2024 HDR Scholarship: Curtin-Orthopaedic Research Foundation WA - Our people
Our team
Our team combines industry experience and scholarly expertise.
Brian Kinsella
Director and Emeritus Professor
Electroanalytical chemistry, multiphase technology, internal pipeline corrosion, scale/corrosion inhibitors and electrochemical techniques.
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Brian Kinsella
Director and Emeritus Professor
Professor Kinsella's early career was in the field of electroanalytical chemistry. He was the Distinguished Visiting Scientist, National Research Council of Canada in Ottawa (1987-1988) where his work was centred on ultra-trace analysis of heavy metals in seawater using anodic stripping voltammetry. Soon after returning to Perth he moved into corrosion science and has worked in the area of corrosion in oil and gas production for over 30 years. He founded and directed the Western Australian Corrosion Research Group (WACRG) at Curtin University (1987-2007) which has evolved into the present Curtin Corrosion Centre. The Centre is widely recognised for its services to industry. Professor Kinsella was instrumental negotiating with Woodside and Chevron to establish the inaugural Chevron, Woodside Chair in Corrosion in 2007.
He retired from Curtin to take up the prestigious position of Stocker Visiting Professor, Ohio University (2008-2011), where he worked at the Institute for Corrosion and Multiphase Technology, mentoring graduate students and developing new methods to study the mechanical properties of corrosion inhibitor films. He was invited to return to Curtin in October 2013, where he directed the applied research and testing for industry and worked closely with senior research staff. His main areas of interest are internal pipeline corrosion, scale/corrosion inhibitors and electrochemical techniques where he has authored and co-authored over 100 journal publications and over 300 confidential reports for industry. He is a recipient of the Australasian Corrosion Association (ACA) Medal for outstanding scientific or technological work in the field of corrosion in Australasia, an ACA member and a NACE Fellow. His NACE Fellow Honour, Excellence Award, was given for sustained contribution made to corrosion control well recognised over the years. Brian is a member of the NACE Technical Working Group for Mitigation of UDC and the European Cooperative Group on Corrosion Monitoring of Nuclear Materials (ECG-COMON).
Professor Kinsella retired from Curtin University in June 2018 and was awarded the title Emeritus Professor by the Council of Curtin University in recognition for distinguished service, strategic leadership of the Curtin Corrosion Centre, and vision and commitment to the University. Professor Kinsella remains active in assisting his former staff and students in the Corrosion Centre at Curtin University and as a corrosion consultant to industry.
Kod Pojtanabuntoeng
Woodside-Chevron Chair in Materials & Corrosion Engineering
Internal and external pipeline corrosion, corrosion under insulation, top-of-the-line, sensors, inhibitors, carbon dioxide, and education.
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Kod Pojtanabuntoeng
Woodside-Chevron Chair in Materials & Corrosion Engineering
Dr Thunyaluk (Kod) Pojtanabuntoeng is the Woodside-Chevron Chair in Materials & Corrosion Engineering at the Curtin Corrosion Centre (WASM-MECE) and a Course Coordinator for Curtin’s MSc in Corrosion Engineering.
Kod completed her PhD in Chemical Engineering from the Institute for Corrosion and Multiphase Technology, Ohio University, USA and MSc in Petroleum Technology from Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. Her PhD and Master research focused on corrosion of carbon and low alloy steels in upstream oil and gas production; i.e. Top of the Line Corrosion and CO2 corrosion of production tubing and natural gas transportation lines.
After joining Curtin University in October 2012, Kod further expanded her research areas into external corrosion and corrosion prevention. She is currently working with industry partners on corrosion under insulation (CUI) and has an interest in exploring alternative strategies in controlling CUI. Kod also specialises in internal corrosion in the upstream oil and gas production, corrosion monitoring using electrochemical methods both in fields and in laboratory, surface and chemical characterisation methods.
Kod focuses on the synergism between academia and industry and strives to find tangible solutions to corrosion problems. She has been principal investigators for many industry-funded research projects relating to failure analysis, corrosion and corrosion management predominantly in the oil and gas industry.
Kod is a member of NACE International and Australasian Corrosion Association (ACA), a steering committee of Oil & Gas technical group, ACA, and an active participant in many task groups.
Katerina Lepkova
Associate Professor
Engagement and Impact Lead, analytical methods, inhibitors, corrosivity of bulk cargoes, surface science, under-deposit corrosion, metal recovery, and characterisation.
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Katerina Lepkova
Associate Professor
Kateřina Lepková is a corrosion and material scientist with over 17 years of experience from both academic and industrial engineering institutions in Europe and Australia. Kateřina is currently an Associate Professor at the Curtin Corrosion Centre, Curtin University and holds Adjunct Professorship at Ohio University, the Institute for Corrosion and Multiphase Flow Technology. Her key research interests are in investigating corrosion mechanisms and in the development of test and monitoring methods for both fundamental and applied industrial research in the oil and gas and mining sectors.
Kateřina obtained her Doctorate degree at the Material and Surface Science Institute, University of Limerick, in Ireland as a recipient of a PhD scholarship award under the Supramolecular Self-Assembly of Interfacial Nanostructures Research and Training Network funded by the European Commission. Kateřina holds an MSc degree in Chemical Engineering (Chemical Processing of Fuel and Energetics) from the University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, Czech Republic. During her career, Kateřina also gained research experience from the Technical University of Denmark (Department of Geochemistry and Geophysics), oil and gas distributor in Germany, and mining sector in Western Australia. She served as a business development manager in a bi-national Chamber of Commerce.
Kateřina is the leading scientist of corrosion inhibition and corrosion in mining programs at Curtin Corrosion Centre, with a primary focus on mechanistic investigations of reactions at liquid-solid interfaces using advanced analytical methods, including synchrotron-sourced and neutron-based techniques. She supervises numerous PhD projects at Curtin University and in collaboration with leading national and international scientists. Kateřina has been a principal investigator in research projects sponsored by oil and gas and mining industries. Her current projects involve corrosion inhibition, under-deposit corrosion, microbiologically influenced corrosion, cathodic protection, the corrosiveness of bulk cargoes, and recovery of metals from minerals.
Kateřina is a member of NACE International, the Australasia Corrosion Association and the European Cooperative Group on Corrosion Monitoring of Nuclear Materials, and regularly presents the work of her team at national and international conferences and symposiums.
Vladimir Golovanevskiy
Professor
Engineering materials / materials degradation, ore abrasivity, wear management, thermal physics, strong magnetic fields in minerals processing.
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Vladimir Golovanevskiy
Professor
Professor Vladimir Golovanevskiy holds a PhD in Thermal Physics and Heat Engineering (Engineering Materials focus) from the Ukraine Academy of Sciences and BEng (Mechanical) with Welding Technology focus degrees from Kharkiv Polytechnic University, Ukraine. He worked in a variety of roles in Australia, Russia, Ukraine, and Germany in a range of industries from heavy engineering for underground mining to International Space Program to non-metallic composite materials to artificial gems manufacture to cryogenics and is currently a Research Professor at the Curtin Corrosion Centre.
Prior to joining the Centre, as the inaugural Director of the Rio Tinto Centre for Materials and Sensing in Mining at Curtin – i.e. the largest industry-funded research centre in the University's history at the time – Vladimir championed a number of bulk materials handling and sensing step-change technology development projects for the minerals industry. Subsequently, as an academic with the Western Australian School of Mines he developed and taught materials science, thermodynamics, and engineering mechanics undergraduate and post-graduate courses, supervised HDR students, carried out applied R&D, and provided consultancy services to industry.
In addition to academic publications, Professor Golovanevskiy has authored / co-authored 18 patents in diverse fields including composite materials technology, applied thermal physics, and minerals processing and has written over 100 confidential reports on wear management and engineering materials degradation matters for various Australian and overseas industry groups. Vladimir is a Visiting Professor of Advanced Materials and Materials Wear at Tomsk State University and Visiting Professor of Materials at the High Voltage Research Institute at Tomsk Polytechnic University, Russia, and an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the National Aerospace University in Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Professor Golovanevskiy has wide professional networks both nationally and globally, with research interests in engineering materials and materials degradation, applied thermal physics, applications of strong magnetic fields in minerals processing, and wear management / ore abrasivity in mining & bulk materials handling. He is actively engaged in building long-term, sustainable collaborative relationships with industry and research partners nationally and internationally.
