Research Activities

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. Many of the Departments' research staff are involved in Cooperative Research Centres - the ARC Centre of Excellence for Design of Light Metals, the ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science, the CRC for Polymers and the CRC CAST, as well as other Centres - the National Key Centre for Advanced Materials Technology. (CAMT)

Areas of research strength include electron scattering in materials, magnetic studies, engineering of metals and alloys (particularly light alloys), polymer engineering, diffraction studies, ceramic engineering, corrosion, fracture of materials, production and properties of composites, mechanical properties, fracture, mathematical and computer modeling of materials and processes and biomaterials. Underpinning all of these strengths is a wide range of techniques to probe material structures at all size scales.

The Department has access to a wide variety of sophisticated research facilities, including an Atom Probe Field Ion Microscope and advanced electron microscope facilities, and has access to national and international facilities, including LONGPOL on the HIFAR reactor at Lucas Heights; the ISIS spallation source in England. Access to synchrotron facilities in Japan and the US is facilitated via the Australian Synchrotron Research Program.

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