UniMelb Master of Industrial Research Candidates
Our candidates at UniMelb who are active at November 2021 are:
Michael Scalzo with Boron Molecular / CSIRO
Yuxuan Luo with Ixom
Alex Jones with Robert Bosch
Colleen Yeow with CSIRO
Daniel Mathwin with CSIRO
Reema Aroos with Qenos
Sahil with Eurofins Australia
I find science inspiring. For this reason, I studied chemistry and mathematics at the University of Melbourne, where my passion developed into a question: how does scientific research have an impact? Of course, there are many answers, but for me, joining the inaugural MIR class was an opportunity to experiment and make discoveries with tangible, real-world results.
Under the watchful eye of Dr Nurul Quazi at Boron Molecular, I have successfully developed processes for boronic acid synthesis and am now adopting a continuous flow process for large-scale boronic acid manufacturing. Outside of the lab, my interests are travelling, music and disability advocacy.
Project
Boronic acids are a global commodity and a valuable building block in the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries. My project is investigating immediate and long-term strategies to make boronic acid synthesis more efficient. Already, we’ve made practical developments on existing methods for a number of different boronic acids. Our current project is to build and develop a continuous flow reactor—an innovative process that aims to unlock a more versatile, cost-effective and environmentally friendly process of boronic acid synthesis.
Crossing borders since birth, Evelyn was born in Taiwan, grew up in the Philippines and completed a Bachelor of Science (Biochemistry) before moving to Melbourne and joining the MIR program. Evelyn is working with PPG to lower volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in coil coating paints under the supervision of Dr. Helen Ryan (PPG) and Prof. Greg Qiao (UniMelb). As a Christian, Evelyn enjoys understanding God through her love of science.
Project
Reducing the Carbon Footprint of Coil Coatings Conventional coil coatings systems require large amounts of solvent to achieve desired flow. The curing of these coatings releases volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Because of the harmful effects and the increasing legislations about VOCs, there is a shift in the coatings industry towards "cleaner" technology. This project involves polymer design and reformulation to reduce solvent content of coating systems and to reduce the energy demand associated with their application and processing of VOCs.
Yuxuan, a student from Mainland China, has more than 12 years oversea study experience in Australia and Singapore. He joined the MIR program in Semester 1 2019. His previous study included a Bachelor of Science with Major in Chemistry at the University of Melbourne and a Diploma in Applied Chemistry with Pharmaceutical Science at Singapore Polytechnique. Yuxuan’s MIR research is undertaken with Ixom, where he is working closely with Mr Brendan Murray. His University of Melbourne supervisor is Prof Peter Scales. His project is to develop a new formulation for an Ixom Water treatment product. With his working experience in Merck Sharpe & Dohme Pharmaceutical (Singapore) and Kemin Industries (Singapore), Yuxuan is experienced in critical problem solving, independent working and other laboratory skills.
Project
The project involves improving an existing Ixom water treatment product and the development of new product formulation in laboratory-scale followed by the implementation in full-scale manufacturing. The Ixom water treatment product is added into wastewater for the purpose of odour control, pH monitoring and acceleration of the biological treatment process.
Marcus joined the M-IR program at the University of Melbourne in 2019 upon graduating with a B.Sc (Chemistry) from the same university in 2018. His project is supervised by Prof. Amanda Ellis and her materials science group in the department of Chemical Engineering. Marcus is working with Laminex Australia to find alternative fibre sources for creating more sustainable and cost effective wood panels for the construction industry. In a time before COVID-19, he enjoyed training muay thai and traveling, but more recently has rekindled his childhood interest in chess.
Project
Due to difficulties growing new plantations and competition from export markets, the price of Australian wood chip has, and will continue to increase dramatically. This research project looked at finding alternative fibre sources to wood chip in the form of agricultural crop waste, and recycled wood, and developing this into wood panels that meet Australian and industry standards.
I am part of the Australian Laboratory for Emerging Contaminants (ALEC) research group led by Dr Brad Clarke and have been actively studying Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances in paper products and wastewater treatment plants since 2017. I’m currently completing my Masters of Industrial Research under the supervision of Dr Brad Clarke and Prof. Amanda Ellis, and have partnered up with Eurofins to study the presence of Microplastics in the environment.
Project
Currently, the qualitative and quantitative analysis of Microplastics is not streamlined in this research field, whether it is sample preparation, analytical techniques or consistent quality assurance/ quality control regulations. Therefore, my current project is to establish a stricter and more efficient approach to identifying Microplastics in various matrices. This will hopefully allow regulators like the EPA to regulate the presence of microplastics.