Varun Ghodkay
Engineering Project Manager
Chemical Engineering, coatings, corrosion protection, corrosion and integrity management, oil & gas, traveller and explorer.
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Varun Ghodkay
Engineering Project Manager
Varun Chandrashekar Ghodkay holds the position of Engineering Project Manager at Curtin Corrosion Centre. Varun is the focal point for industry “demand-driven research” activities carried out at the Corrosion Center.
Varun has 10 years of experience in solving corrosion and integrity-related challenges for the oil & gas and marine/shipbuilding industries. A chemical engineer by trade, Varun obtained his bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from M. S. Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bangalore - India and a Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Curtin University, Perth - Western Australia. Prior to joining Curtin Corrosion Centre – Varun worked on various materials and corrosion related challenges at General Electric’s Global Research Centre (GRC) at John.F.Welsh Technology Centre in Bangalore – India.
Varun’s main area of interest is the validation of corrosion mitigation strategies for asset optimization and life extension.
Varun has been the Principal Investigator for various industry-funded projects with proven ability to develop strong relationships across a wide range of stakeholders that have contributed to exceptional results. Through these projects, Varun has demonstrated proficiency in oilfield corrosion management and corrosion control measures for both upstream and downstream assets. He also has lead projects that involved testing of upstream production chemical under appropriate oil & gas process conditions and further conducting corrosion evaluation and analysis of various materials. Varun has also been involved in a number of failure analysis for oil & gas and shipbuilding industry. With the outcomes of these activities, Varun has gained valuable experience and ability to identify risks to asset integrity and to explore opportunities to develop strategies to ensure optimisation.
Varun also holds all necessary tickets and certification required for travel to remote locations (Offshore). Varun is also a NACE-certified Internal Corrosion Technologist, Coating Inspector and Cathodic Protection Tester. He is also a Certified Associate in Asset Management (CAAM) by Asset Management Council – Australia.
An avid traveller, Varun has explored most of West Australian spectacular coastline and a number of scenic locations around the east coast and South East Asia. Varun leads an active lifestyle with a mix of mountain biking and basketball. He is also a keen follower of AFL and backs the West Coast Eagles.
Ke Wang
Research Associate
Environmentally assisted cracking, localised corrosion, modelling, corrosion-resistant alloys, stray current corrosion, pipelines.
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Ke Wang
Research Associate
Ke Wang is a Research Associate at Curtin Corrosion Centre. He obtained his bachelor and master degree from Tianjin University, China. In 2019, he received his PhD degree from Institute for Frontier Materials (IFM), Deakin University, Australia. Ke Wang has been working on corrosion since 2012. During his PhD, he worked on an industry-sponsored project, understanding and monitoring the synergistic effect of soil, cathodic protection, coating disbandment and stray current buried pipeline corrosion. After joining Curtin Corrosion Centre, he will work on the pit-to-crack transition of duplex stainless steels in a simulated sour environment.
His research interests are environmentally assisted cracking; localized corrosion initiation and propagation; corrosion modelling and simulation; electrochemical impedance spectroscopy kinetic model development and corrosion monitoring.
In his private life, Ke likes hiking, which connects him closely to nature and relaxes his mind.
Sam Bakhtiari
Research Associate
Multiscale modelling, density functional theory, solid-state phase transformation, environmental cracking, reading, and meditation.
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Sam Bakhtiari
Research Associate
Sam Bakhtiari is a Research Associate at Curtin Corrosion Centre. In 2019, he earned his PhD degree from the School of Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Western Australia. His dissertation was on “NiTi-based shape memory alloys beyond the shape memory effect and superelasticity”.
At Curtin Corrosion Centre, he will lead the multiscale modelling activities, specifically on environmentally assisted cracking of duplex stainless steels in downhole environments.
His research interests are (i) multiscale modelling of environmentally assisted cracking, (ii) density functional theory calculations on corrosion, (iii) solid-state phase transformation, (iv) NiTi-based shape memory alloys, and (V) functionally graded materials.
He enjoys staying with his family and reading about metaphysics. He also enjoys daily meditation and breathing practice.
Ibukun Oluwoye
Research Fellow
Chemical process kinetics, polymer degradation, thermal analyses, material characterisation, solid-gas reaction, spectroscopy and analytical methods, density functional theory, reaction modelling.
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Ibukun Oluwoye
Research Fellow
Dr Ibukun Oluwoye is a Research Fellow at the Curtin Corrosion Centre. He completed his PhD at Murdoch University (Australia) in 2017, and served as a postdoctoral research scientist, conducting specialised multidisciplinary research in chemical process kinetics, heterogenous reactions and atmospheric environment. His work targets developing robust solutions for industrial processes within the focal context of sustainable developments.
At Curtin Corrosion Centre, Dr Oluwoye works on the degradation of non-metallic parts of offshore Oil and Gas infrastructure, executed for, and on behalf of, the National Decommissioning Research Initiative (NDRI) within National Energy Resources Australia (NERA). He is developing a reliable approach to estimate the degradation rate and fates of these class of materials in pertinent environmental conditions. This study is highly instrumental for the environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the non-metallic material in offshore waters.
Dr Oluwoye’s work reflects the avant-garde quality. His focus on research excellence has resulted in various scientific prizes and awards, including mobility grants from the Australian Academy of Science (2020) and the Australian Combustion Society (2019). His research and technical expertise span across chemical process kinetics, polymer degradation, thermal analyses, material characterisation, spectroscopy and analytical methods, heterogenous (solid-gas) reactions, density functional theory, and reaction modelling.
Silvia Salgar-Chaparro
Research Associate
Microbiologically influenced corrosion, molecular biology, microbial ecology, electrochemical methods, molecular biology.
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Silvia Salgar-Chaparro
Research Associate
Silvia J. Salgar-Chaparro is a Postdoctoral Researcher at Curtin Corrosion Centre. She is a biologist with over 10 years’ experience in microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC), molecular biology and microbial ecology.
Silvia earned her Doctor of Philosophy degree in Chemical Engineering from Curtin University, Australia, and her Bachelor of Science degree from the “Universidad Industrial de Santander”, Colombia. Before joining Curtin University, Silvia was the lead of the biocorrosion group at the “Corporación para la investigación de la corrosión” (Research corrosion centre) in Colombia.
Silvia is particularly interested in describing the molecular diversity of the microorganisms commonly implied in Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion (MIC), as well as, in understanding the complex interactions of theses microorganisms with their habitat. On her PhD research, she studied the effect that environmental and operational conditions have on MIC processes occurring on carbon steel. She also applied a new molecular methodological approach for microbiological evaluation of systems with the aim to improve the way MIC is assessed in oil and gas production facilities. As a Research Associate at Curtin Corrosion Centre, Silvia will continue her research engagement working in the Joint Industry Project (JIP) “Preventing and Managing MIC for the Oil & Gas Industry - A pragmatic holistic approach”.
Silvia is a NACE-certified Internal Corrosion Technologist. She has also participated in NACE task groups dedicated to working in the current and future NACE standards for MIC management.
Thaneshan Sapanathan
Research Fellow
Materials, steels, composites, mechanical testing, fracture mechanics, advanced characterisation, microscopy.
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Thaneshan Sapanathan
Research Fellow
Thaneshan Sapanathan is a Research Fellow at Curtin Corrosion Center and leading all the activities within the framework of the Chevron Woodside CHAIR partnership.
Thaneshan completed a Mechanical engineering degree with 1st class honours at Monash University and was listed in the dean’s honours list. Then he earned a PhD with Australian Postgraduate Award scholarship, in an interdisciplinary area of mechanical engineering, material sciences and modelling at Monash University, Australia in 2014. After that, he joined the University of Technology of Compiegne in France, as a postdoctoral researcher, and worked extensively on material characterization, and electromagnetic forming and welding. During which he worked on a consortium of 9 partners and made a significant contribution to the project as a leading postdoc. Since early 2017, prior to joining Curtin Corrosion Center, Thaneshan worked as a senior researcher, and an FNRS (National Fund for Scientific Research, Belgium) research fellow at the Institute of Mechanics, Materials, and Civil Engineering (iMMC) at the University of Louvain in Belgium.
