International Advisory Board

 Dr Bridget Ogilvie (AC, DBE, FRS, FMedSci)

Bridget Ogilvie took her first degree in agricultural science (BRurSc) fromthe University of New England in Australia in 1960. She obtained her doctoral degrees from the University of Cambridge (PhD in 1963, ScD in 1981) for research in parasite immunology.

Her career has had three phases, initially as a scientist undertaking research on the staff of the Medical Research Council, then as a staff member of an organisation that funds medical research, The Wellcome Trust, now involved in science and education through a number of non-executive positions.

For 17 years she was a member of the staff of the UK Medical Research Council at the National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, London. In those years, she undertook research on the immune response to parasitic infections. She travelled widely in both the developed world and the tropics in pursuit of her research interests and as an advisor for bodies such as the World Health Organisation. From 1985 to 1991, she was a Visiting Professor at the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine in London. She is now a Visiting Professor at University College, London.

She joined the staff of the Wellcome Trust in 1979 where her first post was a half-time appointment as coordinator of its tropical medicine programme, whilst still running her research group at the NIMR. In 1981 she joined the staff on a full-time basis as Deputy Secretary and Assistant Director. She was promoted to Deputy Director (Science) in 1984 and then to Director (Science Programmes) in 1989, with responsibility for the science funding activities of the Trust overall. At that time she also took a particular interest in schemes for the career development of scientists and medical graduates, and in the veterinary programme of the Trust. In October 1991, she was appointed Director (Chief Executive) of the Trust and retired from this position at the end of June, 1998.

She has received a number of honorary memberships, fellowships and doctorates from scientific societies and academic institutions in the UK and abroad. Following her retirement from the staff of The Wellcome Trust, she is currently occupying herself with a number of non executive posts in science and education. She is a Trustee of Cancer Research UK, until October 2007 Chairman of the Association of Medical Research Charities, and of the Lister Institute for Preventive Medicine, together with many other non executive interests.

 Professor Ray Baughman

The University of Texas at Dallas, USA

Ray Baughman became the Robert A. Welch Professor of Chemistry and Director of the NanoTech Institute at the University of Texas in Dallas in August 2001, after 31 years in industry. 

He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, and the World Innovation Foundation, an Academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, an Honorary Professor of three universities in China, and on editorial and advisory boards of Science, Synthetic Metals, the International Journal ofNanoscience, and the Encyclopedia of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology.

Ray has 57 US patents and over 230 publications. He has received the Chemical Pioneer Award of the American Institute of Chemists (1995), the Cooperative Research Award in Polymer Science and Engineering (1996), and the New Materials Innovation Prize of the Avantex International Forum for Innovative Textiles (2005).

Professor Dermot Diamond

B.Sc., Ph.D. (QUB), PGCE, MICI, MRSC, C.Chem. Science Foundation Ireland Principle Investigator in the ‘Adaptive Information Cluster’.

Dermot Diamond received his Ph.D. and D.Sc. from Queen's University Belfast (Chemical Sensors, 1987, Internet Scale Sensing, 2002), and was Vice president for Research at Dublin City University (DCU), Ireland (2002-2004).

He has published over 180 peer reviewed papers in international science journals, is a named inventor in 13 patents, and is co-author and editor of three books, 'Spreadsheet Applications in Chemistry using Microsoft Excel' (1997) and ‘Principles of Chemical and Biological Sensors’, (1998) both published by Wiley, and ‘Smart NanoTextiles’, Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings, Volume 20, 2006.

Professor Diamond is currently director of the National Centre for Sensor Research at DCU (www.ncsr.ie) and a Principal Investigator with the Adaptive Information Cluster (AIC), a major research initiative in the area of wireless sensor networks founded by Science Foundation Ireland (see www.adaptiveinformation.ie). He was formerly the vice-president for research at DCU (2002-2005). He is a member of the editorial advisory board of the international journal ‘Talanta’. In 2002 he was awarded the inaugural silver medal for Sensor Research by the Royal Society of Chemistry, London, and in 2008 he was received the DCU President’s Research award. Details of his research can be found at http://www.dcu.ie/chemistry/asg/.

