RMIT Professorial Academy

The RMIT Professorial Academy serve as ambassadors, advising on issues of importance to RMIT and the community, driving thought leadership and impact.

About the academy

The RMIT Professorial Academy was established in 2018 to bring together RMIT’s best minds in research, education and engagement to:

  • Serve as a source of advice on issues of importance to RMIT’s future and the communities we serve;
  • Stimulate strategic conversations across RMIT and externally through Fellows acting as Thought Leaders; and
  • Advocate and campaign for value creation and impact as Ambassadors.

The Academicians are known as Fellows of the RMIT Professorial Academy.

The Fellows have been appointed through recognition of their sustained outstanding performance and awarded with the Distinguished Professorship title before being inducted into the Academy.    

RMIT Professorial Academy Fellows Pictured left to right: Distinguished Professor Elena Ivanova, Distinguished Professor Anthony Forsyth, Distinguished Professor Rachel Caruso, Distinguished Professor Milan Brandt, Distinguished Professor Barbora de Courten, Distinguished Professor Xinghuo Yu (Chair), Distinguished Professor Magdalena Plebanski, Distinguished Professor Irene Yarovsky, Distinguished Professor Julian Thomas, Distinguished Professor Baohua Jia, Distinguished Professor Andy Ball, Distinguished Professor Suresh Bhargava, Distinguished Professor Jie Yang, Distinguished Professor Mike Xie and Distinguished Professor Tianyi Ma. Absent: Distinguished Professor Larissa Hjorth, Distinguished Professor Helen Lingard, Distinguished Professor Arnan Mitchell, Distinguished Professor Jason Potts, Distinguished Professor Ma Qian, Distinguished Professor Cuie Wen, Distinguished Professor Charlie Xue, and Distinguished Professor Leslie Yeo.

Distinguished Lectures

The RMIT Distinguished Lecture Series is sponsored by RMIT Professorial Academy (the RMIT Academy), which aims to:

  • Promote excellence in research and innovation, learning and teaching, and engagement; and
  • Engage with industry, community, business, government and the public through leading open strategic discussions on key issues of relevance to the local, Australian and global communities.

On the Origin & Nature of Digital Economies

5 August 2024, presented by Distinguished Professor Jason Potts

We are today in the early phases of a profound transition to a digital economy. In this lecture I will set out a new theory of where it came from, what it is, and why it matters. My argument is that a digital economy does not mean computers everywhere, but is the transition to digital institutions. A digital economy is a new type of economy – fundamentally different from an industrial economy – owing to the way in which these institutions (e.g. digital money and assets, digital markets, contracts and platforms) are composable to coordinate economic actions and compute value. In a digital economy 'the commons' is a far more powerful institution than in an industrial economy. This gives rise to new types of capital (as forms of 'hyperobjects'), new ways of organising production (in what we call 'contribution systems'), and new sources of property rights (as 'tokens'). The cheap new resource in a digital economy is not data per se, but rather the ability to spin-up a full stack economy from within civil society. This new institutional capability is the most disruptive factor of our time. Furthermore, alongside the technological, material and moral progress that the industrial era advanced, this leads to the prospect of institutional progress and the beginning of the end of politics.

Shaken and Stirred: The Art of Miniaturising Chemical Processes (Honey, I Shrunk the Lab!)

8 Nov 2023, presented by Distinguished Professor Leslie Yeo.

The ability to translate conventional laboratory operations, such as sample preparation and handling, reaction, separation (e.g., centrifugation) and analysis, onto low-cost portable handheld platforms offer tremendous opportunities for many applications across healthcare and environmental monitoring. Yet, miniaturising seemingly simple processes in the laboratory onto chipscale devices is not a trivial exercise, owing to the vastly different physics that dominate at small scales. In this talk, we show how a unique form of sound waves that resemble nanoscale earthquakes can be utilised to facilitate such miniaturisation, and hence the development of practical technology for medical diagnostics and therapeutics at the point-of-care, or environmental monitoring in the field.

The Federal Government's "Closing Loopholes" IR Reform Bill

31 October 2023, moderated by Distinguished Professor Anthony Forsyth.

The Albanese Government's Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Bill was introduced into Parliament on 4 September 2023. The Bill proposes major reforms to the regulation of platform work in Australia, including powers for the Fair Work Commission to set standards and settle disputes for employee-like workers. These are world-leading reforms which address mounting evidence that work for many in the gig economy has become unfair and unsafe. In this RMIT Distinguished Lecture Series panel discussion, our speakers will provide union, industry and policy perspectives on the likely impact of these significant reforms in the food delivery, rideshare and care sectors in particular.

