Published on the 7th December 2023 by ANSTO Staff
The Australian Neutron Beam Users Group (ANBUG) presented annual awards to accomplished neutron scientists at the combined ANSTO User Meeting - AUM2023 held in late November 2023.
The ANBUG Career Award was presented to Prof Garry McIntyre for his sustained contributions to neutron scattering both in France and Australia and as the now-retired Research Leader for the Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering at ANSTO.
He provided scientific and strategic leadership to the scientists in the Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering, who primarily conduct research using neutron scattering at the OPAL reactor, expanded the OPAL user community, and conducted research and instrumental development in areas that supported ANSTO's strategic goals.
A/Prof Stuart Prescott of the University of New South Wales (UNSW) received the ANBUG Neutron Award (more than 10 years post PhD) for his work in studying confined interfaces with neutron reflectometry. A/Prof Prescott pioneered a confinement cell technique which is now being used regularly at Institute Laue-Langevin in France, the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source in the UK and the Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering.
At UNSW, A/Prof Prescott’s principal research interest is in developing a greater understanding of the relationships between the structures adopted by molecules at interfaces and the physical properties of these interfaces. A particular focus has been on polymers at the solid-liquid interface of nanoparticles dispersed in water.
The ANBUG Technical Award was given to Dr Frank Darmann, Electrical and Control Systems Engineering Lead, for his support and coordination of the electrical engineering team at the Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering. In particular, for his work in integrating the safety interlock system (SIS) on all instruments and streamlining the motion control system at the Centre by implementing standardisation of components.
The ANBUG Young Scientist was awarded Dr Lu (Daniel) Jiang for his accomplished career as a Research Fellow in the Institute for Frontier Material at Deakin University, where he has published widely on high-strength aluminium alloys containing scandium and investigated advanced microsctructure characterisation, such as APT, SEM, (S)TEM and SANS.
Award judges noted that Dr Jiang’s roles as an active ECR representative in the Australian Neutron Beam Users Group and as a committee member for the ANSTO Users Meeting 2023 reflected his dedication to the neutron community.
The ANBUG PhD Award was presented to Dr Helen Qiu, who was selected over a very strong field of nominations for the high quality of her thesis, and output papers as well as the high impact of her research on Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing of Ni-based Hastelloy C276 Alloy and Ameliorated Processes
Both of Helen’s academic examiners recommended special commendation for this thesis.
Her unusual capacity for rapid development and mastery of the research topics covered during her thesis project, including complex neutron measurements on several instruments.
Dr Qiu’s research contributed to three neutron-focused industry case studies, in addition to the six high-quality journal publications arising directly from her project.
