University of Auckland: First Prize Marcelle Hecker – Anti-biofouling surfaces – protecting polystyrene against protein adsorption “My project was about finding a simple polymer coating to protect polystyrene from protein adsorption. Because non-specific protein adsorption interferes with the proper functioning of many devices which come into contact with proteins in biological fluids (like bio-sensors or implants), there is much interest in creating protein resistant surfaces, especially in the medical sector. Through my project I was able to find out about the surface modifications already tried, and proven successful, and was able to test a new combination of protein resistant polymers, which have thus far shown promising resistance to protein adsorption on polystyrene”. … Continue Reading >
OBITUARY Professor Leslie Andrew Erasmus BSc(Eng), MSc(Eng), PhD(Cape Town), FIM, CEng, MIMechE, FIPENZ 1933 – 2016 It is with great sadness we report the death of a colleague, Leslie Andrew Erasmus on the 3 November 2016, aged 82 years. Les was educated at Pretoria Technical College 1948-51, then served as an apprentice fiter and turner at the Mufulira Copper Mines, Zambia, 1952-1954. He went on to read Mechanical Engineering at the University of Capetown 1954-1958, being supported on a Northern Rhodesia Chamber of Mines University Bursary, graduating with a BSc in Mechanical Engineering in 1958. Armed with a Federation of British Industries Post-gaduate Scholarship, 1959-1960, he spent the next two … Continue Reading >
Established in 2016, Massey University’s Centre for Additive Manufacturing is New Zealand’s only dedicated research facility in the field. The Centre operates equipment spanning the range of industrial additive manufacturing techniques. For detailed information, please click the link following: Massey University Lab Description
On the 12th of July 2016, Dr. Leandro Bolzoni from the School of Engineering and WaiCAM (Waikato Centre for Advanced Materials) received, jointly with his former colleagues from Brunel University London Dr. Hari Babu Nadendla and Dr. Magdalena Nowak, a prestigious international award from IOM3, the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining. The Charles Hatchett award is given to the most outstanding paper on the metallurgy and processing of niobium (Nb) and its alloys. The award is named after Charles Hatchett (FRS), the English scientist who discover the metal in 1801, and is sponsored by the Companhia Brasileira de Metalurgia e Mineração (CBMM) and managed by Beta Technology Ltd. … Continue Reading >
Professor Wei Gao from the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZOM) in yesterday’s Queen’s Birthday Honours list for his services to science and engineering. Professor Gao has had a long and distinguished career in Materials Science and Engineering. His research interests include nanostructured materials, light metals and alloys, electronic properties of materials, and advanced coating and surface technologies. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand and IPENZ, and is on the editorial board of a number international journals. Throughout his over-23 year tenure at the University of Auckland, he has supported 90 postgraduates, … Continue Reading >
Dr. Fei Yang’s research application for MBIE Smart Ideas funding has made through to the second round. Smart Ideas funding focuses on the connection between applied research and commercialisation. Dr Fei Yang’s research, Novel Heat Sink Technology and Materials, will enable industry to make an advanced heat sink (passive heat exchanger that transfers heat generated) from copper and artificial diamond powders by using conventional facilities. The advanced heat sink material produced will be used for making the substrate materials of high-power output electronics devices. This will help quickly dissipate heat generated from electronics devices and significantly reduces the thermal stress on electronic chips, improving their reliability, prolonging their life span and opening … Continue Reading >
SMNZI Final Year Student Award Prizes 2016 University of Auckland, Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering Co-winners First Prize (Student Presentations): Rakesh Arul Presentation: Ultrafast Laser Patterning of Titanium Dioxide Nanotubes. Jake Sun Presentation: Anodic Tungsten Oxides: Synthesis, Characterisation and Heterogeneous Photocatalysis University of Waikato, School of Engineering Excellence in Materials Engineering: 1st place: Patrick Leslie 2nd place: Daniel Hishon SMNZI Final Year Student Award Prizes 2016