The discussion will be moderated by RMIT Distinguished Professor Anthony Forsyth, whose 2022 book The Future of Unions and Worker Representation: The Digital Picket Line devotes several chapters to gig work and policy/reform proposals. Discussants:

  • Michael Kaine, National Secretary, Transport Workers Union of Australia
  • Dr Fiona Macdonald, Policy Director, Industrial and Social, Centre for Future Work (Australia Institute)
  • Neil Pharaoh, Director of Corporate Affairs for Hireup, a leading National Disability Insurance Scheme registered online platform which employs all its workers

Accelerating Materials Discovery for Better Health and Life

Tues 26 Sept 2023, presented by Distinguished Professor Irene Yarovsky.

The role of computers in our everyday life is ever increasing, from basic arithmetic to complex data analysis and major contributions to physical sciences, engineering, medicine, and business processes. We employ high performance computing to theoretically model interactions between individual atoms in natural and man-made materials to facilitate and accelerate the design and engineering of new and improved materials for optimal performance, controlled environmental responses, robustness, and safe exploitation in industrial and biomedical settings. This talk presents a historical perspective and examples of our molecular models that empowered advanced materials design in collaboration with RMIT's industry and academic research partners through an in-depth understanding of fundamental intermolecular interactions in realistic environments.

New frontiers in vaccines and nanotechnology

21 June 2023, presented by Distinguished Professor Magdalena Plebanski

Given the immune system changes with age, increased longevity often brings increased susceptibility to infections and cancer. Males and females further often show different immune system profiles in response to vaccines. 

To optimise the application of vaccines and therapies across the lifespan, we need to both understand how current vaccines work in different individuals against diseases such as COVID19 or Flu in human clinical trials, as well as defining how fundamental features of vaccine components such as nanoparticles (size, shape or protein corona), affect their interactions with the immune system. Such studies include using big data tools for studying new beneficial non-specific effects (NSEs) of vaccines. 

We further have a specific interest in helping women with ovarian cancer, the most lethal gynaecological malignancy, across the spectrum of needs, from earlier diagnosis to more effective treatments, as well as the long-term aim of developing cancer vaccines, collaborating broadly across disciplines.

The connection between metallurgy and nature

Mon 7 Nov 2022, presented by Distinguished Professor Ma Qian

Nature is the greatest metallurgist. All metals we know or use today were part of the stars in the universe at one time or another: fabricated by nature, for example through the merger of neutron stars. Metallurgy has continued to evolve from the ancient art of extracting metals from ores to materials science and engineering, which now includes the study of the physical, chemical, and aesthetic properties of metallic materials at different length scales, as well as the design and manufacture of novel metallic materials.

Today, metallurgists continue to learn the art and science of metallurgy and fabrication from nature, down to the atomic level compared to the original mythical connection, thanks to our enhanced understanding of nature.

This lecture explores the connection between modern metallurgy and nature through a series of examples, incl. Voronoi patterns, macroscopic igneous rocks, microscopic columnar crystals in 3D-printed metallic materials, and the dual role of substrate materials in ice nucleation in nature and metal solidification.

Urban design, transport, and health: Are we creating healthy and sustainable cities worldwide?

Wed 10 Aug 2022, presented by Distinguished Professor Billie Giles-Corti

This talk will describe the journey and present the results for our key questions: Do we have the city planning policies in place to deliver healthy and sustainable cities worldwide? And are there inequities in access to health-supportive environments within and between cities? Our work was recently published in The Lancet Global Health series on Urban Design, Transport and Health.  

Optical microcombs: measuring almost anything – from earthquakes and tsunamis to the gases in our atmosphere to planets of distant suns.

17 May 2022, presented by Distinguished Professor Arnan Mitchell

From accurately tracking and estimating our Google Maps journeys to using biomedical imaging to gain detailed images inside our bodies, being able to measure things precisely underpins almost everything we do. 

In 2005, two physicists were awarded the Nobel Prize for developing an approach – the optical frequency comb – to measure almost anything with unprecedented precision. This approach gave us the GPS we use on a day-to-day basis, however, it was also expected to change the way we measure many other things, from the gases in our atmosphere to the discovery of earth-like planets in distant solar systems. 

Seventeen years on, the world-changing potential of optical frequency combs remains largely untapped, mainly due to their large size and complexity. Photonic chip technology – technology that can miniaturise entire lab benches onto a chip the size of a fingernail – may hold the answer. Distinguished Professor Arnan Mitchell discusses how photonic chip optical frequency combs could lead to 3D analysis of living organisms, map and monitor the geological structure of our lands and oceans, and allow brain-like machine learning to transform the behaviour of autonomous drones and satellites. 

