“What is it you actually do in the lab?” I get asked this question many times when giving talks to the public about what it is like to be a scientist working at the University of Wollongong. The simple answer is that I’m doing research to find novel ways to use plastics. But the most important part is what we do with our research once we draw our conclusions.
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There are many ways in which scientists do this, we publish articles in the scientific literature, but this is a face-less process without direct human contact.
I write up an article (usually 2000–5000 words) and submit it to a journal (via the internet). The article is then reviewed by two-four scientific experts and they give their thumbs up (or down) if the article is suitable to be published.
One of the more exciting ways of announcing your work is to present it a conference. This means you stand in front of an audience from anywhere between 20 and 500 scientific experts, and you present your work. I thrive on giving presentations, it is where you stand and deliver.
There is no hiding. It is just you, a microphone and a projector to show the most important aspects of work you have dedicated your life to. After the talk, the experts in the audience will ask you questions. Some questions are nice, but sometime there is a lot of passion in the question which can lead to heated debates.
It is what makes scientist tick.
Over the past year I have been busy with my three colleagues Tim Hanks (US), Bill Pennington (US) and Raz Jelinek (Israel) to organise part of a large conference in San Francisco in the US.
The conference name is the Materials Research Society Meeting and brings together more than 6000 scientists from all over the world.
This is a massive event for us; it’s our Big Day Out or Woodstock, if you want to use a music analogy.
University of Wollongong researchers from will be presenting their research on hydrogels - think shower gel - and electrically conducting plastics (think power leads).
How does this affect you?
Well, the University of Wollongong through its researchers at the Innovation Campus is developing new materials for medicine, which can help to address serious conditions such as spinal cord injuries.
Someone with such an injury has lost the ability to move part of their body (legs, arms) because there is no longer a direct connection between the brain and these body parts.
What is needed is new connection to fix the injured part of the spinal cord. This is where we believe that these new materials can help. This requires stable connections between electronics and living tissue. This is also usual for other application such as the implanted glucose sensor, stimulation of the heart, brain or other organs, bionic ear and potential future bionic eye.
We have put together an exciting program, bringing 14 eminent scientists from all over the world, including our own global superstar Professor Gordon Wallace. They will put their ideas out on where we are with these materials. And what is still to be done to realise their use in the world outside the laboratory.
When is it on? Next week. And I can’t wait for it to start.
Associate Professor Marc in het Panhuis, University of Wollongong School of Chemistry, Intelligent Polymer Research Institute, ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science and Australian Institute for Innovative Materials.
See the full story in today’s Illawarra Mercury.
