The ANSTO Australian Synchrotron and the User Meeting 2024 Organising Committee announced the following awards at the Australian Synchrotron User Meeting 2024 which was held at ANSTO’s Clayton Campus from 27-29 November.
Dr Bryce Mullens - Stephen Wilkins Thesis Medal
Dr Bryce Mullens is the 2024 Stephen Wilkins Thesis Medal winner for his thesis titled “Chaotic Simplicity: A Systematic Investigation of the Structure-Property Relationships in Simple ABO4 Metal Oxides”. Dr Mullens is currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Department of Chemistry at the State University of New York and completed his PhD in Solid State and Materials Chemistry at the University of Sydney in 2024.
Dr Mullens completed >50 synchrotron and neutron experiments during his doctoral research, using the Australian Synchrotron and other facilities worldwide. His work has provided substantial contributions to solid-state chemistry; to characterize functional metal oxides relevant to carbon-neutral technologies, such as solid-oxide fuel cell electrolytes, clean hydrogen and oxygen production catalysts, and materials for safely storing radioactive waste.
Dr Mark Edmonds - Australian Synchrotron Early-Mid Career Research Award
Dr Mark Edmonds is the recipient of the 2024 Early-Mid Career Researcher Award. Dr Edmonds is internationally recognised for his research into topological materials with potential application to next-generation electronic components with high-performance and low energy consumption, and has been awarded an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) and Future Fellowship.
Dr Edmonds has extensively used synchrotron facilities, and in particular photoelectron spectroscopy, at the Australian Synchrotron and international synchrotrons, resulting in over 40 high-impact publications. The importance of his work has also been highlighted in major government agency reports. Dr Edmonds was central to the development of angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy at the Australian Synchrotron and co-ordinating a major upgrade of the Toroidal instrument through an Australian Research Council infrastructure grant. He has also supervised a joint ANSTO-Monash postdoc and is a member of the fourth generation synchrotron working group. We congratulate Dr Edmonds on his achievements and award, and thank him for his contributions to the Australian Synchrotron.
Dr Garry Foran - Australian Synchrotron Lifetime Contribution Medal
Dr Garry Foran is the recipient of the 2024 Lifetime Contribution Medal. Dr Foran is recognised for his more than 20-year career dedicated to the advancement of Australian Synchrotron radiation science, playing a pivotal role in the design, construction and operation of both overseas and local X-ray beamlines. Dr Foran was one of the original Beamline Scientists and a key figure in the establishment of Australian National Beamline Facility (ANBF) at the Photon Factory in Japan. He was responsible for supporting the hundreds of experimental teams that visited the ANBF, mentoring and growing the community, and laying the groundwork for the establishment of the Australian Synchrotron.
In the role of Beamlines Development Advisor, Dr Foran provided expert advice on the technical specifications, capabilities and procurement of new beamlines and co-authored the Australian Synchrotron Development Plan to inform the future growth of the Australian Synchrotron. We sincerely thank Dr Foran for his immense contributions to Synchrotron science and devoting his career to enabling, fostering, supporting and mentoring our synchrotron community.
The judging committee for the Lifetime Achievement Award and Research Award consisted of:
Student Poster Prizes
BIOMATERIALS - Alaa Bazeed, University of South Australia
CHEMISTRY - Barbara Lyon, University of Aukland
COLLOIDS AND BIOINTERFACES - Lucrezia Guarneri, Monash University
INSTRUMENTS AND TECHNIQUES - Eric Sonny Mathew, University of NSW
MATERIALS - Ryan Silk, University of Auckland
MINERALS - Jangho Jo, University of Newcastle
Student Poster Slam
1st Place Winner - Ben Krinkel, University of Aukland
Runner Up - Lucrezia Guarneri, Monash University
Runner Up - Robert Komljenovic, RMIT University
Runner Up - Sowbi Senthilkumar, University of South Australia
Runner Up - Alaa Bazeed, University of South Australia