Ageing Futures: quality care and decent work

30 November 2021, presented by Distinguished Professor Sara Charlesworth

The crisis faced across the OECD in the provision of aged care was made visible to the broader community during the COVID-19 pandemic. In making the link between the quality of care and the working conditions of the frontline workers who provide the care, the lecture draws on a body of collaborative research conducted over the last decade. 

Funded by the Australian Research Council and the Canadian Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council these different projects provide multi-level insights into the ways in which the interaction of gendered care, employment and migration regimes can produce both unacceptable care and unacceptable forms of work. 

These research findings also point to the systemic changes required to ensure that frontline workers have the economic security and time to enable diverse cohorts of older adults to age with dignity.

Cancer, ageing and vaccines

26 October 2021, presented by Distinguished Professor Magdalena Plebanski

Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of death for women globally. Early diagnosis is key to improve survival, but there are currently no reliable screening biomarkers for early stage disease. Moreover, after initial clinical responses to first-line treatment, in most women the cancer comes back, often resistant to the first-line drug platinum.

We have found new diagnostic biomarkers, and collaborate with nano-engineers to develop innovative devices so women can in the future be easily and reliably screened at GP clinics or at home. We further work with clinicians and chemists developing new drugs and immuno-therapies to treat platinum resistant cancers.

Since most patients are older women, we further investigate the unique characteristics of the immune system of older individuals. These fundamental big data 'omics' bioinformatics studies are also providing new insights on how to optimise vaccines to protect older adults, for example against influenza and COVID19, as well as cancer itself.

Why Wi-Fi matters: the past, present and future of a social technology

8 September 2021, presented by Distinguished Professor Julian Thomas

 

From café culture to home schooling, remote community networks, and smart cities, Wi-Fi is an invisible but fundamental element of contemporary life. Loosely regulated, low-cost, and largely overlooked by social researchers, this technology has driven the rise of the smartphone and broadband internet, and is now a vital element in the next wave of automation. During the pandemic, household Wi-Fi has been critically important for connected households, enabling new ways of working from home and maintaining social links.
At the same time, the closure of libraries, campuses and other public Wi-Fi locations has exacerbated disadvantage for people without ready access to the internet. This talk reviews the history of wi-fi, showing how a technology originally designed to connect cash registers came to play an important social role. It describes Wi-Fi’s immediate prospects, including its relations to high speed 5G cellular services, and its possible longer-run social futures, which may hinge upon its uniquely decentralised and inclusive capabilities for automation.

Transforming Australia's Biosolids Industry: advancing the next generation of waste

25 May 2021, presented by Distinguished Professor Andy Ball


The ARC Training Centre for the Transformation of Australia’s Biosolids Resource, based at RMIT’s West Bundoora Campus, brings together Australia’s leading biosolids researchers and key industry and government stakeholders to advance the management, transformation and reuse of biosolids in agriculture.
The Centre's focus is 1) capability and knowledge building, 2) research development, extension and training, and 3) sustainable strategic partnerships.
The expected outcomes of the Centre are to develop a group of new, highly-trained industry-ready researchers, and advanced solutions in three major themes: improved technologies, enhanced products, and sustainability. This will provide significant benefits in the economic value of new applications and market opportunities as well as deliver cost-savings – all in an environmentally friendly manner. This presentation will examine the rationale and expectations of the 5-year research and training program.

Managing workers’ health and safety in complex supply networks: The construction industry experience

21 March 2021, presented by Distinguished Professor Helen Lingard


Construction accounts for 9% of the national workforce but 12% of work-related fatalities. Every year some 12,600 compensation claims are accepted from construction workers for injuries and diseases involving lengthy workplace absences. SafeWork Australia identifies supply networks as a national action area for work health and safety (WHS) improvement and construction as a priority industry. The complex nature of the construction industry’s supply network requires WHS risks to be identified and managed across multiple organisational boundaries and interfaces. In this lecture, RMIT Distinguished Professor Helen Lingard will present findings from an ongoing program of research examining organisational, structural and cultural challenges inherent in managing WHS in complex construction supply networks. The lecture will consider how best to integrate WHS into construction planning and design and present lessons relating to clients’ use of commercial mechanisms to embed WHS requirements in the commercial frameworks used to deliver projects.

