Professor Sumeet Walia is an innovator, research leader and serial inventor passionate about using technology as a vehicle to make people's lives better.
He is the Director of RMIT Centre for Opto-electronic Materials and Sensors (COMAS).
Professor Sumeet Walia has built a strong capability in engineering new material systems and nanoelectronic/photonic devices for addressing critical technological bottlenecks particularly in healthcare, energy and manufacturing. This has enabled a wide range of partnerships with industry to translate cutting edge research into real world impact.
He has published over 150 peer-reviewed journal articles. His work appears in the highest quality outlets including Nature Communications, Advanced Materials, among many others. He is a named inventor on eleven patents covering multi-sector technological innovations and products.
Professor Walia is an award-winning researcher who has served on multiple boards with extensive contributions towards Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access in the STEM sector. He has built strong national and international partnerships with stakeholders to drive common goals.
Awards and scholarships:
2023 India Australia Business & Community Alliance (Australia India Science, Research & Development Award) (Finalist)
2022 Eureka Prize for Emerging Leader in Science
2021 40 under 40 Most Influential Asian-Australians Award in Science & Medicine category. ANU Centre for Asian-Australian Leadership, PwC, Johnson Partners and Asialink.
2020 Australian Academy of Science EMCR Fellowship
2018 Royal Society of Victoria Phillip Law Award for Physical Sciences
2018 Australia's Most Innovative Engineers 2018 by Engineers Australia
2018 Victoria Fellowship, Victorian Government
2017 MIT Technology Review Top 10 Technology Innovators under 35 in Asia Pacific
2017 Victorian Young Tall Poppy Award for Excellence in Science and Communication (Australian Institute of Policy and Science)
2017 Victorian Young Achiever of the Year for Research Impact – Victorian Government
Assessor for grants and international peer-reviewed journals:
Australian Research Council – Discovery Early Career Researcher Awards, Discovery Projects, Linkage Infrastructure Equipment and Facilities Grants, Future and Laureate Fellowships
Netherlands body of Scientific Research,
German Research Foundation
Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia
Peer-reviewer for >30 international journals (Selected examples): Energy and Environmental Science, Nature Communications, Advanced Materials, ACS Nano, Nanoscale).
Academic positions
Advisory Board
Elevate Program, Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering
, Australia
2022 – Present
Co-Chair
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee, Science and Technology Australia
, Australia
2020 – Present
Founder and Chair
IEEE Nanotechnology Council's Victoria Chapter
, Australia
2019 – 2019
Supervisor projects
Machine Learning and Neural Network Methods for IoT Sensing
23 Sep 2024
Microbial Recycling: Harnessing Bacterial and Fungal Cells for Sustainable Degradation of Waste Materials
6 Aug 2024
Artificial neural networks for versatile applications
4 Apr 2024
Nanoplasmonic biosensors for lab-on-a-chip disease diagnosis
1 Feb 2024
Development of a portable detection platform for viral pathogens
3 Oct 2023
Piezoelectric Two-Dimensional Transition Metal Dichalcogenides Nanostructures based Flexible Nanogenerator for Energy Harvesting
30 Aug 2023
Scalable atom-thin materials for monolithic electronics & optoelectronics
13 Jun 2023
Towards a Bionic brain - Light driven cognitive learning in nanomaterials for Artificial Neural Networks
CSIRO-Masters: Characterisation and Analysis of Wafer Level Fabricated Electrode Platforms for Electrochemical Sensing Applications
8 Mar 2023
Thermoelectric Studies of modified Cu2Se: bulk and thin film, for waste heat recovery
8 Mar 2023
Investigations on Lead-free Oxide-based Piezoelectric Materials for Sustainable Energy Harvesting and Sensing Technologies
6 Mar 2023
Heterojunction of Bi2Se3 and Epitaxially Grown GaN Nanostructures on Oxide-Based Substrates for Self-Powered Broadband Photodetectors
22 Feb 2023
Hexagonal Silicon Germanium nanowires for light emission
13 Feb 2023
Temperature-Dependent Probing of Transport and Nonlinear Optical Properties of Topological Materials
31 Oct 2022
Performance Optimisation of Molecularly Imprinted Polymers Nanoparticles Based Conductometric Biosensors for Cardiac Biomarker Detection
23 Mar 2022
Towards a Bionic brain - Light driven cognitive learning in nanomaterials for Artificial Neural Networks
10 Dec 2021
Development of TiCoSb-based Half-Heusler Materials for Thermoelectric Applications
11 Nov 2021
Electronic synapses: Mimicking neural behaviour in electronic memories
5 Oct 2021
Investigation on Rare Earth Manganites, Tantalates, and Vanadates under Extreme Conditions of Temperature and Pressure
22 Sep 2021
Fabrication of III-Nitride and Metal Chalcogen Heterostructure for Broadband Photodetection
6 Sep 2021
Nano-reinforced Multifunctional Composites
15 Apr 2021
Artificial neural networks for versatile applications
12 Mar 2021
Synthesis of Structurally and Compositionally Tuned Two-Dimensional Materials and Their Heterostructures for Electrochemical Water Splitting
13 Jan 2021
Band Engineering of Two-dimensional Material Systems for Tuneability of Electronic and Optoelectronic Properties
17 Apr 2020
Performance Optimization of Conductometric Biosensors
20 Mar 2020
Low-Dimensional Materials for Antimicrobial Treatment
10 Dec 2019
Non-invasive Bioelectronic Devices for Diabetes Management
11 Nov 2019
Two-dimensional Indium Oxide and Chalcogenide-based Memory Systems for Neuromorphic Devices
1 Oct 2019
Synthesis of Two-Dimensional Heterostructures for High-Performance metal-ion Batteries
8 Jul 2019
Photonics of Novel Two-Dimensional Semiconductors and Heterostructures
6 May 2019
Conformable Sensors for Healthcare and Environmental Sensing Applications
18 Apr 2019
Phase Change Oxide Electronics and Sensors
18 Sep 2018
Development of Two-Dimensional Layered Nanomaterials for Tribological Applications
3 Sep 2018
Device Engineering of III-Nitride Semiconductors Based Sensors
17 Aug 2018
High Performance Electronic Devices Based on Two-dimensional Nano-scale Metal Oxides and Chalcogenides
20 Apr 2017
Thickness Tailored Synthesis of Two Dimensional Materials and Tuning Their Intrinsic Properties: Fundamentals to Application
6 Mar 2017
Switchable Nanoelectronic Devices Beyond Silicon
11 Jul 2016
Metal Oxide based wearable electronic devices and sensors
24 Mar 2016
Rigid and stretchable vanadium dioxide (VO2) thin films: challenges and applications
3 Feb 2016
Tuning resistive switching in complex oxide memristors
3 Feb 2016
Large Area 2D MoO3 for Electronics and Optoelectronics Applications
1 Jan 2016
Teaching interests
Electronic and optical devices • Low-dimensional materials • Materials engineering • Nanoelectronics and photonics • Flexible devices • Neuromorphics • Bio-inspired devices • Optical memories • Artificial brain and vision systems • Photodetectors • Chromic and thermoelectric coatings • Sensors • Artificial Intelligence Hardware (miniaturised electronic and optical chips for different functions) • Biomaterials
Research interests
Materials Engineering, Nanotechnology, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Macromolecular and Materials Chemistry, Condensed Matter Physics, Physical Chemistry (incl. Structural)
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.