Chemical and biomolecular engineering internships

Supervisor: Dr Fengwang Li

Eligibility: Chemical Engineering Discipline

Project Description:

This project will investigate the techno-economic feasibility of an innovative approach to carbon capture and utilization: offshore electrochemical CO₂ capture from seawater and its subsequent conversion to liquid methanol.  The student will conduct a comprehensive literature review of electrochemical carbon capture technologies, methanol synthesis pathways, and offshore engineering considerations. 

The project will involve developing a conceptual process design, performing preliminary mass and energy balances, and undertaking capital and operating cost estimations.  Through techno-economic analysis, the intern will evaluate the economic viability of this integrated offshore system, identifying key cost drivers and potential for optimisation. 

Expected outcomes include a detailed technical report and presentation summarising the findings, contributing to a deeper understanding of sustainable chemical engineering and carbon management strategies. This project is ideal for students with a background in chemical engineering or related disciplines seeking hands-on experience in process design and techno-economic assessment.

Requirement to be on campus: Yes *dependent on government’s health advice.

Supervisor: Dr. Fengwang Li

Eligibility: Chemistry, chemical engineering, or materials science & engineering background.

Project Description:

Hydrogenation is one of the most fundamental chemical processes in a variety of industries. Traditionally, hydrogenation has been conducted at high temperatures and pressures, requiring a great deal of energy and fossil fuels. Electrochemical hydrogenation proceeds under mild conditions but suffers from limited solvent selection, product separation and competing H₂ evolution reactions.

This project will exploit an electrochemical palladium membrane reactor (ePMR) as an alternative to hydrogenation. ePMR takes advantage of both thermocatalytic and electrocatalytic methods to overcome problems such as low Faradic efficiency (FE) and limitation of solvent, enabling hydrogenation of important chemical at room temperature and pressure.

Requirement to be on campus: Yes *dependent on government’s health advice.

Supervisor: Dr. Gobinath Rajarathnam

Eligibility:

• Highly motivated and self-driven learner.
• Enrolled in an Engineering, Computer Science, or Data Science program.
• Basic understanding of AI and machine learning concepts (preferred).
• Demonstrated strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Familiarity with CHNG2806 content (preferred but not required).
• In the event more than 1 student is selected, there is option to similarly train AI Study Bots for another 2nd-year course (CHNG2803 Heat and Mass Transfer).

Project Description:

This project aims to enhance student learning in CHNG2806 (Separation Processes) by training an AI-powered study agent using Cogniti. The AI assistant will support students by:

• Re-explaining core concepts in an interactive manner
• Assisting with quiz preparation
• Explaining answers to tutorials
• Offering personalized study guidance based on student progress

The selected intern will refine the existing AI model by curating and structuring relevant course materials, designing response models for key topics, and testing the bot’s accuracy and effectiveness. By the end of the project, the AI agent will be fine-tuned to assist students effectively in preparation for assessments. This internship offers hands-on experience in AI training, educational technology, and chemical engineering education.

Project Timeline (6 Weeks):

End-of-Program Output:

• A functional AI study agent for CHNG2806 integrated into Cogniti.
• A final report detailing AI improvements and training methodologies.
• A short presentation on the project at the internship’s closing event.

Requirement to be on campus: No.  Work can be conducted remotely, with optional on-campus testing sessions. We will be in constant contact in-person and/or via MS Teams, with expected 1-3 weekly meetings (tech industry stand-up style, rapid).

Supervisor: Dr Yuan Chen

Eligibility: Complete year 1 and 2 chemical engineering/chemistry courses

Project Description:

Sodium-ion batteries are a promising and sustainable alternative for energy storage, utilizing the earth’s abundant sodium resources. However, conventional graphite anodes used in lithium-ion batteries are not suitable for sodium-ion storage. Bismuth has emerged as a promising anode material due to its high theoretical capacity (385 mAh/g) and low sodiation/desodiation voltage. Despite these advantages, bismuth suffers from significant volume expansion—up to 300%—during its alloying reaction with sodium, leading to structural degradation and reduced battery performance.

This project aims to address this challenge through nano-engineering of bismuth/carbon composites. By integrating nanostructured bismuth into a carbon matrix, the structural stability and performance of bismuth-based anodes can be significantly improved. The student involved in this project will gain hands-on experience in synthesizing bismuth/carbon composite materials, assembling sodium-ion batteries, and evaluating their electrochemical performance.

Requirement to be on campus: Yes *dependent on government’s health advice.

