Pushing the boundaries of metallurgical research is the goal of Professor Matthew Barnett’s Deakin University-based team, but the ambition that most inspires him is to redesign alloys and processes for a circular economy.
'Material development has led to great societal benefits, but one look at the ocean floor shows us that new materials have also led to environmental harm,' he says. 'I have become interested in reversing this trend by carrying out science that stimulates material reuse.'
With this in mind, his team is working to design metal alloys that will be insensitive to the contamination accompanying recycled metals, and also to create an additive manufacturing process that accepts scrap metal as input feed.
‘The best place to work in the country’
Prof. Barnett is the Director of the Institute for Frontier Materials based at Deakin’s Geelong Waterfront campus, which he describes as 'the best place to work in the country.'
He joined Deakin’s School of Engineering and Technology in 1999 as a researcher, following an Engineering degree with first-class honours from RMIT and a PhD from McGill University in Canada. A former metallurgist with BHP Steel, he has held an Australian Research Council (ARC) QEII Fellowship and an ARC Future Fellowship, and currently also leads the ARC mineAlloy Training Centre.
He is regarded as a world-leading researcher who has made significant technical contributions to alloy development in sheet steel research, light metals development, alloy characterisation and alloy performance. The work of his light metals research team is internationally recognised, especially in the field of wrought alloys.
Designing more durable alloys
The key to making alloys last longer in service is to design the microstructure to enhance ductility, which leads to alloys that can be more readily manufactured, are fracture-resistant and more durable under mechanical loading.
But it’s the aim to improve the recyclability of materials, and particularly alloys, that holds the key slice of attention for Prof. Barnett’s team.
'My main goal is to facilitate the re-design of materials for a circular economy,' he says. 'To achieve this I’m teaming up with researchers in artificial intelligence to help us negotiate and cleverly search the enormity of composition space to find undiscovered material recipes.'
Develop a passion for ‘new knowledge’
Prof. Barnett has been a Visiting Professor in Canada, France, the UK and Belgium, and advises prospective students in all areas to cultivate a passion for 'new knowledge' that is both interesting and important.
'Work towards being a ‘complete’ scientist,' he says. 'Sniff out the best problems, attack them with systematic vigour, keep impeccable records, maintain safety, synthesise data with the world’s best techniques and models, write the work up in the very best journals and use all this to attract the financial support to begin over again and change the world!'