Farewell Interview: Research Fellow Dr Ashley Walker

An interview with Research Fellow Dr Ashley Walker before he moves on from ACES to pursue a career in radiochemistry.

What has been your role and research area?

I’ve been a research fellow here at ACES. I was brought on as an organic chemist but my background is in medicinal chemistry. For quite a while, I was working on projects involving water splitting and light harvesting for CO2 reduction and solar panels. I’ve also worked on other projects looking at functionalising biomaterials and trying to make 3D printable collagen. But most recently, I’ve been working on a new form of graphene that we’ve developed.

How long have you been with ACES?   

I started at the end of 2013 after finishing up at Monash University, so around four years. During that time, I’ve been a postdoctoral researcher.

What’s been your biggest achievement?

I would have to go with the graphene. That’s the material that I believe has the most potential and has been my biggest contribution here.

What will you miss the most?

It’s a really great place to work. There are lots of interesting projects going on and you get to work with people from all sorts of different areas, so I’ve been able to learn things I wouldn’t usually come across. I came in as a medicinal chemist working on drug development and then moved to material science. That alone was a huge shift but was possible here while learning from others. It’s also a great environment and the people here are great value. It’s very different from a really formal chemistry department.

What’s next for you?

I’m off to work with ANSTO, the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, and will be a radiochemist. I’ll be going back to drug development with radiochemistry work involved. It should be really interesting.

Thanks for your time and all the best with your future plans.

View Dr. Walker’s publications on ResearcherID