Bio-inspired approaches to interfacial chemical engineering

 

Professor Anton P.J. Middelberg

 

Faculty of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences

The University of Adelaide, Australia

 

The University of Adelaide is one of only four Universities in Australia formed before the nation. It has a rich history of excellence which includes educating global changemakers such as Nobel Laureates Howard Florey, Robin Warren and Lawrence Bragg.

 

The Engineering Faculty comprises seven Schools that offer bachelor and advanced degrees, and which conduct research across multiple fields at the highest levels internationally.

 

In this seminar I will first give a brief overview of our institution with a focus on the Faculty of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences, which I am honoured to lead.

 

I will then speak to my own research, which is focused on bio-inspired nanostructures that have unique properties, for example the ability to be switched between metastable states. I will outline our research into the design, use and application of peptide and protein systems that are active at fluid-fluid interfaces. Through bio-inspired molecular design and coupled with chemical process engineering, we are able see new approaches to global challenges that range from control of termites to auto-immunogenic treatment of cancer.

 

Biography

 

Professor Anton Middelberg FIEAust, FTSE

 

Professor Anton Middelberg is the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences at The University of Adelaide. Prior to this he was Pro Vice Chancellor (Research and International) and Acting Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research) at The University of Queensland.

Professor Middelberg is an internationally-recognised research and thought leader in chemical and biomolecular engineering. His research is fundamental but directed toward significant problems including in the health and advanced manufacturing sectors.

 

Professor Middelberg’s focus on research and its translation is clear from his earliest academic days. He earned his Bachelor of Engineering with First Class Honours and medals for Chemical Engineering and Engineering in 1989 from the University of Adelaide, conducting an honours project with a University spin-out company (Bresatec). On graduation, after working for Bresatec, he joined the University as a Lecturer and, in collaboration with A/Prof Brian O’Neill and the CRC for Tissue Growth and Repair, established the first health-focused research group within Engineering at Adelaide. After a period as a Fulbright Fellow at UC Berkeley, he joined the University of Cambridge and taught as a tenured academic and Fellow of Selwyn College. He was also appointed as a Fellow of the Cambridge-MIT Institute, focused on research and its commercialisation. In 2003 he returned to Australia as an ARC Federation Fellow and then as the Queensland Premier’s Fellow. During these Fellowships he researched, patented and ultimately licensed new technologies in the vaccine and bio-nanotechnology sectors.

 

The impact of Professor Middelberg’s research has been recognised by Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and through award of the Brodie and Shedden-Uhde Medals of IEAust. In 2006, he won the TechConnect Prize in Boston for new technology having the highest potential, in the category of Physical Sciences, for market impact.

Professor Middelberg is the author of more than 200 peer-reviewed journal articles, including a number of ISI highly cited papers. He is currently Editor-in-Chief of the international journal Chemical Engineering Science, an Associate Editor of Vaccine, and is on the advisory board of a number of journals.