 Professor Richard B. Kaner

Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Materials Science & Engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

He received a Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania with Professor Alan MacDiarmid in 1984 followed by two and a half years of postdoctoral research at UC Berkeley. He joined UCLA in 1987 as an assistant professor, earned tenure in 1991 and became a full professor in 1993. He has received awards from the Dreyfus, Guggenheim, Packard and Sloan Foundations as well as the American Chemical Society for his work on new routes to refractory materials including high-temperature ceramics, intercalation compounds, fulleride superconductors, superhard materials and conducting polymers.

His conjugated polymer research focuses on nanofibres of polyaniline and their use in sensors, actuators, molecular memory and flash welding. In 2005 he worked with Prof. Gordon Wallace at the University of Wollongong on a Fulbright sabbatical fellowship. To date he has published over 150 peer reviewed articles, 8 patents (with 7 more pending) and raised over $6 million in grant funds.

Professor Daoben Zhu

Professor Daoben Zhu is an organic and physical chemist , who graduated from Department of Organic Chemistry, Shanghai-Based East China University of Science and Technology in 1965 and where he completed his postgraduate study in 1968. He is a research professor and Director of the Organic Solids Laboratory of the Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He was selected as an academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1997 and a member of TWAS in 2009.

His research interests include molecular materials and devices. Since the 1970s, Prof Zhu has been engaged in research on organic solids, one of the first scientists in China to start research in this field. Through his extensive studies, a series of new 1D and 2D organic conductors were discovered. He proposed and successfully introduced some structural characteristics of high-temperature superconductors for organic crystals, as a result of which, the first quasi-3D organic conductor was discovered. In connection with studies on organic ferromagnetism, dozens of organic compounds containing nitroxide radicals and magnetic LB films of nitroxide radicals were designed and prepared under his guidance. Based on these studies, he concluded that intermolecular interaction is the principal factor affecting the magnetic behavior of these molecular systems. The research results on the charge-transfer complexes based on C60, and the film structure of C60, C70 as well as their derivatives have attracted great attention internationally. He has over 500 publications on peer-reviewed journals.

Professor Zhu has contributed a lot to development and promotion of research institutions, academic societies and research foundations in China. He was the vice-president of National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) from 2000-2007. He served as the vice-director of the Institute of Chemistry, CAS from 1988 to 1992, and director from 1992 to 2000. He is a member and vice-president of Chinese Chemical Society, member and vice-president of Chinese Materials Society. Currently, he is fellows of Asia-Pacific Academy of Materials, Royal Society of Chemistry, UK and honor member of Korean Chemical Society. He is a member of editorial board of Chemistry-An Asian Journal, and Applied Physics A. He is also the member of International Advisory Board of Marcromolecular Rapid Communications, and Polymer Reviews. He received second-class prizes of National Natural Sciences of China in 1988, 2002, 2004 and 2007, respectively.

Professor Yoshihito Osada

Professor Osada is currently the Deputy Director of the Advacned Science Institue at RIKEN in Japan; Director of Corporate and International Relation Division RIKEN and Unit leader of the Molecular and Informative Life Science Unit RIKEN as well as Professor Emeritus of Hokkaido University, Japan.  In 2007 he was made an honorary doctor at the Polytechnic University of Cartagena in Spain; then in 2009 he was made a Fellow of The Chemical Society of Japan.

His research interests are in the area of polymer chemistry and materials with aims to obtain Soft-Nanobiomachines made of synthetic as well as biological polymer gels. More specifically, his unit are investigating the creation of the soft and wet machine system; developing biomimetic artificial materials; looking at the mechanism of interfacial frictional and adhesive properties of soft and wet matter and the mechanism of emergent properties in biological motion. He has published over 227 publications.

Professor Dirk Guldi

Professor Dirk Guldi is from the Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, where he has been Professor since 2004. He has published over 338 research papers, 20 book chapters and 632 conference proceedings.

His group's current research activities include the application of an arsenal of spectroscopic and microscopic techniques to a variety of molecular systems designed specifically to explore the nature of the chemical, physical and photophysical properties of new molecular hybrids, quantum dots, quantum rods and nanoparticles.Such conception is extremely valuable for the realisation of solar energy conversion, photovoltaics, and catalytic reactivity, specifically to novel chemical and light driven systems. 