Alex graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Chemistry) at the University of Melbourne before commencing a Masters of Industrial Research in 2020. Alex is under guidance by Prof George Franks at UoM and Dr. Vemal Raja Manikam at Robert Bosch. Alex’s research is undertaken at Robert Bosch, where he is developing a lead-free alternative to the lead-based solder currently used in the automotive diode for car alternators. When he is not studying, Alex enjoys surfing, drawing and unicycling. He loves a challenge and is always keen to learn something new.
Project
The objective of this project is to replace the lead-based solder currently used in the automotive diode for car alternators with an environmentally friendly alternative. Lead is a neurotoxin which, after repeated exposure, may induce a variety of health and environmental concerns. The project is largely driven by the reliability, lifetime and legal requirements as specified in the Directive 2000/53/EC, i.e. the "ELV Directive" on the end-of life vehicles (ELV) by the European Commission (EC), with regards to lead use in electronic components. Lead-based solder is currently used in the manufacture of almost 120 million diodes per year. There is therefore a large regulatory incentive to replace existing lead-based solder with alternative solder materials. During this project, prototype products will be assembled using lead-free solder, which are then to be examined for their performance and material properties.
Colleen began her journey in chemistry from 2017, when she pursued a Bachelor of Science (Chemistry) with the University of Melbourne. During her undergraduate degree, she interned with the White Group to undertake the synthesis of azulene derivatives for photochemical studies. After graduating, Colleen wanted to fulfil her passion for research and organic chemistry. She thus enrolled in the Masters of Industrial Research program with the University of Melbourne in 2020. Under this program, she is working closely with her colleagues from CSIRO to develop a broad-spectrum host acting antiviral drug. Colleen is currently under the supervision of Dr. Charlotte Williams and Professor Jonathan White. When not in the lab, she spends her time baking bread and dancing.
Project
Synthesis of small inhibitor molecules against a human methyltransferase for the development of a broad-spectrum antiviral drug. Today, over 90 antiviral drugs are available in the market, but only nine known diseases are treatable. Traditionally, drugs are used to target specific viruses to bring about a therapeutic effect. A novel antiviral method is to target the host cell, providing the opportunity to treat multiple viruses. It was found that a human methyltransferase, a key protein in the host cell, aids viral infections in paramyxoviruses such as measles and mumps. For the methyltransferase to function, a cofactor is required. This project aims to synthesise molecules which obstruct the methyltransferase’s interaction with the cofactor, in turn allowing for the development of a broad-spectrum antiviral drug.
Daniel was born in Newcastle, NSW, where he studied a Bachelor of Science at the University of Newcastle (Chemistry) and after graduating in 2018, he moved to Melbourne to do a Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Science (Honours) at Monash University. Upon completing Honours he worked in the manufacturing industry for several months before enrolling in the MIR program in mid-2020. Daniel will be working at CSIRO under the supervision of Dr Kathy Turner (CSIRO) and Dr Anastasios Polyzos (University of Melbourne). His personal interests include motorcycles, skateboards and ancient history.
Project
Daniel’s research project will focus on developing new continuous-flow processes to synthesise active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), which are traditionally manufactured through a series of batch processes. The synthesis of APIs will be optimised at a lab scale using both batch and continuous-flow modes and successful projects will be scaled up with the aim to improve the manufacturing process.
After completing a Bachelor of Science (Chemistry) degree at La Trobe University, Jenna decided to pursue further training via the MIR Program at the University of Melbourne from Semester 2 2020. Her research is conducted under the supervision of Dr. Andrew Gooley, Chief Scientific Officer at Trajan Scientific and Medical, and Prof. Gavin Reid at UniMelb. She will be developing Electrospray Mass Spectrometry hardware at Trajan and investigating its performance using Mass Spectrometry facilities at the University of Melbourne. Beside her passion for learning and doing research in chemistry, Jenna also loves reading books to gain knowledge from different disciplines and mentoring secondary and tertiary students. Last year, she was awarded as the most initiative Peer Learning Advisor at LTU.
Project
Electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) has gained unprecedented popularity in recent years due to its exquisite sensitivity, specificity and robustness. The ability to identify and analyse molecules in complex samples when using this analytical method has attributed to its utility across a wide variety of disciplines. Currently, there are strong research interests in the development of ESI-MS emitter geometries that enhance sensitivity while minimizing sample consumption. This project involves fabrication of controlled bore quartz electrospray emitters with control over the internal diameters and of desired structures, as well as studying their performance with state-of-the-art mass spectrometry.
