What do you cover as an engineer?

I am a chemical engineer who specialises in materials for cleaner processes. Most of my research is related to sustainability and clean technologies, especially the development of a class of materials (porous materials) that can be applied in energy conversion, storage and gas separations. Materials are critical for developments in some technologies that can make a real difference in society, and I am working on materials that can be used in areas such as hydrogen storage, batteries and fuel cells. I am also quite interested in materials for efficient separations, as industrial separations still account for about 15 per cent of the world’s primary energy demand.

How are you making a difference to the world through your work?

In addition to my teaching, which I hope is preparing students to one day contribute to solving problems and create a cleaner, fairer and more sustainable world, I hope my research contributes to solving some of society’s big challenges. 

In my view, the big challenges of the 21st century are related to meeting an increased demand for energy, water, food and commodities such as medicines and hygiene products, among others. This increased demand needs to be met while minimising the impact of human activities on the environment and on resources.

These are extraordinary challenges and I hope I can contribute with my work to the global research effort that addresses these. This can be through the development of new materials that can store more hydrogen and decarbonise the transport sector, or through the synthesis of new materials that can bring about more efficient separations, therefore minimising cost and energy use.

What do you enjoy about being an engineer?

There are many aspects of being an engineer that I greatly enjoy. One of the main things I enjoy about being an engineer is the ability to bring together knowledge in sciences and technology to solve practical problems. I think we have come a long way in the last century in improving global quality of life, but there are still many problems to address in our society.

Many of these problems are technical, and I think engineers will be critical in solving these. Two excellent and related examples of these challenges are the environmental impacts of human activity and anthropogenic climate change. It brings me great excitement to hopefully be able to make even the tiniest contribution to the development of cleaner and sustainable technologies that can tackle these problems.