During his research, he worked with leading steel manufacturers and industrial suppliers including ArcelorMittal -France, Valeo – France, Thales – France, John Cockerill – Belgium. Thaneshan also secured three beamtime experiments as a lead in large scale facilities at European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) to carry out in situ nano-tomography experiments, and Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) neutron source to quantify 3D residual stresses in welded joints. During his research in Belgium, he holds visiting research positions at IMDEA Materials – Spain. The experiments performed at IMDEA during his research stay for high temperature in situ nucleation and early growth stages of Fe-Al intermetallics within an SEM chamber is a major achievement in his research career. He also pioneered the subject of impact damage quantification and optimization in patch repairing of CFRP composites. His experiences in various subjects well demonstrate the studies on fundamental sciences and their industry relevance in manufacturing/engineering applications.
Thaneshan is a leading research scientist in materials sciences, mechanical behaviour of materials and manufacturing encompasses corrosion at Curtin Corrosion Centre. Thaneshan has a strong interest to bring his extensive experience in materials characterization using advanced techniques (in situ testing, 3D characterization e.g. μCT, and X-ray/Neutron diffraction) to investigate real-world challenges of the oil and gas industries. His current projects involve the identification of appropriate cost-effective materials and manufacturing/welding/testing methods those comply with the standards and requirements of the oil and gas industry.
Thaneshan is an active member of the German Society for Material Science (DGM) and the European Microscopy Society (EMS). In his personal life, Thaneshan likes to spend time in nature, enjoys cooking at home, cycling and swimming.
Francisco Vouilloz
Senior Research Officer
High strength low alloy steels, polymers, metals, ceramics and composite materials, hydrogen embrittlement, and mechanical testing.
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Francisco Vouilloz
Senior Research Officer
Francisco enjoys solving real-life problems. He has a Materials Engineering degree from the National University of Mar del Plata, where he gained knowledge in polymers, metals, ceramics and composite materials. His thesis consisted of studying a series of composite materials for enhanced adhesion of bone prosthesis. He earned the award for being the graduate having the highest average mark.
Before graduation, he joined the Materials Dept. of the R&D Centre at Tenaris, a world-leading OCTG supplier. At Tenaris, he worked in understanding the capabilities and limitations of high strength low alloy steel products for operation in sour service, assessing resistance to sulphide stress cracking (SSC). Later, he moved to the Product Engineering team, a fast-paced area in which he was responsible for providing technical support to the sales force regarding complex queries, analysing data from production and negotiating with the mills to achieve stringent requirements, and evaluating and supplying collapse pressure ratings for casing and tubing to be used in demanding projects.
In 2018, he moved to Australia to undertake an MSc of Eng. in Oil and Gas at the University of Western Australia. By his performance, he earned two Chevron and Woodside Chair Awards in 2018 and 2019. By the time he graduated from the course, he had worked for Curtin Corrosion Centre supporting a diverse range of projects. These involve corrosion resistant alloys (CRA), evaluation of calcareous deposits growth, corrosion of copper-brass piping for drinkable water, and corrosion of 3D printed aluminium for marine environments, among others.
Nowadays, he is a Research Officer at the Centre, leading the Acid Gas Corrosion theme within the QEERI-Curtin Alliance.
Francisco enjoys hanging out with friends, cycling and doing activities in nature.
Nicholas Tan
Research Associate
Polymers, corrosion under insulation, thermal insulating coatings, modelling, organic synthesis, advanced analytical methods.
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Nicholas Tan
Research Associate
Dr Nicholas Tan Sheng Loong is a Research Associate at Curtin Corrosion Centre. In 2017, he obtained a Curtin International Postgraduate Research Scholarship (CIPRS) and, under the supervision of Prof. Andrew B. Lowe, worked on the synthesis, characterisation and application of organorhodium complexes as initiators for the controlled polymerisation of arylacetylenes. In 2021, he obtained his PhD at Curtin University and his thesis was nominated for a commendation by the Vice-Chancellor. In 2016, he was awarded 1st class honours during his undergraduate studies, in which he worked on lanthanide-based metal-organic frameworks, elucidating their photophysical and mechanical properties.
His background includes organometallic complex, polymer and organic synthesis with key specialisation in air-sensitive synthesis techniques. He is also obsessed with the art of crystallisation. His expertise spans nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, FTIR, fluorescence spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, nano-indentation and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). He is currently developing and formulating polymer coatings with anti-corrosion, UV resistance, and thermal insulative properties at the Curtin Corrosion Centre.
Nicholas is also an avid angler and enjoys exploring the beautiful Western Australian coastline for new fishing grounds.
Ammar Al Helal
Research Associate
High-pressure and high-temperature testing, MEG pilot plant, flow assurance, hydrate formation, chemical engineering, engineering design.
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Ammar Al Helal
Research Associate
Dr Ammar Al Helal is an academic sessional staff at Curtin Corrosion Centre. Ammar is involved in education and laboratory instructor. Ammar is also a research assistant in chemical engineering with a focus on dripline, resources, processes and materials engineering.
Ammar earned his BSc and MSc degree in chemical engineering from the University of Baghdad and his PhD in chemical engineering from Curtin University. His research area covers flow assurance, scale formation treatment, oxygen removal process, eco-friendly process design and operation, gas hydrate inhibitors examination, and evaluation of Mono ethylene glycol regeneration process.
During his PhD study, he was able to communicate his results by contributing to the 11th Curtin University Technology, Science and Engineering (CUTSE) International Conference at Curtin University – Sarawak, Malaysia, where his article was awarded the first prize as the best research article, in addition to ten published academic articles in chemical and petroleum leading journals.
From 2015 to 2018, he contributed to four advanced research phases of the Chevron-sponsored project to design and commission the Curtin Corrosion Centre pilot plant for the Mono ethylene glycol regeneration process.
From 2018 until the present, Ammar supports two postgraduate students to manage their academic research projects that deal with gas hydrate formation inhibition technology within the oil and natural gas transportation pipelines. Ammar also supervised the MEG pilot plant operation training of 22 Vietnamese trainees as a professional case study.
For the last three years, Mr Al Helal was the technical lead for several engineering units (CHEN2002/CHEN5000 Process Heat Transfer, CHEN4016/CHEN5036 Process Economics and Management, CHEN2001 Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics, and PRRE1003 Resources Process and Materials Engineering).
He enjoys spending his time with his family.
Johanna Tarazona
Research Assistant
Microbiology, bioanalysis, biotechnology, medical research, microbiologically influenced corrosion, oil and gas
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Johanna Tarazona
Research Assistant
Johanna Tarazona is a Research Assistant at the Curtin Corrosion Centre. Microbiologist and bioanalyst who graduated from the Universidad Industrial de Santander, (Colombia) offering 3 years of experience and knowledge in environmental microbiology, biotechnology, clinical microbiology, industrial biotechnology. Self-motivated and astute with exceptional research skills. Background working in medical research and medical institutions. Experienced in monitoring laboratory experiments to ensure data collection is accurate and as expected from the experiment and recording results. On a personal note, she is eager to continue learning about different fields.
Currently, she works supporting the Joint Industry Project (JIP) “Preventing and Managing MIC for the Oil & Gas Industry - A pragmatic holistic approach”. And also supporting different projects related to Microbiologically influenced corrosion which involves activities focused on set up corrosion experiments based on clients and companies’ necessities.
Marisa Yookhong
Researcher Assistant
Corrosion testing, wet parking, Raman and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, characterization, sample preparation.
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Marisa Yookhong
Researcher Assistant
Marisa Yookhong is a Researcher Assistant at the Curtin Corrosion Engineering Industry Centre. Her main research activities focus on set up corrosion experiment based on client/company requirement and demonstrate how to operate laboratory equipment for post- and undergraduate students.
Some of her publications include:
- Supakeat K, Marisa Y. et al. 2016. “Production of carboxymethyl cellulose under low concentration of basicity”, Thailand Patent, Application no.1501000399, Patent filing 9 Aug 2016, Assignee: SCG Paper PCL.