I have always been on the move since deciding to pursue higher education abroad. I grew up in Sri Lanka and moved to Malaysia to study a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering at Monash University in 2015. After completing two years in Malaysia, and in order to widen my international experience, I decided to move to the Melbourne campus to complete my remaining two years. After graduating, I worked predominantly in the petrochemical industry – first at Viva Energy (Geelong Refinery) as a field service technician for Nalco Champion, and then as a lab technician at ConocoPhillips for SGS in Gladstone, QLD. After gaining this experience, I wanted to pursue a higher research degree that would both broaden my knowledge and allow me to keep in touch with industry. After joining the MIR program, I moved back to Melbourne and I am currently working with Qenos to optimise the performance of their polyethylene (PE) product by modifying its molecular structure. I am supervised by Dr Brian Egan (Qenos), Lauren Mann (Qenos), Prof. Greg Qiao (UniMelb) and Dr Paul Gurr (UniMelb).
Project
High density polyethylene (HDPE) is a linear chain made up of CH2 repeating units. To control processing characteristics and product properties, short chain branching from butene, pentene or hexene comonomer is often introduced into the polymer structure. Furthermore, reactor control parameters also effect the molecular structure of the final polymer product. The aim of this project is to employ an understanding of the molecular structure to enhance the performance of the injection moulded product and then evaluate the effect of different comonomers by carrying out full scale operational plant trials. To help achieve this, a reactor model will also be utilised to analyse the effect of reaction parameters on the molecular structure and obtain trial parameters. Analytical and physical testing techniques will be employed to characterise the trial product, including solution viscosity, GPC, injection moulding and impact testing.
My undergrad at the University of Melbourne kindled my passion for chemistry. The unique Melbourne model has allowed me to mix subjects outside of the department of chemistry. Here, I exercised my interest in business and I explored different management, marketing, and finance subjects. This mixture of subjects often made me think of the question “How can chemistry be used to make money?”. The masters of industrial research gave me the ideal platform to explore this question. Under the guidance of Dr. Oliver Hutt, Dr. Anastasios Polyzos, and Dr. Michael Scott, I have been developing more efficient and cost-effective pathways to synthesize boronic acids on scale.
Project
Boronic acids and esters form an important class of compounds that are predominantly used to perform palladium-catalyzed Suzuki cross-coupling reactions. Over the years, the team at Boron Molecular have refined their expertise in the synthesis of these boronic acids on scale.
My project aims to develop a more efficient and cost-effective route to boronic acids by exploring different catalytic systems. This project represents an important step for Boron Molecular to gain a stronger competitive advantage in the boronic acids market.
Jordan began his academic journey at Monash University before moving to the University of Melbourne where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Chemistry). Currently, Jordan is part of the Australian Laboratory for Emerging Contaminants (ALEC), where his studies are focused on the detection of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in environmental and biological matrices. Under the supervision of Dr. Brad Clarke at the University of Melbourne, and in partnership with Trajan Scientific and Medical, Jordan is currently completing his Masters of Industrial Research (Chemistry).
Project
Australian blood PFAS levels aren’t commonly monitored despite their widespread use. This is of concern due to the persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic characteristics these compounds exhibit. Traditionally, blood PFAS analysis has been performed via serum extraction, and has generally been inaccessible to the public. Jordan’s project focuses on developing a new analytical method for blood PFAS analysis that incorporates Trajan’s newly developed microsampler. Ultimately, this will allow for simple blood PFAS monitoring, where all that is required, is a meagre drop of blood.
Sahil is part of the Australian Laboratory of Emerging Contaminants (ALEC) and joined the Master of Industrial Research program at the University of Melbourne in 2021. Prior to joining the program Sahil has also worked as an Environmental Chemist for a year in UK and has a Bachelor of Science (Chemistry and Biotechnology) from Swinburne University of Technology. Sahil is currently working with Eurofins Testing Australia and New Zealand as part of his MIR and is under the supervision of Brad Clarke, and Amy Heffernan (Eurofins).
Project
Sahil’s research project aims to develop a high-resolution mass spectrometry non-target analysis (NTA) methodology for the identification of Per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in environmental samples. PFAS have been extensively produced in industry since the early 1950’s and because of their global use, environmental persistence and bioaccumulation they have been detected in most biotic and abiotic samples throughout the world. Since the early 2000’s there has been a shift within industry to produce novel PFAS that replace the traditional long chain PFAS and as a result there are now over 4500 PFAS used for industrial applications and many without appropriate analytical methodologies for their identification and quantification.