ARC DECRA 2021
Congratulations to Sydney Nano Members Dr. Amandeep Kaur, Dr. Behnam Akhavan and Dr. Mohammad Mirkhlaf, who have recieved the 2021 ARC DECRAs.
Dr. Amandeep Kaur was awarded $445,000 for her project to develop chemical tools that enable molecular-level imaging of the amyloid structure. The Nobel Prize-winning super-resolution microscopy provides nanoscale imaging capabilities, but surprisingly there have been no substantive efforts to design fluorescent sensors that are compatible with this cutting-edge technology.
Dr. Behnam Akhavan was awarded $453,000 for his project which aims to develop versatile plasma processes that facilitate strong interfaces between hydrogels of choice and solid materials of all kinds. The expected outcome is a green platform technology for the modular construction of advanced solid-hydrogel hybrids with tailor-made functions; enabling critical advances in the design and synthesis of structured soft matter devices.
Dr. Mohammad Mirkhlaf was awarded $417,775 for his project which aims to develop ceramics that are simultaneously strong and tough, and to form them into complex shapes without compromising their mechanical properties – major challenges in science and engineering. Inspired by the internal architectures that confer these advantages on natural hard materials, it will produce novel ceramics with rationally-designed, highly-controlled dense architectures by developing a fast, scalable and versatile light-based 3D–4D printing technique combined with discrete element modelling.