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Accountability & the Office: Historical Factory to Contemporary Covid-19

10 November 2020, presented by Distinguished Professor Lee Parker

From the emergence of the Industrial Revolution factory to today's multi-storey office building, the office has permeated organisational, economic and social activity for over 200 years. For profit, non-profit and public sector organisations, it has become a major site of clerical and professional labour, and a centre of strategic management, management control, service delivery and accountability discharge. Its location, configuration, functions and processes vitally impact organisational activity and outcomes. This presentation reveals the historical and persistent influence of scientific management on the office and its role as a site of internal and external surveillance, control and governance. Behind frontstage facades of innovative design, backstage agendas of cost efficiencies and client impression management will be unveiled. In today's covid-19 environment, the implications for occupational health and safety of corporate investments in open plan, hot desk and Activity Based Working designs and the pressures for their re-engineering and relocation, will be evaluated.

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Engineering Cyber-Physical Systems: A nature-inspired simplexity approach

29 September 2020, presented by Distinguished Professor Xinghuo Yu

Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) represent a broad range of complex, physically aware engineered systems which integrate information and communication technologies (ICT) into physical systems for efficient and effective automation and control. A typical example is a smart grid which allows affordable and secure power supply and use while helping reduce carbon footprints. Recent fast ICT advances have made situation awareness possible for better management and operation of CPS. This has also led to explosive growth of spatio-temporal information and complexity. An innovative way of thinking and doing is needed to tackle these large-scale complex problems efficiently and effectively.

In this talk, we will first review recent developments in CPS and their challenges. We will then advocate for a novel problem-solving paradigm, the so-called simplexity approach underpinned by a 'simple solutions for complex problems' philosophy, to deal with large-scale complex CPS. Several nature-inspired methodologies such as AI, swarm intelligence and complex networks will be examined for modelling, control and optimisation of CPS. Some real-world problems, such as money laundering network detection and autonomous microgrid network for power supply from our own research projects, will be used as case studies.

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Precision medicine, positioning satellites and turbo-charging the internet - all printed on a chip the size of your fingernail

3 September 2020, Presented by Distinguished Professor Arnan Mitchell

My team works with technologies that have the potential to help every Australian stay healthier, safer, and more connected than ever. They are developing systems to diagnose and treat diseases, they’re turbo-charging the internet with ultrafast fibre optics and they are creating technologies for precise positioning of everything from self-driving cars to satellites.

How are we doing it? We’re using integrated photonics - the successor to microelectronics - where both electricity and laser light can be captured and controlled on a chip the size of your fingernail, all at a price of only a few dollars.

This technology is surprisingly adaptable and yet scalable to mass manufacture. In this lecture I will show how this technology is also accessible to even quite small companies, right here in Australia and I will share my vision of building a technology manufacturing base to advance our position as global leaders not just in science and technology but also industrial commercialisation.  

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Molecular and Nano Engineering of Gold for Environmental and Biomedical Applications

3 October 2019, Presented by Distinguished Professor Suresh Bhargava

* due to technical limitations, we are unable to provide a transcript of this presentation. If you are experiencing difficulties viewing this video please contact Distinguished Professor Suresh Bhargava for more information.

Building upon his know-how on the development of gold-based materials, Prof. Bhargava has developed gold-based molecules and nanoparticles for cancer treatment and mercury sensing, respectively, combining research excellence with research relevance.

Prof. Bhargava’s research introduces a highly promising family of gold-based drugs which are found to be highly cytotoxic against various cancer cell lines with high selectivity. This patented family of gold-based drugs can provide a safe treatment to cancer patients with minimal side effects compared to current medicines.

Using gold at the nano level, Prof. Bhargava has created advanced materials for mercury detection and abatement technology. This patented technology is capable of measuring toxic mercury levels in harsh industrial processes and effluent streams

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Combating the epidemic of "super-bugs"

3 July 2019, Presented by Distinguished Professor Elena Ivanova

The threat of a global rise of untreatable infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria calls for the design and fabrication of a new generation of biomaterials. Following the discovery of the efficient, bacteria-killing nature of insect wing surfaces, the properties of these biological nanostructures have recently become the subject of intense investigation, promising to play a large role in combating the emerging, worldwide epidemic of "super-bugs."

The formation of bacterial biofilms has been prevented for many years through adapting the physical and chemical properties of a variety of medical tools, particularly the surfaces of instruments and implants. Recent studies of insect wings have shown that they are covered with nano-pillared arrays lethal to most species of pathogenic bacteria. Rather than relying on a combination of physical and chemical properties to combat biofilm formation, the mechanism of the antibacterial activity of nanostructured surfaces has been described in terms of purely physical, "mechano-bactericidal" effects. So far, several synthetic bactericidal surfaces, e.g., "black silicon," was synthesised as an analogue of an insect wing's protective surface and was reported to induce a biocidal effect, physically "bursting" the small, Gram-negative and Gram positive bacteria while leaving the host's large eukaryotic cells intact; however, the precise role of this and other nano-architectures in fighting pathogenic bacteria remains a complex mystery to be solved.