- Marisa W.; Apichat I. and Ponwason E. 2008. “Extraction of heavy metal ions from leachate of cement-based stabilized waste using purpurin functionalized resin” Journal of hazardous materials, 154(1-3): 739-747.
- Marisa W.; Ponwason E. and Apichat I. 2007. “Characterization of Amberlite XAD-2 functionalized with Purpurin by Infrared and Raman spectroscopy”, Scientific and technological research equipment centre, 15(1): 47-55.
Zakaria Quadir
Research Facility Manager
Expert microscopist, additive manufacturing, physical metallurgy, materials characterization, alloy design, education.
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Zakaria Quadir
Research Facility Manager
Md Zakaria Quadir is the Head of Microscopy and Microanalysis Facility (MMF) unit within Curtin’s centralised research infrastructure hub John de Laeter Centre (JdLC). MMF comprises a wide range of electron microscopy instrumentations for advanced characterisations for academic and industrial research of materials. He provides research and technical leadership in multidisciplinary physical science projects.
Zakaria was awarded his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Hong Kong (HKU). Previously, he obtained a BSc Engineering in Metallurgy with an honours distinction from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). Before joining Curtin, Zakaria held research academic and instrument scientist appointments at HKU, University of New South Wales (UNSW) Australia and Australian Research Council-Centre of Excellence (ARC-CoE) for Light Metal Research. He also holds several honorary appointments in Australian and overseas institutions for research collaborations. Currently, Zakaria is the representative of the state of Western Australia for the national professional society of microscopy, Australian Microscopy and Microanalysis Society (AMMS).
Zakaria’s carriage in cutting-edge Electron Microscopy and Physical Metallurgy is well manifested. He conducted research in the thermomechanical processing of Fe-, Al-, Cu-, Mg-, Ti-, Ni-based alloys, and their composites, with particular emphasis on the mechanisms of microstructure and crystallographic texture evolution during solidification, deformation processing, solid-state phase transformation and heat treatments. His current research includes additive manufacturing by 3D printing of metals, thermo-mechanical processing of metals and their composites and material characterizations concerning environmental degradation. His research yields over 130 peer-reviewed book chapter, journal and conference articles.
Juan Diaz
University Associate
Hydrate formation in the presence of corrosion products and scales.
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Juan Diaz
University Associate
Yousuf Abdulwahhab
Research Assistant
Corrosion resistant alloys, high-temperature and high-pressure testing, localised corrosion, corrosion inhibitors, cathodic protection, electrochemical techniques, surface analysis and education.
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Yousuf Abdulwahhab
Research Assistant
Dr Yousuf Abdulwahhab is a Research Assistant at Curtin Corrosion Centre. He obtained his bachelor's and master's degree from the School of Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering at Baghdad University, Iraq. His PhD and master's research focused on corrosion engineering. In 2021, he earned his Doctor of Philosophy degree in Chemical Engineering from Curtin University, Australia. His dissertation was on “Investigations of corrosion effects at high temperatures and high-pressure conditions”.
Yousuf has been working on corrosion since 2014. On his PhD research, he studied the nature of the passive film formed on 316L Stainless Steel and its protective mechanism in oil and gas industry where anaerobic CO2 (carbonic acid) environments exist as well as the effect of different CO2 partial pressure in high temperature and pressure environments. Then the result compared with passive film formed on 1018 carbon steel with different corrosion inhibitor concentration and evaluate of corrosion inhibitor performance. His research interests include high-temperature high-pressure corrosion, localised corrosion, corrosion mechanism, and corrosion monitoring using electrochemical methods.
Prior to joining Curtin Corrosion Centre Yousuf has over 10 years of teaching and research experience at Baghdad University, and he has worked as a lecturer on heat and mass transfer.
In the current role at the Curtin Corrosion Centre, he has been involving and working several industrial projects relating to corrosion in the oil and gas industry and chemical qualifications using applicable national and international standards in the corrosion or related fields.
Fernando Perozo-Cediel
Research Assistant
LIMS, CMMS, QFM, logistics, procurement, automation, modelling, simulation.
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Fernando Perozo-Cediel
Research Assistant
Fernando Perozo-Cediel was a volunteer and became a Research Assistant at Curtin Corrosion Centre. He obtained Master Professional of Engineering with major in Chemical Engineering at Curtin University in 2021. He was involved in modelling and process simulation projects during his academic life. His last work consisted of a Monte Carlo simulation study of the adsorption of hydrogen and methane in a graphene slit-pore.
Automation and digitisation are also interests of him. He is on a mission of value creation in the procurement, purchasing, maintenance and calibration processes held at the Centre.
Farzaneh Farivar
Research Fellow
Microbiologically influenced corrosion, concrete corrosion, analytical chemistry, nanomaterials, biochemistry, biophysics, hiking.
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Farzaneh Farivar
Research Fellow
Farzaneh Farivar is a multidisciplinary scientist with around 10 years of experience in academic research and teaching. She finished her BSc in cellular and molecular sciences, MSc and PhD in biophysics in 2013 at University of Tehran. After a few years of teaching in universities in Iran, in 2018, she moved to Australia to join the ARC Research Hub for Graphene Enabled Industry Transformation at the University of Adelaide as a postdoc researcher where she worked on multiple fundamental and industrial projects. Then in 2022, she joined Curtin Corrosion Centre to start her new role as a Research Fellow. Currently, she is mainly involved with a joint industry project (JIP) for 'Preventing and managing microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) for the oil & gas industry - a pragmatic holistic approach,' and 'protocol development for intelligent monitoring of concrete corrosion in marine environments,' funded by SmartCrete CRC and partners.
Darwin Hartono
Research Assistant
FDM 3D printing, 3D Modelling, 3D Rendering, Mechanical Engineering, Ceramic fracture toughness testing, Vickers hardness testing
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Darwin Hartono
Research Assistant
Darwin Hartono is a Research Assistant at Curtin Corrosion Centre working on the mechanical design and engineering required for a new project or facility. Darwin is a Mechanical Engineer who is specialised in mechanical design, 3D modelling, drafting, and rendering.
Darwin utilised his engineering skills to assist in the design of the front-end engineering (design, 3D modelling and rendering of the facility) on the first corrosion flow loop facility in Curtin Corrosion Centre.
Arun Matthew
Research Associate
Heat transfer, multiphase modelling, Computational fluid dynamics, hydrogen storage
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Arun Matthew
Research Associate
Arun Mathew is a Research Associate at the Curtin Corrosion Centre, specialising in heat transfer, multiphase modelling, and computational fluid dynamics. He was awarded the Australian Research Council Funded Scholarship in 2017 and completed his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Curtin University, Australia, in 2021. His doctoral research focused on optimising a high-temperature thermal energy storage system for concentrating solar power plants.
Prior to joining the Centre, he worked as a Lecturer in the Department of Mechanical Engineering in India, gaining valuable experience in the field. Arun obtained his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Mechanical and Thermal Engineering, respectively, from India.
At the Curtin Corrosion Centre, Arun has been actively involved in multiple projects related to heat and multiphase flow modelling for corrosion. He is also interested in hydrogen storage, finite element analysis, and thermal energy storage.
Apart from work, Arun likes playing and watching various sports, especially cricket and football
Adeeba Hussain
Research Assistant
Microbiology, molecular biology, biotechnology, microbiologically influenced corrosion, corrosion inhibition
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Adeeba Hussain
Research Assistant
Adeeba Hussain is a Research Assistant at Curtin Corrosion Centre. She is an enthusiastic Microbiologist with over 6 years’ experience in Molecular Biology, Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology. Previously, she worked as a Microbiologist in the Australian Laboratory Services and as a Laboratory Assistant in the University of New South Wales.
Adeeba achieved her Master degree from Tokyo University of Agriculture & Technology, Japan. During her masters, she studied thiocyanate degradation by environmental bacteria. She cloned a gene of a novel thiocyanate hydrolase enzyme in to E. coli and characterised the enzyme.
Currently, she is working in different projects related to Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion (MIC) to investigate microbial population in biofilm by molecular biology analysis. Research is her passion and she is keen to study microbial involvement in corrosion and inhibition of MIC.
