Nanocomm Hub Newsletter - July 2020
From the Director
The time has come to wind up
We have now begun the process of winding up the Nanocomm Hub by the end of next year. Under the terms of our ARC Funding Agreement, we must submit a project completion report for each Hub project.
To facilitate the process, we have notified all Hub Chief Investigators of the necessary steps. These should be carried out in consultation with Partner Investigators.
Further, we have provided final project report and financial acquittal forms to those whose projects have been completed. For the 13 projects completed in 2019, we've requested that the forms please be returned to us within a month.
We will soon send these same forms to Chief Investigators whose projects are due to be completed over the next six months.
On the final project report form, you'll need to include:
- whether or not your project met its original objectives
- whether you leveraged additional funding
- what, if any, collaborations or partnerships were formed
- your project's commercial outcomes and research impact
Your university finance team can prepare the financial acquittal form.
Please make sure to meet any deadlines. This will help make the wind-up process seamless and stress-free.
Wenhui Duan, Director, ARC Nanocomm Hub
Featured Projects
New training centre to make Australia a hydrogen powerhouse
As the world turns towards hydrogen as a low-carbon energy source, Australia, with an abundance of natural resources for its production, can become a major player. To this end, the new Australian Research Council (ARC) Training Centre for the Global Hydrogen Economy has been awarded over $4.9 million to develop cost-effective hydrogen technologies in a short timeframe, and to create a future workforce with the advanced skills to generate and transport hydrogen at scale.
Over the next five years, Professor Rose Amal, Nanocomm Hub Scientific Advisory Committee member, will co-lead this multinational, multidisciplinary project. Based at the University of New South Wales, she will bring together research institutions, industry partners, government agencies and hydrogen start-ups to transition the world to renewable energy, and move Australia to the forefront of the global hydrogen market.
Aligned with the National Hydrogen Strategy, the Centre will help the Federal Government reach its goal of $10 billion per year in hydrogen exports by 2040. It is one of five projects recently announced by Minister for Education Dan Tehan. "Our Government is investing in research that will foster strategic partnerships between university-based researchers and industry organisations, to find practical solutions to challenges facing Australian industry," he said.
"We want universities to be even more entrepreneurial and engaged with industry. These training centres will drive Australian growth, innovation and competitiveness, improving the lives of everyday Australians…developing new opportunities for business, through the scale-up of hydrogen generation and its export."
Not only will the Centre pursue the production, storage, and utilisation of hydrogen, it will perfect safety systems and controls. Importantly, it will spur public acceptance and commercialisation. But the benefits of a global hydrogen economy go well beyond dollars. Hydrogen produces no air pollution and has zero carbon impact - building our economy around it will ensure a cleaner, safer environment for generations to come.
Professor Huanting Wang wins prestigious ARC Laureate Fellowship
Nanocomm Hub Chief Investigator and Director of the Monash Centre for Membrane Innovation, Professor Huanting Wang, has received an Australian Research Council (ARC) Laureate Fellowship of $2.9 million. It comes as recognition of his exceptional research in nanoporous materials and composite membranes.
This significant grant will fund Professor Wang's development of novel energy-efficient membranes - synthetic membranes with the ultrafast permeation and ultrahigh selectivity of biological membranes.
"I hope to build world-class research capabilities in the rapidly growing cross-disciplinary field of separation membranes that operate at sub-nanometre scale," said Professor Wang. "My research program will develop advanced materials for applications in the energy economy, ranging from renewable hydrogen and biofuels to sustainable lithium mining and recycling technologies."
Lithium mining has been shown to harm the environment, with toxic chemical leakage a serious danger. Professor Wang's work in lithium-ion conducting membranes could revolutionise the extraction process and make the elusive recycling of lithium-ion batteries a reality.
"I am thrilled to receive an ARC Australian Laureate Fellowship. This is a great recognition of the efforts that my research group and collaborators have collectively made over many years," said Professor Wang. "The fellowship will allow me to focus on exploring the fundamental science of fascinating selective mass transport at the atomic scale, and developing new materials and technologies for the renewable energy industry."
Congratulations to Professor Wang on this well-deserved recognition of his outstanding achievements in sustainable energy and mining practices.
Upcoming Events
The 7th Workshop of the Australian Chapter of the International Association of Protective Structures (IAPS-AUS)
The 7th workshop of the Australian Chapter of the International Association of Protective Structures (IAPS-AUS) will be hosted by the University of New South Wales - Canberra, as the first online workshop, 23rd and 24th November 2020.
The Australian Chapter of the International Association of Protective Structures (IAPS-AUS) was founded by Professor Mark Stewart in June 2011 for the purpose of promoting research and development associated with Protective Structures in Civil Engineering in Australia. Primary objectives are: bringing experts together working in the field of protective structures in Australia, being the umbrella for different actions, supporting an International Conference on Protective Structures (ICPS) to be held every two years, promotion of other professional activities, and supporting the publications of the International Journal of Protective Structures (IJPS).
Academic researchers, civil engineers, managing authorities, construction companies, and anybody interested in either of the two topics are welcome to attend this free virtual event, and to benefit from discussions with the multi- disciplinary group of attendees.
Click here for more information and abstract submission
NICOM7 11-14 July 2021:
For more information and abstract submission:
https://www.monash.edu/nanocomm/NICOM7