Research

Materials Engineering has an active well-funded research program with extensive, modern facilities, and a large number of postgraduates and research fellows. The projects range from fundamental topics to many which involve collaboration and funding from industry and government.

Our areas of research strength include:

• nanomaterials, nanoparticulates and nanocomposites,
• solar energy and photovoltaic materials,
• biomaterials, tissue engineering,
• functional materials (magnetic and electronic) and devices, 
• metals and alloys (particularly light alloys), 
• diffraction studies,
• polymer science and engineering,
• ceramic engineering,
• corrosion,
• fracture of materials,
• production and properties of composites,
• mechanical properties, 
• mathematical and computer modeling of materials and processes.

Underpinning all of these strengths is a wide range of techniques to probe material structures at all size scales.

Research Facilities

The Department has wide range of excellent facilities itself and access to an even wider variety of sophisticated research facilities, including an Atom Probe Field Ion Microscope and some of the worlds most advanced electron microscope facilities at its Monash Centre for Electron Microscopy. The Australian Synchrotron is 10 minutes walk away across the road from Monash, and access to major synchrotron facilities in Japan, the US  and Europe is also facilitated via the Australian Synchrotron Research Program. Academics also use the OPAL Nuclear Reactor at Lucas Heights in New South Wales.

The Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication is located near to Monash University (next door to the synchrotron) and is providing scientists with the tools to build miniature devices and have a range of high end characterisation tools (including e-beam, various lithographies, CVD systems etc.)

Centres

• ARC Centre of Excellence for Design in Light Metals (CoEDLM)
• ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science (ACES)
• Cooperative Research centre for Cast Metals Manufacturing (CAST)
• Cooperative Research centre for Polymers (CRC Polymers)
• Monash Centre for Electron Microscopy (MCEM)
• Victorian Centre for Advanced Materials manufacturing (VCAMM)
• Victorian Consortium for Organic Solar Cells (VICOSC)

Research capabilities

• Advanced Polymer Science and Engineering
• Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering
• Electronic and Magnetic Materials
• Engineering Alloys
• Advanced Light Alloys
• Thermomechanical Processing
• Corrosion
• Materials Characterisation
• Modelling and Simulation of Materials and Processes
• Structural and Functional Ceramics
• Solar Cells