANSTO) and China Scholarship Council(CSC). He will spend half of the time at ANSTO for his research work.

"Phytosynthesis of nanomaterials"

Pola joined us in the beginning of 2009 and is researching phytosynthesis of nanomaterials for her MPhil at University of Sydney. She holds double B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering and Environmental Engineering from Technical University Federico Santa Maria, Chile. Pola was awarded with a Chilean Bicentennial Scholarship Fund for Human Capital Development. Pola likes reading and watching art house cinema.

"Synthesis of porous nanostructures with biotemplates"

Anja joined us in 2009 after graduating with a Diploma in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Applied Sciences Aachen, Germany. She spent 8 months in 2008 researching enzymatic Biosensor at Tohoku University, Japan. Now, Anja is researching the synthesis of porous nanostructures with biotemplates for her PhD. Anja's research is funded by an E.ON AG scholarship.

"Synthesis of Metal-organic Frameworks Under Irradiation of Microwave"

Associate Prof. Lu joined us in mid-2008 from the National Chin-Yi University of Technology, Taiwan, as a visiting scholar sponsored by the National Chin-Yi University of Technology. She is researching on the synthesis of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and CO₂ capture with MOFs.

"Bioaccumulation of antimony in wheat"

Prof. Shtangeeva from St. Petersburg University, Russia joined us in 2009 as a visiting research fellow sponsored by International Visiting Research Fellowship scheme provided by the University of Sydney. She started experiments on bioaccumulation of antimony in wheat and phytoextraction of this metalloid from contaminated soils and liquid media.

Dennis has worked at the University of Sydney for almost 20 years, and recently joined the LST to manage the construction of new experimental equipment.

Matt is a second year undergraduate at Sydney studying chemical engineering and English. He works part time as an editor on journal manuscripts prepared by members of the LST.

Adrian works across projects to ensure that the reactors we design and build are mechanically viable.

Jeffrey runs the School's analytical laboratory, and has special responsibility for the maintenance of our TGA-MS system, laser particle size analyser, microwave synthesis system, ICP-AAS, ion chromatography system, pore size analyser and gas chromatographs.