As a pioneer in biomimetic antibacterial surfaces, Distinguished Professor Elena Ivanova has developed an innovative concept of eco-friendly bactericidal nanostructured materials, which are capable of physical killing of all types of bacterial cells including “super-bugs”.

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Creating Efficient and Beautiful Structures

13 March 2019, Presented by Distinguished Professor Mike Xie

Distinguished Professor Mike Xie and his team have developed an innovative design methodology to remove under-utilised material from structures, producing highly efficient and strikingly elegant designs. This technique can significantly reduce the weight and the associated energy consumption of aircraft and motor vehicles. In this lecture, Mike will show a wide range of practical applications of his bi-directional evolutionary structural optimisation (BESO) method, including spectacular buildings and bridges, unmanned aircraft, mechanical metamaterials and structural connections. Mike will also demonstrate how such organic designs can be effectively realised using advanced manufacturing technologies including 3D printing. The new design methodology and advanced manufacturing technologies will change the way we design and construct our future built environment.

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Creating healthy, liveable, sustainable cities

4 December 2018, Presented by Distinguished Professor Billie Giles-Corti

In the 21st century, cities are facing massive health challenges globally: population growth, rapid urbanisation, traffic congestion, poor air quality, noise and climate change combined with increases in physical inactivity, unhealthy diets, non-communicable diseases (NCDs), road trauma, and obesity. Optimising city planning to promote physical and mental health and community wellbeing, in the face of rapidly growing urban populations is critical. Integrated regional urban and transport planning and local urban design strategies are needed to achieve cities that promote health and wellbeing, and to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. While local conditions will determine the mix of interventions, our overall goal must be to create safe, liveable, convivial and healthy cities that promote active and more sustainable lifestyles that reduce non-communicable diseases and other adverse health risks. This requires integrated metropolitan and regional urban and transport planning incorporating pedestrian- and cycling-friendly local urban design. There is an urgent need for policy-relevant research to be undertaken in partnership with policy-makers; as well as advocacy to ensure that the rhetoric of ‘healthy liveable, sustainable’ cities translates into well designed cities that can confront these major 21st century challenges. This is a big agenda that requires interdisciplinary research and genuine partnerships between researchers and policy-makers. The question is are we up for it? And if so, what needs to be done and how? This talk will consider these questions by drawing of recent policy-relevant research conceptualising and measuring ‘urban liveability’. Through the lens of the Urban Futures Enabling Impact Platform, it will consider not only the role of academics, but also the role of policy-makers in achieving the vision of a healthy, liveable and more sustainable future.

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Nanophotonics: Ready for life and work

2 November 2018, Presented by Distinguished Professor Min Gu

Nanotechnology has transformed massively our everyday life and global economy for a sustainable future. Nanophotonics, which studies optical science and technology at a nanoscale, has enabled the development of optical and photonic devices that provide a green-technology platform. In this talk, I will show the development of ultra-high capacity optical data storage technology which provides greener, longer and faster solutions to the era of big data. I will also show an entirely new the development of three-dimensional optical display, which is a vital platform for flexible mobile devices. I will then present fractal supercapacitors inspired by natural fern leaves, which removes the bottleneck barrier toward the daily applications of the technology. Driven by these achievements, the newly established nanophotonics laboratory at RMIT has embarked on a new journey to next-generation artificial intelligence with the speed of light.

Academy Fellows

Distinguished Professor Andrew Ball

Director, Centre for Environmental Sustainability and Remediation, School of Science, STEM College

Distinguished Professor Suresh Bhargava

Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor India, School of Science, STEM College

Distinguished Professor Milan Brandt

Technical Director Advanced Manufacturing Precinct and Director, Centre for Additive Manufacturing, School of Engineering, STEM College

Distinguished Professor Rachel A. Caruso

School of Science, STEM College

Distinguished Professor Barbora de Courten OAM

Associate Dean & Professor of Medicine, School of Health & Biomedical Sciences, STEM College

Distinguished Professor Anthony Forsyth

Professor, Graduate School of Business & Law

Distinguished Professor Larissa Hjorth

Professor, School of Media and Communication, College of Design and Social Context

Distinguished Professor Elena Ivanova

School of Science, STEM College

Distinguished Professor Baohua Jia

School of Science, STEM College

Distinguished Professor Helen Lingard

School of Property Construction and Project Management, College of Design and Social Context

Distinguished Professor Qian Ma

Professor of Advanced Manufacturing and Materials, Professor of Design, Multifunctional Structures, School of Engineering, STEM College

