The Institute for Frontier Materials has released its 2023 Annual Report detailing the key projects and collaborations that underscore IFM’s role in addressing global challenges through innovative materials research.
The report revealed that IFM:
- Attracted $25.7 million in research income
- Collaborated with 176 organisations across 16 countries
- Trained 201 Higher Degree by Research students from 32 countries
- Published 409 publications
IFM also launched the Future Fibres Facility, which sits alongside the IFM-led ARC Research Hub for Future Fibres. The cornerstone of Deakin’s fibre research efforts, the Future Fibres Facility, located on the Waurn Ponds campus in Geelong, is equipped with innovative fibre production, yarn processing, knitting and weaving machinery.
Meeting our materials mission
The 2023 report also lists several highlights on how we met our mission to redesign materials for a circular economy and impart materials with extraordinary functionality through excellence in research quality, translation, training and research culture.
Highlights include the Biochar to Batteries project, which won the R&D Excellence Award at the 2023 Australian Water Association VIC Water Awards; the partnership agreement with Geelong-based company Xefco as part of its Recycling and Clean Energy Commercialisation Hub to conduct new research to transform how our clothing, including jeans, gets its colour; the establishment of the fastAlloy Lab; and IFM’s Infrastructure Materials group’s discoveries that significantly reduce the embodied carbon content of cement and concrete products.
The report also highlights the Mud to Marle project, a recipient of Country Road’s inaugural Climate Fund, which focuses on turning low-value wool fibre into a high-value product. IFM researchers are also leading a project with commercial linen supplier Simba Global who are spearheading efforts to address the pressing issue of microplastic pollution stemming from textiles though laundering.
In the report’s feature articles we explore the Perpetual Pigments project, which took IFM’s groundbreaking method to recycle coloured textile waste into pigments for paints and other applications, and IFM’s mission to establish a more sustainable composites, manufacturing sector.
Research excellence recognised
In 2023, IFM researchers received accolades including:
IFM Director Professor Sally McArthur elected by the International Union of Societies for Biomaterials Science and Engineering (IUSBSE) as a Fellow of Biomaterials Science and Engineering; Distinguished Deakin Professor Maria Forsyth was made a Member of the Order of Australia as part of the King’s Birthday Honours List for significant service to chemistry education, research and scholarship, and a finalist for the 2023 Eureka Prize for Outstanding Mentor of Young Researchers; and Distinguished Deakin Professor Ying (Ian) Chen named in the 2023 Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers list.
Also highlighted was Professor Luke Henderson being one of only 25 researchers from across Australia to be awarded a Mid-Career Industry Fellowship – a new scheme of the Australian Research Council.
And Dr Mega Kar was one of eight successful Deakin recipients of the Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Awards (DECRA) scheme announced in 2023.