Supervisors: Dr. Jacopo Giaretta, Dr. Syamak Farajikhah, Prof. Fariba Dehghani

Eligibility: Previous laboratory experience is advantageous

Project Description:

Levels of stress in plants are critical to understand the optimal conditions for their growth and to optimize agricultural outputs.

This project aims to develop a robust sensor to determine the level of stress in plants based on the quantity of hydrogen peroxide that they release upon mechanical damage to their leaves.

The candidate will join a highly active and supportive multidisciplinary team of entrepreneurs and experts in engineering, science and clinician working towards solving real-world issues.

We are seeking to hire highly motivated, creative, and passionate researchers with a background in materials engineering or chemistry ready to join our team to tackle the grand challenges for developing these diagnostic devices.  The candidate will acquire various skills in electrochemistry, engineering, additive manufacturing, and various analytical techniques. The candidate will develop hands-on experience with electrochemical measurements.

Requirement to be on campus: Yes *dependent on government’s health advice.

Supervisors: Dr. Jacopo Giaretta, Dr. Aeryne Lee, Dr. Sina Naficy

Eligibility: WAM>75 and Undergraduate candidates must have already completed at least 96 credit points towards their undergraduate degree at the time of application.

Project Description:

Current heart valve (HV) prosthetics are not monitored remotely after implantation. This causes discomfort and possibly pain in patients when the HV starts deteriorating and losing functionality before failing.

In this project, the intern will develop a smart polymeric HV replacement, which includes conductive patterns on the leaflets (the flaps that open and close to promote unidirectional flow) to monitor their movement. The location of these patterns will be based on fluid-dynamic simulations and the electrical variation will be used to determine the state of the valve.

The intern will join a passionate and multidisciplinary team in a project that bridges engineering and medical practices to create a novel real-world solution for HV disease patients.

The intern will gain invaluable experience and skills in advanced manufacturing (dip coating, 3D printing), sensors, mechanical characterisation, and using a pulse duplicator (a machine which emulates the function of the heart).

Requirement to be on campus: Yes *dependent on government’s health advice.

Supervisor: Dr Zengxia Pei

Eligibility: WAM>75 and Undergraduate candidates must have already completed at least 96 credit points towards their undergraduate degree at the time of application.

Project Description:

This project aims to develop efficient functional hydrogel electrolytes for Zn batteries, a promising and more sustainable contender to existing Li-ion batteries. Successful applicants of this program will have plenty of opportunities to be exposed to and master a broad spectrum of fundamental and technical knowledge in hydrogel electrolytes' synthesis, characterization, and their applications in energy storage. Successful outcomes of the program may lead to possible author contribution in high-quality publications.

Requirement to be on campus: Yes *dependent on government’s health advice.

Supervisors: Prof. Ali Abbas, Dr. Eric Sanjaya and Dr. Dominic Bui Viet

Eligibility:

• Understanding in chemical engineering reactor system
• Studying chemical, mechanical, or similar STEM field.
• Understanding in flowsheet simulation software (Matlab, Aspen, or Hysys)

Project Description:

Waste gasification is an advanced thermochemical process that converts waste materials into syngas—a mixture of hydrogen, carbon monoxide. This syngas has the potential to be upgraded into value-added products, such as biofuels, chemicals, and hydrogen. However, in many cases, syngas is simply burned for energy recovery due to challenges in process efficiency, impurity control, and economic feasibility.

This project aims to explore how gasification can be optimized to produce syngas from Australian waste, that meets the requirements for value-added applications. This project will use flowsheet simulation, which enables researchers to model and optimise operating conditions.

The intern role will be as follow:

• Review existing literature on waste gasification modelling techniques.
• Analyse different modelling approaches for syngas optimisation and value adding process
• Design and use a flowsheet simulation to identify optimal conditions for producing high-quality syngas.
• Assess the feasibility of value-added applications through technoeconomic analysis.

Requirement to be on campus: Yes *dependent on government’s health advice.

Supervisors: Prof. Ali Abbas, Dr. Eric Sanjaya and Dr. Dominic Bui Viet

Eligibility:

• Understanding in chemical engineering reactor system
• Studying chemical, mechanical, or biomedical engineering, or similar STEM field.
• Understanding in simulation software (e.g. Matlab or Python) is preferred.

Project Description:

Microplastic pollution is an escalating global concern, with increasing accumulation in water bodies, soils, and even the atmosphere. Addressing this issue requires innovative and multifaceted solutions, as a single technology is unlikely to achieve complete degradation effectively.

This project focuses on developing a kinetic model to assess the degradation of microplastics in a physical treatment reactor.