Distinguished Professor Tianyi Ma

School of Science, STEM College

Distinguished Professor Arnan Mitchell

Director, Micro Nano Research Facility, School of Engineering, STEM College

Distinguished Professor Magdalena Plebanski

Enabling Impact Platform Director, Biomedical and Health Innovation

Distinguished Professor Jason Potts

Professor of Economics, RMIT Blockchain Innovation Hub, College of Business & Law

Distinguished Professor Julian Thomas

Director, ARC Centre of Excellence in Automated Decision-Making and Society, College of Design and Social Context

Distinguished Professor Cuie Wen

Electrical and biomedical engineering, School of Engineering, STEM College

Distinguished Professor Yimin (Mike) Xie AM

School of Engineering STEM College

Distinguished Professor Charlie Xue

Associate DVC (International) STEM College

Distinguished Professor Jie Yang

School of Engineering STEM College

Distinguished Professor Irene Yarovsky

Materials Modelling and Simulation, School of Engineering, STEM College

Distinguished Professor Leslie Yeo

Professor of Chemical Engineering Micro/Nanophysics Research Laboratory, School of Engineering, STEM College

Distinguished Professor Xinghuo Yu

Chair, RMIT Professorial Academy, Vice-Chancellors Professorial Research Fellow STEM College

Academy Fellow Biographies

Distinguished Professor Xinghuo Yu (Chair) is an Associate Deputy Vice-Chancellor, the Inaugural Chair of the RMIT Professorial Academy, and a Vice-Chancellor's Professorial Research Fellow. His research expertise is in control systems, signal processing, complex network systems, artificial intelligence in engineering systems, and smart energy systems.

Distinguished Professor Andy Ball is a Professor in Environmental Microbiology in the School of Science and the Director of the ARC Training Centre for the Transformation of Australia’s Biosolids Resource. His research expertise is in the fields of bioremediation, organic waste treatment, and environmental fate of organic pollutants.

Distinguished Professor Suresh Bhargava is the Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor (India), STEM College and the Director of the Centre for Advanced Materials and Industrial Chemistry. His research expertise is in the fields of industrial chemistry and advanced material sciences, specialising in gold nanoparticles, broader nanoscience and technology.

Distinguished Professor Milan Brandt is the Technical Director of RMIT’s Advanced Manufacturing Precinct and the Director of RMIT's Centre for Additive Manufacturing. He is the leading Australian researcher in the area of macro processing with lasers and has conducted work in laser cladding, cutting, drilling, welding, assisted machining and more recently additive manufacturing.

Distinguished Professor Rachel Caruso is a Professor of Physical Chemistry in the School of Science and Deputy Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Green Electrochemical Transformation of Carbon Dioxide. She leads a research team that investigates approaches to control the morphology and composition of inorganic materials with potential application in areas such as photocatalysis, electrocatalysis, photovoltaics and batteries.

Distinguished Professor Barbora de Courten OAM is an Associate Dean Applied Health in the School of Health and Biomedical Sciences at RMIT, an adjunct professor at Monash University and the University of Queensland and a Senior Specialist Physician at Monash Health. She has expertise across the translational research continuum from human mechanistic studies to clinical trials and public health interventions through to practice. Barbora’s contribution to medical research has been recognised by the Order of Australia Medal in 2024.

Barbora’s research seeks to establish innovative, safe and scalable strategies that target insulin resistance through lowering inflammation to prevent and treat type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and related conditions including polycystic ovary syndrome, gestational diabetes, obesity-related infertility and musculoskeletal disorders and more recently neurodegenerative diseases and the associated mental health impact of these chronic diseases. 

Barbora is a member of the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council and Diabetes Australia Research Trust grant review panels, the Lead Fellow for Continuing Professional Development on the Adult Medicine Division Council for the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, and a council member of Australian and New Zealand Obesity Society.

Distinguished Professor Anthony Forsyth is a Professor in the Graduate School of Business & Law. In 2015-16 Anthony chaired the Victorian Government's independent Inquiry into Labour Hire and Insecure Work. He is the author of “The Future of Unions and Worker Representation: The Digital Picket Line” (Hart, 2022). In 2021, Anthony was elected as President of the Australian Labour Law Association. In 2022-23, he contributed as an academic expert to the Federal Government’s development of labour law reforms implementing multi-employer bargaining and greater protections for labour hire employees and gig workers, participating in stakeholder consultations, Senate Committee Inquiries and the National Jobs + Skills Summit.

Distinguished Professor Larissa Hjorth is a socially-engaged artist and digital ethnographer. Hjorth has two decades experience working in interdisciplinary, collaborative, playful and socially innovative digital media methods to explore intergenerational relationships in cross-cultural contexts. Hjorth has explored the socio-cultural dimensions of mobile media in many contexts such as Japan, South Korea, China and Australia.