Esteban Rodoni
Research Associate
Hydrogen embrittlement of intercritically hardened dual-phase low alloy steels. Photographer.
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Esteban Rodoni
Research Associate
Malwattage Chandramalika Rukmali Peiris
Technical Operations Coordinator
Electroanalytical techniques, atomic force microscopic techniques, surface modifications, sample characterisation, analytical chemistry, nanomaterials.
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Malwattage Chandramalika Rukmali Peiris
Technical Operations Coordinator
Dr Malwattage Chandramalika Rukmali Peiris obtained her Doctorate degree at Curtin University, Western Australia in 2020 as a recipient of a PhD scholarship (CIRPS). She obtained her first degree in chemistry from the Institute of Chemistry Sri Lanka in 2009. She holds a MSc degree in Analytical Chemistry and MPhil in Electrocatalyst from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka in 2010 and 2018, respectively.
Malwattage has been working on electrochemistry-related research since 2010. In her M.Phil., she investigated different metal macrocyclic complexes as electrocatalysts which can convert carbon dioxide into useful chemicals. During her Ph.D, most of her Ph.D research work was published in top-tier chemistry journals including Journal of the American Chemical Society (IF: 14.6), ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces (IF: 8.4) and Chemical Science (IF: 9.5). She was also able to collaborate with other researchers in the department due to her expertise with high-end analytical instruments used in this field, which resulted in 12 high-quality co-authored publications. All these publications present novel developments of advanced materials for the manufacture of nanoelectronics. In 2019, she was invited to present in the world’s leading research conferences (The Electrochemical Society (236th ECS Meeting), The 20th International Union of Materials Research Societies–International Conference in Asia) in advanced materials due to the innovative outcomes.
During her PhD, she made a breakthrough by engineering a nanoelectronic device with record stability in terms of stability and substrate material (Peiris et al, 2019, J. Am. Chem.Soc.). Malwattage was awarded by the Kagi-Alexander Higher Degree by Research Publication Award in 2019 by Curtin University in recognition of this outstanding discovery and academic performance. Dr Malwattage is well-trained in surface modifications, scanning microscope and atomic microscopic techniques. Her field of expertise are electrochemistry, surface chemistry and material chemistry.
Peng Qin
Research Associate
Electrochemical corrosion and advanced microstructural characterisation on additive manufactured mantellic materials.
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Peng Qin
Research Associate
Dr Peng Qin is a Research Associate at the Curtin Corrosion Centre. He obtained his bachelor's degree at Curtin University in 2016, and completed his master's and PhD degrees (with ECU Higher Degree by Research Scholarship) at Edith Cowan University in 2022. His PhD and master's research were focused on corrosion behaviour and mechanism of metallic biomaterials produced by laser powder bed fusion (also part of additive manufacturing). After joining Curtin Corrosion Centre, he will be working on the industrial projects involved with metal-based additive manufacturing.
Prior to joining Curtin Corrosion Centre, Peng also worked at Edith Cowan University on an industrial project for oil and pipe company, and co-supervising PhD and master students. During his past research, he gained expertise in electrochemical corrosion, advanced microstructural characterization (e.g., TEM, SEM, FIB, XPS, XRD), mechanical testing, and 3D printing.
Some of his recent publications include:
P. Qin, L.Y. Chen, Y.J. Liu*, C.H. Zhao, Y.J. Lu*, H. Sun, L.C. Zhang*, Corrosion behavior and mechanism of laser powder bed fusion produced CoCrW in an acidic NaCl solution, Corrosion Science, 213 (2023) 110999.
X. Wang, P. Qin*, L.Y. Chen*, H. Sun, L.C. Zhang*, Corrosion behavior and mechanisms of the heat-treated Ti5Cu produced by laser powder bed fusion, Corrosion Science, 221 (2023) 111336.
X. Wang, P. Qin, H. Sun, L.C. Zhang*, Improved corrosion and long-term immersion behavior in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution of laser powder bed fusion produced Ti5Cu after heat treatment, Advanced Engineering Materials, 25 (2023) 2300526.
Y.W. Cui, L.Y. Chen*, P. Qin, R. Li, Q. Zang, J. Peng, L. Zhang, S. Lu, L. Wang*, L.C. Zhang*, Metastable pitting corrosion behavior of laser powder bed fusion produced Ti-6Al-4V in Hank’s solution, Corrosion Science, 203 (2022) 110333.
P. Qin, L.Y. Chen*, Y.J. Liu, Z. Jia, S.X. Liang, C.H. Zhao, H. Sun, L.C. Zhang*, Corrosion and passivation behavior of laser powder bed fusion produced Ti-6Al-4V in static/dynamic NaCl solutions with different concentrations, Corrosion Science, 191 (2021) 109728.
P. Qin, L.Y. Chen, C.H. Zhao, Y.J. Liu, C.D. Cao*, H. Sun, L.C. Zhang*, Corrosion behavior and mechanism of selective laser melted Ti35Nb alloy produced using pre-alloyed and mixed powder in Hank’s solution, Corrosion Science, 189 (2021) 109609.
Naveed Hassan
Research Associate
Materials characterisation, thermal characterisation, energy storage, corrosion mitigation strategies, damage mechanisms.
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Naveed Hassan
Research Associate
Naveed is a Research Associate for the Curtin Corrosion Centre, utilising his engineering and research expertise to various industrial research projects related to corrosion and materials.
Naveed attained his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Ghulam Ishaq Khan (GIK) Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology, Pakistan. He also completed a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in chemical and metallurgical engineering from Murdoch University, Perth Australia. In his master’s degree, he focused on energy storage materials and tackled various challenges in energy storage materials, such as corrosion issues, lower thermal conductivity and leakages, and successfully presented effective solutions to overcome these issues. He has strong expertise in materials characterisation, utilising various techniques such as SEM/EDS, XRD, XPS, and FT-IR. Naveed is proficient in thermal characterisation of materials using DSC, STA, and TGA. He also holds a good publication record in high-quality peer-reviewed journals.
Naveed has extensive previous industrial experience from prestigious firms in Risk Based Inspection (API 580), corrosion mitigation strategies, damage mechanism, identification of corrosion loops, asset integrity and reliability, and coatings assessment using various national and international standards.
Naveed holds NACE Senior Corrosion Technologist Certification, and many professional trainings related to corrosion which validate his qualifications as a highly skilled corrosion engineer.
Erika Suarez Rodriguez
Research Fellow
Microbiologically influenced corrosion, environmental microbiology, under-deposit corrosion, corrosion inhibition, quality management systems.
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Erika Suarez Rodriguez
Research Fellow
Erika is currently a Research Fellow at the Curtin Corrosion Centre (CCC), Curtin University, Australia. She brings to the role over a decade of diverse experience in microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC), bioremediation, environmental microbiology, and quality-management systems.
She earned her Doctor of Philosophy degree with a focus on the study of under-deposit corrosion of steels in the presence of microorganisms at Curtin University. Her bachelor’s degree in Microbiology was obtained from the Universidad Industrial de Santander, Colombia.
During her tenure at the Colombian Petroleum Institute (ICP)-ECOPETROL, she participated in Laboratory operations, gathering experience in MIC and bioremediation within the framework of biotechnology and laboratory bioassays. These roles fortified her comprehension of ISO/IEC 17025 standards pertinent to laboratory quality management.
Erika's primary research interest lies in studying the interaction between MIC-related microorganisms with deposits and the efficiency of corrosion inhibitors under this complex environment. Her doctoral research was instrumental in offering new perspectives on how the under-deposit corrosion (UDC) phenomenon of carbon steel occurs in an environment with biological content. As a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at CCC, she is actively engaged in the Joint Industry Project (JIP) titled 'Preventing and Managing MIC for the Oil & Gas,' as well as part of corrosion mitigation industry-funded projects.
Yurany Sanchez Torres
Engineer (Corrosion)
Construction; maintenance; integrity assurance.
