Abstract
This general presentation will discuss the process of establishing new UQ sustainable futures building – the proposed home of the chemical engineering school at UQ from 2020. It will discuss integration of building design, fundraising, university processes and academic/student/industry engagement. Consistently focusing on the building as a resource for learning and research that integrates modern learning methods, state of the art research labs and appropriate school and risk management processes, will also be highlighted. An informal lecture style with Q&A will be used.
Bio
Peter Halley is the current Head of School and a Professor in Chemical Engineering at the University of Queensland, an Adjunct Group Leader in the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN), and a chief investigator in both the Centre for High Performance Polymers (CHPP) and Advanced Materials Processing and Manufacturing (AMPAM) centre.
Peter works at the translational research interface between universities and industry. Specifically his research involves rheology, processing and product design of bio-based materials, polymers and nanocomposite materials. He has worked in industry (SRI international, Sola Optical, Moldflow), has worked in three cooperative research centres (CRCs), has acquired and managed continuous government and industry research projects since 1994, was heavily involved in the spinoff of Plantic Technologies from the CRC food packaging in 2002 (and ongoing research support with them until 2016), and was involved in the research that led to the TenasiTech (TPU nanocomposite) spinoff from UQ in 2007. Peter has led translational research projects in biopolymers and biofluid platforms for agrifood, biomedical and high-value manufacturing sectors which has produced careers, papers, patents, licences and new industrial know-how.
Peter is a fellow of the institute of chemical engineers (IChemE) and a fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI). Peter is on the editorial board of the Plastics, Rubbers and Composites, Starch, the Journal of Renewable Materials and Green Polymers. He is on the boards of the UQ Dow Centre, the RTA Centre, and the HBIS Sustainable Steel Innovation Centre. He won IChemE Shedden Uhde Award and Prize for excellence in Chemical Engineering (2004), the CRC Sugar innovation award (2008), the CRCPolymers Chairman’s award for research and commercialisation (2011), and has received the CRC Association Technology Transfer Award, twice, in 2002 and 2015.