The study will integrate data from existing literature as well as experimental results generated in an adjacent Winter Research Internship project investigating microplastic breakdown in a continuous reactor.

Interns will contribute to:

• Analysing experimental and literature data to establish degradation kinetics.
• Developing and validating a kinetic model for microplastic degradation.
• Potentially optimising the validated model through simulation study
• Providing insights into the feasibility and scalability of for microplastic removal via physical treatment.

Requirement to be on campus: Yes *dependent on government’s health advice.

Supervisors: Prof. Ali Abbas, Dr. Eric Sanjaya and Dr. Dominic Bui Viet

Eligibility:

• Understanding in chemical engineering reactor system
• Studying chemical, mechanical, or biomedical engineering, or similar STEM field.

Project Description:

Microplastic pollution is an escalating global concern, with increasing accumulation in water bodies, soils, and even the atmosphere. Addressing this issue requires innovative and multifaceted solutions, as a single technology is unlikely to achieve complete degradation effectively.

This project focuses on optimising microplastic degradation using a continuous reactor, leveraging a combination of various physical treatment to enhance the breakdown of small micro plastic particles. Initial results have demonstrated promising potential, and this research will further refine and optimise process parameters to improve degradation efficiency.

Interns will contribute to:

• Experimenting with different conditions to accelerate microplastic breakdown.
• Evaluating degradation efficiency through analytical methods (e.g. FTIR and GCMS)
• Reviewing process scalability for practical applications.
• Generating data that will support a separate project, ensuring continuity and broader impact in microplastic treatment research.

Requirement to be on campus: Yes *dependent on government’s health advice.

Supervisors: Prof Ali Abbas, Dr Minh Tri Luu

Eligibility: Currently enrolled in Chemical Engineering.  Have some experiences in process modelling and optimisation.

Project Description:

This project aims to enhance the performance of thermal energy storage devices for sustainable building applications by optimising the structure of 3D-printed porous frameworks. Thermal batteries utilising phase change materials (PCMs) provide efficient energy storage but typically suffer from low thermal conductivity, limiting their practical utility.

By using computational tools, the student will explore the impact of geometry and material configuration in advanced porous designs on heat transfer performance. Specifically, the research will evaluate different configurations such as unit cell size, geometry type, and porosity to maximise heat exchange efficiency between the PCM and the fluid media.

Outcomes will include design principles for 3D-printed porous structures that significantly boost the efficiency of thermal energy storage, contributing to lower emissions and enhanced energy sustainability in buildings. The student will develop valuable skills in computational modelling, optimisation methods, and additive manufacturing principles.

Requirement to be on campus: No.

Supervisors: Dr David Wang, Mr Yi-Chen Lin

Eligibility: WAM>75 and Undergraduate candidates must have already completed at least 96 credit points towards their undergraduate degree at the time of application.

Project Description:

Carbon molecular sieve (CMS) membranes have demonstrated significant potential for the separation of various industrial light gases such as He, H2, Ar, and CO2. The specific pore size of CMS facilitates the efficient separation of gases via size exclusion mechanism, achieving high permeability and competitive selectivity. One of the decisive parameters to produce the CMS membrane is the carbonisation atmosphere, as it can affect the membrane pore size and the carbonaceous structure.

In this project, carbonisation atmosphere involving a range of inert gases will be explored to achieve the CMS membranes and to evaluate their gas-separation performance (permeability, ideal separation factor).

Requirement to be on campus: Yes *dependent on government’s health advice.

Supervisors: Dr. Sepehr Talebian, Assoc. Prof. Sina Naficy, Dr. Jacopo Giaretta

Eligibility: WAM>75 and Undergraduate candidates must have already completed at least 96 credit points towards their undergraduate degree at the time of application.

Project Description:

Decades of research has shown that blood clotting can be tracked down to protein adsorption on the surface of the implant (aka biofouling). As a result, surface coating of medical implants with antibiofouling polymeric coatings has emerged as a gold standard to combat device-initiated thrombosis.

Along these lines, hydrophilic polymeric coatings (such as polyethylene glycol [PEG]) were traditionally utilized to create a water-bound layer (hydration later) above the implants’ surface to repel the approaching proteins. In the past decade, superhydrophilic zwitterionic polymers transpired to provide enhanced protection against protein adsorption on medical devices, as compared with their hydrophilic counterparts.

In this project the successful applicant will work on novel zwitterionic polymers synthesized by our group, and evaluate the capability of these materials as coatings for polymeric substrates to provide enhanced surface wettability.  

Requirement to be on campus: Yes *dependent on government’s health advice.