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Yurany Sanchez Torres
Engineer (Corrosion)
Yurany is a Materials Engineer from Colombia with +7 years of experience in the oil and gas industry. Her expertise includes construction, maintenance, and integrity assurance of static equipment such as piping, pipelines, storage tanks, pressure vessels, and floating cells, among other metallic structures. Yurany's focus has been on supporting operators to evaluate the fitness and suitability of pressure vessels and atmospheric tanks to ensure their safe re-entry into service. She has also been certified as an NDT Level II inspector of welded joints with the expertise to assess pipeline defects reported by ILI tools. Yurany is proficient in handling international standards such as API, ASTM, ASME, ISO, and NACE.
During her role as QAQC & NDT engineer, Yurany undertook key responsibilities in construction and maintenance of components for storage and processing. This involved rigorous inspection and testing of materials to verify compliance with client requirements. She also oversaw the critical phases of inspecting surface preparation and coating application in pipelines and pressure vessels. Yurany reviewed construction dossiers, which included drawings, specification sheets, and blueprints. Additionally, as an integrity engineer, she assessed anomalies and provided recommendations for repair methodologies.
In June 2021, Yurany joined the Curtin Corrosion Centre (CCC) in the role of Engineer (Corrosion), where she has been supporting research teams overseeing critical industry and academic corrosion research projects, including material characterisation, coating testing, mechanical testing, electrochemical testing, and 3D printing. This role gave her the opportunity to contribute significantly to the advancement of corrosion research, bridging the gap between academia and industry. Yurany is also involved in activities of failure analysis of subsea components.
On a personal note, Yurany enjoys hanging out with family and friends, cooking, and doing activities in nature.
Affiliates
Our Affiliated Scholars complement and expand our knowledge, bringing years of industry and academic experience.
Andrew Lowe
Professor
Polymers, thermal insulation, coatings, chemistry, functional molecules, hybrid materials
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Andrew Lowe
Professor
Prof. Lowe holds BSc (Hons), DPhil and DSc degrees from the University of Sussex, UK. In 1999 he moved to the US, initially as a post-doctoral researcher before accepting a tenure-track position in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Southern Mississippi (USM). Following promotion and tenure, he subsequently moved to the University of New South Wales (2009) as a Full Professor in the School of Chemical Engineering where he was affiliated with the Centre for Advanced Macromolecular Design. In 2015, he moved to Curtin University as Director of the Nanochemistry Research Institute (subsequently renamed the Curtin Institute for Functional Molecules and Interfaces).
Prof. Lowe’s research interests cover controlled polymerisation processes (RAFT, ROMP, Rh-mediated insertion polymerisation), polymer modification via click and click-like chemistries, water-soluble (co)polymers, stimulus-responsive (co)polymers and polymer-metal hybrid materials.
Edgar Cristian Hornus
Research Associate
Electrochemistry, localised corrosion, iron contamination, cathodic protection, laboratory management, microscopy, superalloys, traveller.
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Edgar Cristian Hornus
Research Associate
Edgar Cristian Hornus is an Industrial Engineer and M.Sc. and PhD in Materials Science and Technology from Instituto Sabato, which belongs to the Universidad Nacional de San Martín (UNSAM) and the Argentinean Atomic Energy Commission (Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica – CNEA), located in Buenos Aires, Argentina. His areas of expertise include corrosion science, specifically in localised corrosion in superalloys. Starting in July 2018, he took on a postdoc position, working as Research Associate at the Curtin Corrosion Centre, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.
Edgar has expertise in (i) laboratory management and handling testing equipment and resources, (ii) conducting scientific and technological research and elaborating technical and academic reports, and (iii) providing technical assistance to his colleagues and commercial lab suppliers.
At the Curtin Corrosion Centre, Edgar works on different demand-driven projects, addressing innovative solutions to several problems of high impact on the industry, both in terms of localised corrosion and general corrosion.
In his private life, he likes spending time in the outdoors with his daughters, travelling to new places and immerse himself in different cultures. His two biggest passions are surfing and cave exploring.
Bruce Hinton
Adjunct Professor
Stress corrosion cracking, corrosion fatigue racking, hydrogen embrittlement, corrosion inhibition and failure analysis.
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Bruce Hinton
Adjunct Professor
Bruce Hinton graduated with an Honours Degree from the University of Queensland Department of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering in 1968. He was appointed as an Experimental Officer at the Department of Defence Aeronautical Research Laboratory (ARL) Fisherman’s Bend in 1969. From 1969 to 1975 he conducted investigations into failed aircraft components for the RAAF and the Department of Civil Aviation. These failures were the result of various corrosion processes including stress corrosion cracking, hydrogen embrittlement, corrosion fatigue, wear, intergranular and galvanic corrosion, as well as creep, fatigue cracking and ductile fracture.
In 1975 he began research into the stress corrosion cracking of high strength aluminium alloys in aircraft operating environments, and this continued until 1977 when Bruce was awarded an Australian Public Service Board Scholarship to study for a PhD at the University of Manchester, Institute of Technology (UMIST), Corrosion and Protection Centre. His research was looking at the effects of cathodic protection on the hydrogen embrittlement and corrosion fatigue of X65 pipeline steel. Bruce was awarded a PhD in Corrosion Engineering in late 1980.
He returned to ARL at the end 1980 and established a small research group working in the area of no-toxic corrosion inhibitors for aluminium alloys. In 1983, they found that the salts of the Rare Earth Metals (REM) in particular Cerium proved to be very good corrosion inhibitors.
In 1992, Bruce was promoted to Principal Research Scientist and Head of the Aircraft Corrosion Control Group within the Aircraft Materials Division of Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO). The purpose of the Group was to focus solving and preventing corrosion problems on Air Force, Army and Navy aircraft and component failure investigations.
His Group set about developing products, processes and procedures to be adopted by aircraft maintenance units within the ADF to prevent corrosion on aircraft structure. Over the years the Group had many successes, including the identification of aircraft washing detergents with excellent corrosion inhibiting properties. The development of an environment monitor based on galvanic principles was installed in aircraft structures to identify the times of wetness in areas of aircraft structures susceptible to corrosion damage, a corrosion sensor based on linear polarisation resistance which measured corrosion rates in situ in aircraft structure. With CSIRO the Group developed a corrosion prediction model for aircraft structures for BAE Systems.
During the course of his career, Bruce has received several awards and honours, the highlights of which are the ACA Corrosion Medal, the BAE Systems Chairman’s Award for Innovation, the Minister of Defence Award for Achievement in Defence Science, the Florence Taylor Medal from the Institute of Metals and the NACE F N Speller Award. None of those awards would have been possible without the high calibre of people who, over the years, made up the Aircraft Corrosion Control Group at DSTO.
In 2010 after 41 years at DSTO Bruce retired. After retirement Bruce was very fortunate to be appointed as an Adjunct Professor at both Monash University and Deakin University. He continues research in most areas of corrosion, mentors and co-supervises post graduate students, and gives regular lectures on aircraft corrosion control to undergraduate students.
In 2012 Bruce set up his corrosion consultancy company, B. Hinton Corrosion Control, and has continued to successfully work on projects in the offshore, agricultural industry and water treatment industries.
Bruce has been a member of the ACA since 1982. During the past 37 years, he has served on the Victorian Branch Committee, contributed to the organisation of several annual Conferences and was Conference Technical Chair in 2017. He has been Research Editor of “Corrosion and Materials” and Chair of the ACA Awards Committee. He is a Life member of the ACA, a P F Thompson Lecturer and ACA Corrosion Medallist.
Greg Moore
Applied science, water and wastewater, desalination, metallic and non-metallic materials.
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Greg Moore
Greg holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Secondary Metallurgy from the University of South Australia. He is a Durability and Corrosion Specialist and has worked in the water industry for the South Australian Water Corporation and for a number of consulting engineers including Jacobs, Aecom, Inside Infrastructure (A Ricardo Company) and Vinsi Partners During this time he has provided specialist materials, durability and corrosion advice for projects in the water, wastewater and related industries including but not limited to, desalination and high salinity environments, roads and bridges, metallic and non-metallic materials. He is a recipient of the Australasian Corrosion Association (ACA) Medal for outstanding scientific or technological work in the field of corrosion in Australasia, and is an ACA Life Member.
Rob Francis
Corrosion science, metallurgy, atmospheric corrosivity.