Dr Anita Hill

Dr Anita Hill is an Office of the Chief Executive (OCE) Science Leader with CSIRO. She is also a Fellow of the Academy of Technological Sciences (ATSE), as well as a member of the Boards of the Membrane Society of Australasia, Institute for Technology Research and Innovation (Deakin University) and the Journal of Polymer Science (editorial board). 

Dr Anita Hill was awarded a Bachelor of Engineering in 1985 and a Doctor of Philosophy (1989) in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, both from Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA.

Dr. Hill’s research expertise is in the field of nanostructured and nanoporous materials, their rational design, characterisation, and application; wear resistant elastomers, bioelastomers, organic and hybrid membranes, organic electrolytes, barrier polymers. Other work looks at postiron spectroscopy of materials. Her work to date on the transport of atoms, ions and small molecules through solids has had profound impact on the design of dense polymer membranes (published in Science 2002, 2007). In fact this work has been described as ‘breakthrough research’ and ‘one of the most important achievements in the field in the past decade’.

 Dr Greg Smith

Co-Managing Director, SciVentures Investments Pty. Ltd.

Greg co-founded the venture capital company, SciVentures Investments Pty. Ltd., which manages the SciVentures Pre-Seed Fund that is licensed under the Federal Government’s “Backing Australia’s Ability” program.

He returned to Australia in 1999, after 20 years in USA and Europe working on the identification and development of high technology business opportunities from research outcomes. He was Director of the Alcoa corporate technical center and Vice-President of Allied Signal’s corporate research laboratories. Earlier, he had worked for Exxon Chemical Company with assignments in Australia, Belgium and USA.

In 2000, Greg was awarded the Washington-based Industrial Research Institutes’ prestigious Maurice Holland award for his work at AlliedSignal and Alcoa on “front-end innovation”. He has been a member of the Federal Government’s IR&D Board and of its Advisory Council for Intellectual Property. He chairs several of SciVentures start-up companies’ boards, as well as the board of the NANO MNRF. Dr. Smith also serves on certain university-based advisory boards, including the ACES IAB .

 Dr Abid Khan

Abid Khan is Director of the Monash Institute for Nanosciences at Monash University in Melbourne Australia.

The institute is multidisciplinary and focuses on delivering materials and devices to the biomedical, environmental and food industries. It is underpinned by strengths in advanced materials covering both the hard and soft matter sciences.

Prior to this, Abid was Deputy Director of the London Centre for Nanotechnology, one of the UK’s key centres for nanotechnology in healthcare, the environment and IT. In this role, Abid was in charge of major strategic and commercial initiatives, including the creation of London’s Bio-Nanotechnology Centre for which he was also CEO. Previously, he worked in commercial strategy and operations management with Booz Allen & Hamilton, specialising in major strategic, organisational and operational change projects for the Fortune 500 in the pharma, biotech and high-tech industries.

He was formerly a research manager for the European Union and a researcher at Oxford University in the area of optoelectronics for the communications industry. He holds an engineering PhD from University College London in the area of vertical cavity surface emitting lasers and the integration of optoelectronic devices and has a degree in pure physics from Imperial College London.

 Professor Thomas W.H. Kay

Prof. Thomas Kay has been Director of St Vincent's Institute since 2002. He is a clinician-scientist with training in diabetes and endocrinology (diseases of hormones) and immunology at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard University. He currently is a holder of program grants from the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

His research achievements include discovering which immune cells are responsible for destroying the insulin-producing beta cells in type 1 (juvenile) diabetes. He is currently focused on establishing a human islet cell transplant program in Melbourne and a centre of excellence in diabetes research at St. Vincent's - now the largest concentration of diabetes research in Australia.

He holds a Professorial appointment within the Department of Medicine, St. Vincent's Hospital and The University of Melbourne. He also holds the position of Honorary Endocrinologist at St. Vincent's Hospital.

 Professor Judy Raper

Professor Judy Raper was appointed Deputy Vice - Chancellor (Research) in University of Wollongong in July 2008. 