Distinguished Professor Elena P. Ivanova is a Professor in the School of Science, STEM College. Elena’s professional activity is concentrated in fundamental and applied fields of Nano/Biotechnology. Her research interests also focus on the design, fabrication and operation of planar micro-devices, immobilization of bio-molecules and micro-organisms in micro/nano/environments, bacterial taxonomy and bacterial interactions with macro/micro/ nano-structured surfaces. She received her PhD from the Institute of Microbiology and Virology, Ukraine. She has worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization, Japan and as a visiting Researcher at the Center of Marine Biotechnology, University of Maryland.

Distinguished Professor Baohua Jia joined RMIT in 2022 as a Professor and Australian Research Council Future Fellow in the School of Science. She is a Key Chief Investigator of the Australian Research Council (ARC) Industrial Transformation Training Centre in Surface Engineering for Advanced Materials (SEAM) and ARC Centre of Excellence in Optical Microcombs for Breakthrough Science (COMBS). Before joining RMIT Baohua was a Professor in the Founding Director of Centre for Translational Atomaterials (CTAM) and Research Leader at Swinburne University of Technology, Australia.

Professor Jia’s research focuses on fundamental light and nanomaterial interaction. Her work on laser manipulation of two-dimensional materials has led to the design and fabrication of functional nanostructures and nanomaterials for effective harnessing and storage of clean energy from sunlight, purifying water and air for clean environment; imaging and spectroscopy and nanofabrication using ultrafast laser towards fast-speed all-optical communications and intelligent manufacturing.

Professor Jia is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE), OPTICA, and the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining. She has served on the Australian Research Council College of Experts since 2019, the Joint Standards Australia/Standards New Zealand Committees and Optica. She is the Editor-in-Chief of Nature Publishing Journals – npj Nanophotonics and the Associate Editor for APL Photonics since 2017 and Photonic Insight since 2021.

Distinguished Professor Helen Lingard from the School of Property, Construction and Project Management undertakes industry-based research into occupational health and safety and the health and work-life balance of construction workers. She was awarded an inaugural ARC Future Fellowship to deliver a program of research entitled Differentiation not disintegration: Integrating Strategies to Improve Occupational Health and Safety in the Construction Industry.

·         Distinguished Professor Tianyi Ma is a world-leading materials chemist, an Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry and Clarivate’s Global Highly Cited Researcher in both Materials Science and Chemistry fields. He pioneers Catalytic Renewables Refinery, with inspiring work conducted in functional catalytic materials for renewable solar, mechanical and thermal energy harvesting, conversion, storage and utilisation; he leads the fields of amorphous metal-organic frameworks, nonmetal electrocatalysis, and polarisation photocatalysis, and aims to combine these revolutionary technologies focusing on all sectors of the renewable energy supply chain to eventually achieve global carbon neutrality. He is a recipient of the Australian Academy of Science Le Févre Medal; an Australian Nominee for the APEC Science Prize for Innovation, Research and Education; the AIPS Young Tall Poppy Science Award; an ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award; and a Royal Society of Chemistry Horizon Prize.

Distinguished Professor Qian Ma currently holds the appointments of Honorary Professor of The University of Queensland, Australia, and Specially Appointed Guest Professor of Osaka University, Japan. Qian’s areas of research include metal additive manufacturing (3D printing), alloy design, powder metallurgy of light alloys (Ti, Al and TiAI), solidification processing (heterogeneous nucleation and grain refinement), coating, and modelling.  

Distinguished Professor Arnan Mitchell is Director of RMIT's Micro Nano Research Facility (MNRF) and the Integrated Photonics and Applications Centre (InPAC). His research focuses on integrated photonics – the technology that enables an entire computer with billions of functional electronic components to come together on a chip the size of your fingernail. These microchips can be used for a vast array of applications including detecting diseases in blood, measuring contaminants in the ocean, monitoring the structural integrity of bridges, guiding the trajectory of spacecraft and processing vast quantities of digital information. Arnan is a thought leader and photonics pioneer with a mission to build a deep technology manufacturing base in Australia sustaining both academia and industry.

Distinguished Professor Magdalena Plebanski is an internationally-recognised award-winning researcher. Her focus is on understanding the immune system in older individuals, and the development of practical immunotherapies and vaccines targeting cancer and infectious diseases. In her role as EIP Director Magdalena promoted the establishment of multiple cross-disciplinary University-wide ECR-led networks including a Bioinformatics Network, an Entrepreneurship Club, and a Mental Health Working Group, amongst others.