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Rob Francis
Dr Rob Francis obtained a B.Sc. in metallurgy from the University of Melbourne and has a Ph.D. in corrosion science from the Corrosion and Protection Centre at the University of Manchester, UK. He has over 45 years’ experience in metals, materials and corrosion, especially regarding protective coatings. He is an Australasian Corrosion Association Corrosion Technologist and Coating Inspector and is Chairman of Standards Australia committee MT14/2, which has developed AS/NZS 2312 on the selection and application of protective coatings. Rob won the ACA’s Best Review paper in 2009 for a paper comparing the content of AS/NZS 2312 to that of its international equivalent, ISO 12944. He is also Chairman of Committee MT 14/5 which produced AS 4312 on atmospheric corrosivity zones in Australia. He is on a number of other corrosion-related standards committees.
Dr Francis edited the ACA publication “Inorganic Zinc Coatings – History, Chemistry, Properties, Applications and Alternatives." He has been awarded the Journal of protective Coatings and Linings editor’s award twice and was made a JPCL Top Thinker in 2012. He was awarded the ACA Victor Nightingall award in 2014 and ACA Life Membership in 2016.
Collaborators
Our national and international collaborators enrich the Centre, contributing world-class expertise in corrosion.
Maria Forsyth
Professor
Fellow Australian Academy of Sciences, Galileo Galilee, corrosion, electromaterials, batteries, polymer electrolytes, corrosion inhibitors.
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Maria Forsyth
Professor
Professor Maria Forsyth “FAA” (Fellow Australian Academy of Sciences), is the Director of ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centre in Energy Storage Technologies, StorEnergy, past ARC Laureate fellow and currently an Alfred Deakin Professorial Fellow at Deakin University and an Ikerbasque Visiting Professorial Fellow at University of the Basque Country. She is the Associate Director in the ARC Centre of Excellence in Electromaterials Science (ACES) and Deputy Director of the Institute for Frontier Materials (IFM) at Deakin University in Australia, where she leads the research effort in energy storage and corrosion science. Specifically, her work has focused on understanding the phenomenon of charge transport at metal/electrolyte interfaces and within novel electrolyte materials. Such materials have included a range of novel ionic liquids, polymer electrolytes and plastic crystals. This has provided a basis for understanding the behaviour of such materials, and thus moving towards overcoming the performance limitations, of applications ranging from novel fuel cell designs and battery storage to corrosion prevention technologies.
Professor Forsyth leads collaborative projects in lithium and sodium battery technologies funded through recent Australian Research Council grants and with various industries. She is a co-author of over 550 journal and conference publications attracted more than 20000 citations. She has delivered more than 25 invited and plenary talks in the past 5 years. She was one of the team that delivered the ACOLA report “The Role of Energy Storage in Australia’s Future Energy Supply Mix” to the Chief Scientist in 2017. Professor Forsyth has served on several editorial boards and is currently senior editor for Journal of Physical Chemistry letters. She is the recipient of the Galileo Galilee award for her contributions to the Polymer Electrolyte and energy storage field, has received the Australian Corrosion Association Corrosion Medal and was awarded to The Victorian Prize for Science and Innovation (VESKI) in 2017.
Srdjan Nesic
Russ Professor & Institute Director
Transport phenomena & electrochemistry, CO2 & H2S corrosion modeling, erosion, computational fluid dynamics and multiphase flow.
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Srdjan Nesic
Russ Professor & Institute Director
Srdjan Nesic, a Russ Professor, has also been the director of the Institute for Corrosion and Multiphase Flow Technology since 2002. Having taught courses related to thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and corrosion, he has also been a principal adviser for more than 50 masters and doctoral students.
Nesic’s research lies at the intersection of transport phenomena and electrochemistry, with applications in corrosion and erosion corrosion. Responsible for more than $30 million in external research funding, almost all from private industry, he is author of more than 10 articles in books including the best known corrosion handbooks such as Uhlig's Corrosion Handbook and Shriers's Corrosion, covering acid gas corrosion and erosion-corrosion, more than 100 peer-reviewed journal papers, 200 conference papers, and 50 scientific reports in the field of corrosion.
His publications have received over 5000 citations. Nesic, a NACE fellow, serves as associate editor of NACE’s CORROSION journal and Elsevier’s Corrosion Science Journal. He has received numerous awards and honours such as CORROSION journal’s best paper for 2010 and 2015, NACE’s H.H. Uhlig Award for 2007, and British Corrosion Journal’s Bengough award for 1998. His graduate students have won the A.B. Campbell award twice, in 2009 and 2015, for CORROSION journal’s most outstanding manuscript by young authors.
Dr Nesic also has extensively consulted on corrosion issues for the oil and gas industry, from design to operations to expert witness testimony including the Deepwater Horizon Spill in 2010.
Roy Johnsen
Professor
Cathodic protection, coatings, hydrogen, localized corrosion, corrosion-resistant alloys, tribology, and integrity management.
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Roy Johnsen
Professor
After receiving a Dr.ing. degree from NTH in 1984, I joined Statoil Research Centre in Trondheim in 1985 to work within their “Material Technology” group. During this period I was involved in several research projects, material selection activities for new fields and failure analysis for existing fields. I also worked as Department Manager for some years.
In 1991 I joined CorrOcean in a combined management/technical position to develop the company from a small national company to be a leading international company within “Corrosion monitoring and corrosion management”. During my 13 years with CorrOcean the company grew from 30 people to 350 people with activities in all the major oil regions in the world. I also got the opportunity to visit the most important regions with oil activities in the world including Asia, Australia, South America, North America and Europe working with the leading oil companies and supplier industry. During my years in CorrOcean the company was listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange.
After 20 years in the oil industry, I accepted an offer to be a Professor within “Corrosion and Surface Technology” at IPM in 2004. I still have good contact with the industry and use my contact and experience to develop my courses and to get interesting industrial related projects both for master students and for PhD candidates.
I am present manager for the Strategic Area Materials (Tematisk Satsingsområde Materialer) at NTNU.
Warren Green
Adjunct Professor
Education, concrete corrosion, cathodic protection, localized corrosion, corrosion engineering, marine, infrastructure, structures.
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Warren Green
Adjunct Professor
Warren Green is a Visiting Adjunct Associate Professor within the Curtin Corrosion Centre. He is also the lecturer of the Concrete Unit within the MSc in Corrosion Engineering and a co-supervisor of post-graduate research students. Warren contributes to various research projects within the Centre.
He is also is a Director and Principal Corrosion Engineer at Vinsi Partners, based in Sydney. He is a Fellow and Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng) with Engineers Australia. Warren has over 30 years of experience in corrosion engineering and materials technology covering marine, infrastructure, industrial, civil and building structures.
He is also an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Institute for Frontier Materials at Deakin University, an Industry Lead with the Australian Centre for Infrastructure Durability (ACID) and a Conjoint Fellow of the School of Engineering at the University of Newcastle.
Moreica Pabbruwe
Biomedical Engineer
Biomedical, biomaterials, corrosion, tissue responses, bioreactors, orthopaedics, animal studies, cell-based therapy, Perth Hospital.
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Moreica Pabbruwe
Biomedical Engineer
- Materials Science Engineer, Universidad Simon Bolivar, Caracas (Venezuela)
- PhD, University of New South Wales, Sydney (Australia)
Early in her career as a PhD student, Moreica had the opportunity to learn all basic skills necessary for a complete evaluation of tissue-biomaterials interactions: from cells in the lab (in vitro) to complex system, in animal studies. These early training allowed to work in the development of state of the art technologies including novel bioreactor system, new therapies for cartilage repair, innovative bone graft substitutes and biomaterials coatings.
After receiving her PhD in November 2002, Moreica worked as a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Bath (2003-2005) in bioreactor systems for tissue engineering of meniscus. Later on, she joined the University of Bristol as research associated (2005-2008) developing a new cell-based therapy for repair of meniscus, cartilage and bone called “cell bandage”.
Subsequently, she took a new path, still doing research but with a commercial focus, as a Biomedical Specialist for Worley Parsons (2007-2008), Medical Device Research (MDR) Australia & UK (2008-2012) on a part-time basis. She has the opportunity to collaborate on a range of projects: characterizing animal studies, developing novel bone graft substitutes, evaluating cytotoxicity testing of novel biomaterials, and failure analysis of orthopaedic implants: from engineering, clinical and biological perspective.