Judy previously was the Division Director of Chemical Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport System at NSF. Prior to this secondment, she has been Department Chair, Chemical & Biological Engineering at the Missouri University of Science and Technology (formerly known as University of Missouri-Rolla) (2006) and Dean of Engineering at the University of Sydney (1997-2003). When previously in Australia, she served on the ARC Engineering and Earth Sciences Panel and was founding Director of the Centre for Particle & Catalyst Technologies (now incorporated into the ARC Centre for Functional Nanomaterials) at UNSW.

Professor Raper has an impressive research background in chemical engineering and is the recipient of a number of prestigious awards (including the Sheddon Pacific Award for the most outstanding young chemical engineer in Australia in 1992 and the Professional Engineer of the Year in 1998) In 2003 her contribution to the engineering profession in Australia was recognised by election to the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering in Australia and as an Honorary Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia.

Professor Raper followed her undergraduate and PhD degrees from the University of New South Wales with postdoctoral research at the University of Cambridge in the UK, working at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell. She taught at both the University of Newcastle and the University of New South Wales before joining the University of Sydney. Her research interests are focused on particle technology, especially the characterisation of fine particles and how their characteristics affect pollution control and industrial processes. Her recent research has concentrated on characterising inhalant aerosol particles for pharmaceutical and medicinal applications. Her group was responsible for the development of a light scattering technique for the measurement of fractal dimensions of micron-sized aggregates.

Professor Lee Astheimer 

In March 2009 Professor Lee Astheimer commenced as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) of Deakin University.

Professor Astheimer's role at Deakin is to provide academic leadership in respect of the advancement of research and research training and promoting, both nationally and internationally, Deakin University's distinctive contribution to research and research training.

Prior to joining Deakin Professor Astheimer was appointed Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of Wollongong in 2006 and also served as Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) between 2007 and 2008, managing research policy, development, commercialisation and training. She has served on the Board of Directors of the Smart Services CRC and Australia and New Zealand Council for the Care of Animals in Research & Teaching (ANZCCART).

Professor Astheimer received her BSc Hon. from Lakehead University, Ontario Canada and her PhD in Ecology from University California, Davis, USA (1984). She was awarded a National Institutes of Health-NIMH Postdoctoral Award (1988-1991) in comparative endocrinology and behaviour at the University of Washington, Seattle. Lee's research has focussed on comparative endocrinology and behaviour related to nutrition, reproduction and stress in vertebrates including humans. She has held academic positions at Rutgers University, New Jersey and the Universities of Tasmania and Wollongong.

In her position as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Astheimer chairs the Research Management Subcommittee and the ITRI Board. Professor Astheimer is also a member of various external committees including Victorian Partnership for Advanced Computing Limited (VPAC) Board, Enterprise Connect Innovative Regions Advisory Board, Universities Australia Executive Women Board and Australian Research Council College of Experts.

Professor Paddy Nixon

Deputy Vice Chancellor Research, University of Tasmania (UTAS)

Prior to taking up this position he was Science Foundation Ireland Research Professor at University College Dublin. Professor Nixon has significant industrial and commercial experience. He has had active collaborations with Microsoft Research, HP, INTEL, Oracle and IBM. He was Academic Director of the INTEL Technology for Independent Living Centre. Professor Nixon was an IBM faculty fellow at the IBM Dublin Centre for Advanced Studies.

He has published over 220 publications including editing 9 books. He also chaired the national public consultation in Ireland for Next Generation Broadband for the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources. He is currently chair of the Digital Futures Advisory Council in Tasmania.

Professor Tim Brown

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at La Trobe University.

Prior to this appointment he was Dean of the College of Science at the Australian National University, Professor of Statistics and Head of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Melbourne.

Professor Brown is recognised as one of Australia’s top statisticians and has an extensive record in consulting and applied research over a wide variety of areas of science and management with clients from private industry, government and the university sector. His primary applied research and consulting in the last ten years has been in education, tertiary selection and the effects on society. The latter has led to major changes in the Victorian Certificate of Education, in the reporting of results in schools and in tertiary selection in Victoria and Australia.