Distinguished Professor Jason Potts is Professor of Economics and Co-director of the Blockchain Innovation Hub in the College of Business & Law. He is also a chief investigator on the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society. His research work focuses on the economics of innovation and new technologies, economic evolution, institutional economics, and complexity economics.

Distinguished Professor Julian Thomas is Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, and a Distinguished Professor in the School of Media and Communication at RMIT University. He is also a member of RMIT’s Digital Ethnography Research Centre and Blockchain Innovation Hub. Thomas was elected to the Australian Academy of the Humanities in 2017.

Distinguished Professor Cuie Wen is a Professor of Biomaterials Engineering in the School of Engineering and her research interests include biomaterials engineering, surface coating/modification of metals and alloys, porous metallic biomaterials (Ti, Mg, and their alloys and composites), shape memory alloys and scaffolds, nanostructured metals, alloys and composites.

Distinguished Professor Mike Xie is an ARC Australian Laureate Fellow. He served as the Head of Civil Engineering discipline at RMIT University between 2002 and 2012. Since 2012 he has been the Director of RMIT Centre for Innovative Structures and Materials. He was elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE) in 2011. Professor Xie won the Clunies Ross Innovation Award from the ATSE in 2017 and received the AGM Michell Medal from the Institution of Engineers Australia in the same year. In 2019 he was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for his significant service to civil engineering and higher education.

Distinguished Professor Charlie Xue is a World Health Organization consultant and chairs the National Chinese Medicine Board of Australia. His primary areas of research specialty are evidence-based integrated healthcare for chronic diseases. His current focus is on evidence-based integrative healthcare research to assess and correlate the efficacy of key Chinese medicine treatments that have been in practice for over 2000 years, by establishing clinical trials to see whether these practices meet the expected rigorous requirements in the development of any new therapeutics in a modern medical environment. One of the herbal medicines under Professor Xue’s research is Panax Ginseng.

Distinguished Professor Jie Yang is a Professor in the School of Engineering at RMIT University with extensive research expertise in multiscale modelling, analysis and design of advanced composite structures, nanocomposites, mechanical metamaterials, structural stability and dynamics, smart structures and control, and nano/micro-mechanics. He is an author of over 500 publications including more than 320 international journal papers. He is the Highly Cited Researcher (Cross Field) from 2019-2023 by Clarivate Analytics and is named by Australian Research Magazine the Global Field Leader in Mechanical Engineering in 2020, Australia's Research Field Leader in Mechanical Engineering from 2019-2023 as well as in Structural Engineering in 2021 and in Acoustics and Sound in 2023. Professor Yang is the Lead Editor-in-Chief of Engineering Structures, a flagship journal in structural engineering and applied mechanics, and is the Editorial Board Member of many other international journals.

Distinguished Professor Irene Yarovsky is a Leader of the Materials Modelling and Simulation research group at RMIT University and a Visiting Professor in the Department of Materials, Imperial College London, UK.  Her research in theory and simulation of materials has a strong application focus, ranging from industrial coatings to bio- and nanomaterials for applications in engineering and biomedicine. At present, she is studying the interface between biological molecules and nanoparticles as they interact in the living organisms, the environment, and medical diagnostic devices.  She is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and Technology, a Fellow of the Royal Society UK (Chemistry) and a Fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute.

Distinguished Professor Leslie Yeo is a Professor of Chemical Engineering with specific research interests in nonlinear high frequency (MHz order) electroacoustic interactions with matter (fluids, two-dimensional and bulk crystals, biomolecules, cells and microorganisms). In addition to exploring its use for diverse applications (e.g., microfluidics, drug delivery and nanomedicine, diagnostics and biosensing, tissue engineering and mechanobiology, and sonochemical materials synthesis, manipulation and processing), his laboratory has discovered a number of novel physicochemical phenomena in this area and is actively working to develop theories to elucidate the fundamental mechanisms that underpin them. Leslie is co-author of the book Electrokinetically Driven Microfluidics & Nanofluidics (Cambridge University Press), and the author of over 200 journal publications and 40 patent applications. Leslie currently serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the American Institute of Physics journal Biomicrofluidics, Associate Editor of Frontiers in Bioengineering & Biotechnology, and on the editorial boards of Biosensors, Micro and Interfacial Phenomena & Heat Transfer.

Contact the Academy

Academy Chair

Distinguished Professor Xinghuo Yu

Phone: +61 3 9925 5317
Email: xinghuo.yu@rmit.edu.au

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Acknowledgement of Country

RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business - Artwork 'Sentient' by Hollie Johnson, Gunaikurnai and Monero Ngarigo.

aboriginal flag
torres strait flag

Acknowledgement of Country

RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business.