After moving back to Australia in 2011, she started another company (2012-2014), preparing applications and managing clinical studies for orthopaedics companies. Her current job is as a Biomedical Engineer (2013-Present), leading the Implant Retrieval program at Royal Perth Hospital, a state-wide service evaluating retrieved and new orthopaedic devices; using analytical techniques to understand the factors that affect the clinical performance of orthopaedic implants. The overarching goal of this work is to gain information that can be used in the development of better biomaterials, to create implants with improved properties.
Moreica has worked as a consultant in a range of technical areas, most notably in the biomedical field, liaising directly with orthopaedic surgeons and orthopaedic companies. She has gained extensive experience in the evaluation of the tissue response to wear debris in failed joint replacement components by examining numerous (+4000) explanted devices. This work has been performed as both an independent consultant to orthopaedic companies and a biomedical engineer at Royal Perth Hospital. She has developed relevant international collaborations with Universities and Hospitals including Sydney University, University of Bristol, UNSW, Curtin University and Southmead Hospital in Bristol (UK).
Most of the work she has performed in academia and companies has an interdisciplinary nature, working with clinicians, researchers and major orthopaedic companies with the aim to solve or understand highly relevant clinical problems. She also has the opportunity to supervise several undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Alan Kop
Biomedical Engineer
Biomedical, biomaterials, alloy manufacturing, mining, corrosion, tissue engineering, additive manufacturing, Royal Perth Hospital.
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Alan Kop
Biomedical Engineer
PhD, Swinburne University, Melbourne, Comaclo Research Centre, Melbourne
Alan has extensive experience in the application of materials in manufacturing, the mining industries and biological systems. As a materials engineer, researcher and consultant he has worked for companies including Comalco Aluminium, RioTinto, Transfield Engineering, Argyle Diamond Mines Pilbara Iron, BHP and Bristile Ltd. Currently, and for the last 19 years, Alan has worked as a Biomaterials Engineer at Royal Perth Hospital (Dept. of Medical Engineering and Physics). Alan is a Charted Professional Engineer (MIEAUST) with national engineering registration in the practice areas of Biomedical and Mechanical Engineering.
Alan currently works in the areas of tissue engineering, medical device retrieval analysis and custom implant technology. He was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2012 to travel overseas and study in the area of translational tissue engineering. His research focus lies in the application of materials for tissue engineered products, incorporating medical modelling, 3D printing and the application of stem cells to produce clinically relevant constructs for bony and soft tissue reconstruction. He is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Faculty of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences (University of Western Australia, UWA) with interests in Biomedical and Materials Engineering.
Afrooz Barnoush
Professor
Nano- & micro-scale characterization, hydrogen embrittlement, environmental fracture & fatigue, multiscale computational materials.
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Afrooz Barnoush
Professor
When asked to describe his research interests, Dr Barnoush writes, "Degradation of materials mechanical properties under the simultaneous effect of mechanical loading and environments like hydrogen embrittlement or stress corrosion cracking is a serious industrial problem which is responsible for large economic loss or even sometimes fatal accidents. The main challenge in gaining a better understanding of this phenomenon is its complex nature where microstructural and sub-microstructural evolution, chemical and electrochemical reactions, surface reactions, as well as dislocation dynamics interplaying together. Therefore, a Multiscale interdisciplinary approach is required to tackle this problem and this what I devoted myself to.”
He describes that "While research has a very substantial role in my life, I cannot possibly envision a rewarding career without teaching. As a teacher, my goal is to infect the students' curiosity and interest in the physics of materials and to inspire them to become future industry leaders and academics.
Mariano A Kappes
Adjunct Professor
Thiosulfate, environmental cracking, hydrogen embrittlement, radiation-induced cracking, localised corrosion, aluminium alloys, biking.
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Mariano A Kappes
Adjunct Professor
Mariano Kappes obtained his Bachelor's degree in Materials Science and Engineering at the Instituto Sabato in Argentina in 2006. He obtained his PhD in 2011 at the Ohio State University. His PhD thesis, supervised by Prof. Gerald Frankel, was focused on the simulation of sour environments with thiosulfate solutions, and its application to corrosion fatigue studies of carbon steels. He did a postdoc from 2012-2014 at The University of Akron, where, under Prof. Mariano Iannuzzi supervision, he worked on hydrogen embrittlement of magnesium alloys, sulfide stress cracking of low alloy steels with nickel additions and localised corrosion of aluminium alloys. Since 2014 he is a research scientist at the National Agency of Atomic Energy in Argentina, and he holds a position at the National Scientific and Technical Research Council as a scientist since 2015. Since 2014 he is an Adjunct Professor at the National University of General San Martin and at the Sabato Institute. He is the co-author of 17 peer-reviewed papers in the field of corrosion and materials science. He served as co-chair of the symposium “Environmentally assisted cracking of high strength alloys” in 2018 MSE congress in Darmstadt, Germany, and has participated as an author in +20 congress presentations. He serves as a consultant on corrosion problems of components for nuclear power plants and has authored 10 technical reports in this field.
Students
Meet the next generation of corrosion and materials experts and leaders.
Lina Silva Bedoya
PhD Student
Deep-water MIC of steel and the influence of CP on calcareous deposits and microbial growth.
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Lina Silva Bedoya
PhD Student
Giles Harrison
PhD Student
Cathodic protection applications in mining - preventing gold plating and other complications.
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Giles Harrison
PhD Student
Basit Raza
PhD Student
Corrosion inhibition mechanisms and synergistic effects in mitigating CO2 corrosion of carbon steel.
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Basit Raza
PhD Student
Ahmed Reyad
MPhil Student
Pushing the boundaries of Corrosion Resistant Alloys in Seawater Applications.
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Ahmed Reyad
MPhil Student
Mayra Gualteros Vanegas
PhD Student
Localised corrosion and stress corrosion cracking of duplex stainless steels (Shell Alliance).
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Mayra Gualteros Vanegas
PhD Student
Abraham Rojas
PhD Student
Bayesian networks to model the pit-to-crack transition in duplex stainless steels (Shell Alliance).
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Abraham Rojas
PhD Student
Janice Xin Yee
PhD Student
Coating degradation – QEERI-Curtin Alliance
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Janice Xin Yee
PhD Student
María Diaz-Mateus
PhD Student
Microbiologically influenced corrosion in oil and gas production (QEERI-Curtin).
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María Diaz-Mateus
PhD Student
Saleh Alsaleh
PhD Student
High-temperature behaviour of organic coatings on insulated steel surfaces. Corrosion under insulation.
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Saleh Alsaleh
PhD Student
Mohammed Bassil Albahri
PhD Student
Mechanisms of MIC in oil production facilities by thermophilic microorganisms.
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Mohammed Bassil Albahri
PhD Student
Antonina Puzyrova
PhD Student
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Antonina Puzyrova
PhD Student
Thesis title: Biofilm Inhibition to Control MIC in the Oil and Gas Industry
Ahmed Abdulmutaali
PhD Student
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Ahmed Abdulmutaali
PhD Student
Thesis title: Electrochemical Noise and Machine Learning Approach to Assess Corrosion at Welded Steels
Alex Kovacs
PhD Student
Hydrogen embrittlement behaviour of nickel-based alloys additively manufactured using powder based fusion methods.
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Alex Kovacs
PhD Student
Praveen Weerakkody
PhD Student
Thesis title: Understanding the Effect of Ni on the Surface Film Formation and Trench/Crack Morphologies of High Strength Low Alloy Steels
Supervisory committee: Katerina Lepkova; Ke Wang; Mariano Iannuzzi; Hanan Farhat
Praveen Weerakkody
PhD Student
Ahmed Elsayed Reyad Mohamed
PhD Student
Pushing the boundaries of corrosion resistant alloys in seawater applications.
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Ahmed Elsayed Reyad Mohamed
PhD Student
Shahid Mohamed Parapurath
Understanding the hydrogen embrittlement behaviour of welded high strength low alloy steels.
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Shahid Mohamed Parapurath
Understanding the hydrogen embrittlement behaviour of welded high strength low alloy steels.