UQ researchers awarded Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellowships

Eleven researchers from The University of Queensland (UQ) have been awarded more than $3.1 million through the 2022 Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellowships.

The funding will enable UQ researchers to collaborate with industry partners on original research to deliver tangible benefits across industries and the workforce.

The fellowships will support a diverse range of UQ-industry projects, from the development of a non-invasive early skin-cancer detection device to revolutionary technology that captures greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from power plants.

The fellowships are part of the Advance Queensland – Innovation for a Future Economy 2022-2032 Roadmap, with 18 researchers acknowledged in the latest round.

Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellowship recipients:

• Dr Mobashwer Alam – partnering with Horticulture Innovation Australia, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Diversity Arrays Technology, Rural Funds Management, Alloway Macadamia, FNC Plantations, and Australian Macadamia Society Limited to develop integrated technologies for rapid domestication of macadamia plants.
• Dr Yahia Ali – partnering with Bradken Resources to develop sustainable sugarcane and mining industries.
• Dr Gloria Milena Monsalve Bravo – partnering with Zeotech Limited to develop an alternative approach to recover GHGs using tailor-made nanocomposite membranes.
• Dr Ping Chen – partnering with QHeart Medical to develop medical balloon performance enhancement.  
• Dr Denys Villa Gozem – partnering with Rio Tinto and ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology to develop critical metals recovery from mine waste. 
• Dr Sundar Kalaipandian – partnering with Kokoniu Group and Australian Genome Research Facility Limited to develop cloning technology to advance the Australian dates industry.
• Dr Veronica Martinez Salazar – partnering with Patheon Biologics to design cell factories for difficult to express proteins.  
• Dr Syed Naqvi – partnering with Logan Skin Clinic to produce a non-invasive, electromagnetic device to better detect and treat early-stage skin cancer.
• Dr Md Masud Rana – partnering with Elemental Laboratories to develop cost-effective iron-flow-battery for next-generation large-scale energy storage applications.
• Dr Jiayong Tang – partnering with Pure Battery Technologies to develop critical minerals for high-energy-density and low-cost lithium-ion batteries.
• Dr Min Zheng – partnering with Queensland Urban Utilities and Tradeco to develop resilient and sustainable supply chain of water treatment chemicals. 

The Advance Queensland program is focused on establishing and strengthening meaningful collaboration between researchers and industry, cementing Queensland as a world-leader in research and innovation.

For more information about the Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellowships, click here.

Media: UQ Communications, communications@uq.edu.au, +61 (0)429 056 139.