Annual Report 2009.pdf - School of Physics - University of Melbourne

group reports & publicationsMELBOURNE MATERIALS INSTITUTE (mim)prof steven prawer -directorThe Melbourne Materials Institute hadsome major achievements in 2009In March, Andrew Tierney was appointed asExecutive Officer to support the Director, ProfessorSteven Prawer in establishing the Institute. InSeptember, after rounds of careful planning,the MMI Business Case was submitted to theDeputy Vice-Chancellor Research by the Deanof Engineering, Professor Iven Mareels and theDirector. In December, the MMI moved into itsnew offices on the Ground Floor of the David CaroBuilding, giving the Institute a physical home.FundingThe MMI was a foundation partner in the successfulBionic Vision Australia consortium which receiveda grant of $42 million to develop a prosthesis thatwill restore sight to people suffering from maculardegeneration. This consortium includes the MMI,the School of Engineering, the Bionic Ear Institute,the Centre for Eye Research Australia, NICTA,the Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology(University of Melbourne) and the University of NewSouth Wales. The MMI’s role is to deliver materialssolutions to the challenge of creating a bionic eye,including a biocompatible diamond electrode arraythat will be attached to the retina.The MMI also supported a number of successfulARC Linkage grants (totalling $2 035 000) andDiscovery grants (totalling $650 000). The MMIsupported a Laureate Fellowship application for DrFedor Jelezko and a number of Future Fellowshipapplications. If successful, these appointments willsignificantly strengthen the materials science andengineering area.under the four themes of Nanomedicine, Materialsfor Energy, Materials Processing, and QuantumTechnologies.PartnershipsThe Director spearheaded the University’s efforts tosecure a number of major partnerships. In August,the Vice-Chancellor Glyn Davis signed a MoU withthe CEO of Better Place Australia, Evan Thornley.The partnership envisions an energy educationcentre being built on the campus. This agreementsaw a major ARC grant application being submittedwith the Dean of Engineering as Chief Investigator.The ultimate goal is the conversion of theUniversity’s car fleet to electrical vehicles poweredentirely by renewable sources.The Director also led the University’s engagementwith the DSTO. This culminated in a MoU beingsigned in March that will facilitate a university-wideresearch agreement, greater collaboration betweenresearchers in the two organisations and thedevelopment of a Defence Science Institute, to lookat issues such as Bioterrorism, Human Platforms,Signature Management, Energy & PropulsionSystems, Radar on a Chip, and Data Management.The MMI also initiated partnerships with keyinternational materials science institutes, includingthe London Centre for Nanotechnology and theVanderbilt Institute for Nanoscale Science andEngineering. In 2009, we hosted visits by theDirectors, Professor Gabriel Aeppli and ProfessorLen Feldman. Professor Feldman also delivered the2009 Miegunyah Lecture ‘The Quantum Revolution’.The MMI, in partnership with Materials Australia,hosted the annual Borland Lecture and the GifkinLecture, providing a valuable link between industryand the university’s research.The MMI was pleased to support six successfulbids for the inaugural Interdisciplinary Seed-FundingScheme. We supported projects that cover topicsas diverse as early detection for Legionella, trackingneural stem cells, developing electroactive polymerfoams and developing nanoparticle mucosalvaccines for dentistry applications. This scheme wascritical in developing the interdisciplinary interactionswithin the University and catalysing thoserelationships into new and innovative research. MMInow has over 40 researchers associated with it,www.physics.unimelb.edu.au 39