Meet the team

It’s great to meet you. Let’s meet the team

The course you’re about to engage with has been put together with the knowledge and experience of experts in the field. Click on the educators’ name to ‘follow’ them. This makes it easier for you to find the contributions they make throughout the course.

Professor David Officer: Lead Educator

Professor David Officer works at the Australian Institute for Innovative Materials within the University of Wollongong, leads the Electromaterials research program in the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science (ACES) and is a member of the Intelligent Polymer Research Institute (IPRI). He began his professional life as an organic chemist interested in inventing new materials and passionate about making the world a better place. This led him to work with some of the best chemists in the world including fellow New Zealander and Nobel Laureate Prof. Alan McDiarmid (USA) and Prof. Gordon Wallace (Australia) on conducting polymers and Prof. Michael Graetzel (Switzerland), the inventor of the dye sensitised solar cell.

Fifteen years ago, David set up a research centre in New Zealand to make nanomaterials for energy applications but moved to the University of Wollongong in Australia five years later to work more closely with the researchers using the materials and making the energy devices like solar cells. He has published over 190 papers and has over 20 patents in artificial photosynthesis, dye sensitised solar cells, CO₂ reduction, conducting polymers and graphene. He continues to strive to take his research from the laboratory to the marketplace to help to create a sustainable future for everyone.

Associate Professor Attila Mozer: Educator

Associate Professor Attila Mozer is a chemical engineer, a physical chemist, and a laser specialist. Attila uses fast laser pulses to understand the factors controlling electron transfer mechanisms in organic conducting materials. The ultimate aim of his research is to increase the efficiency of solar to electrical energy conversion. The key to unlocking further performance enhancements is faster movement between the various materials/layers used in solar cells. He runs a highly customised laser laboratory at the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science. Attila works at the Australian Institute for Innovative Materials within the University of Wollongong and has published his work in 76 publications, including the prestigious Nature Materials and the Journal of the American Chemical Society. He is passionate about solar energy conversion as this technology has the capacity to change how every citizen uses energy in their daily life.

Doctor Andrew Nattestad: Educator

Doctor Andrew Nattestad has a BA/BEng(materials) and a PhD from Monash University, titled “Development of photocathodes for incorporation into tandem dye-sensitized solar cells”. This marked the beginning of his interest in the development of novel solar cell architectures, combining low-cost technologies such as dye-sensitized solar cells and organic PV with ‘third generation’ concepts. In addition to this, Andrew is heavily involved in water splitting and photocatalysis projects, seeking to generate practical solutions.

Associate Professor Yi Du: Educator

Professor Yi Du, has a PhD in Materials Engineering, a Master of Science in Materials, Physics and Chemistry and a bachelor of Engineering in Materials Science. Yi also works at the Australian Institute for Innovative Materials within the University of Wollongong, innovation campus. Ye is currently a Senior Research Fellow within the Institute for Superconducting & Electronic Materials.

Inseong Cho: Mentor

PhD student Inseong Cho, is one of the mentors of this course and will support you by following up the discussions throughout these next few weeks. He works with his supervisor associate professor Attila Mozer and his lab supervisor Dr Andrew Nattestad at the Australian Institute for Innovative Materials within the University of Wollongong. He studies fundamental electron transfer mechanisms between redox-active organic materials for solar-to-electron conversion technologies, specifically focusing on the factors that affect (enhance or slow down) electron transfer kinetics. In addition, he has a chemical engineering background with his Master of Science, entitled “Electrode structural design for high-energy-density rechargeable lithium batteries”. He is eager to suggest ways of designing electron-transfer interfaces that is potentially useful to develop efficient energy conversion and storage devices.

Sabine Straver: Mentor

Sabine, a Technological Enhanced Learning Specialist at the University of Wollongong will be following the discussion and supporting you throughout the course. Sabine loves learning and is passionate about leaving the world a better place for future generations, this course could help us to achieve this goal.

Contributors:

Professor Tim Flannery

Environmentalist, Founder and Chief Councillor of the Australian Climate Council and Australian of the Year (2007).

Professor Andrew Holmes

Recent past President of the Australian Academy of Science (AAS) and Melbourne Laureate Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at The University of Melbourne (School of Chemistry).

Professor Maria Forsyth

Alfred Deakin Professor at Deakin University, Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow, Fellow of the AAS, and Associate Director of ACES.