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I work on control systems and AI for renewable energy, with applications in solar farms, smart grids, and inverter-dominated power systems. My research combines theory, simulation, and field validation, with active collaborations across industry and translational research. I completed my PhD at the University of Melbourne in 2008, focusing on fault diagnosis in power systems, and have been engaged continuously in research and teaching since 2005. Following my PhD, I joined the Mechanical Engineering Department at The University of Melbourne as a research fellow to work on the control system design for a hydrogen fuelled internal combustion engine. I joined UQ in late 2011 and currently hold a Associate Professor role with responsibilities in teaching, research and service. My research spans solar farms, grid-connected inverters, distributed energy resources, and battery storage systems, combining theory, simulation, and real-world experimentation. I have led translational research efforts, most notably SolarisAI, a start-up commercialising solar farm monitoring and underperformance diagnosis.

Prospective PhD Students

I welcome motivated students interested in control systems, renewable energy, and AI-based optimisation. I am interested in projects with both theoretical and practical impact, including:

• Solar farm reliability enhancement and fault detection- AI-driven monitoring of utility-scale solar systems.

• Grid-connected inverter and battery control- advanced control strategies for stable integration of distributed energy resources.

• Demand-side management and smart grid optimisation- algorithms for efficient load and storage coordination.

• Digital twins and hybrid modelling- simulating and predicting energy system behaviour.

• End-of-life PV system management- sustainable logistics and circular economy strategies for solar panels.

Interested applicants with strong academic credentials and evidence of research experience are welcome to contact me directly via email with your CV, academic transcripts, and a short statement of research interest to me.

Vigya is a Principal Research Fellow at the Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining (CSRM), part of the Sustainable Minerals Institute at The University of Queensland, Australia

Vigya has degrees in engineering and social science, and she applies this interdisciplinary training to research complex social, institutional and economic aspects of the modern energy and mining sectors globally. Specifically, her interest is in understanding how the presence (or absence) of resources impacts development outcomes in host communities and regions. Her current research projects examine this complexity across the energy transition chain: from fossil fuel transition in coal-dependent regions to energy transition mineral mining and large-scale renewable energy production systems (including the role of Indigenous co-ownership).

Vigya also has a part-time appointment with the School of Chemical Engineering, where she coordinates a course on Humanitarian Engineering. She co-designed the course in 2020 and has been its primary instructor since. The course is offered to students from across UQ's Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology (EAIT).

She also advises several PhD students on energy transitions, just transitions, mine closure, and energy and development.

Vigya has an active service profile both within and outside UQ. She is the Deputy Chair of the EAIT Faculty Low and Negligible Risk (LNR) Ethics Committee. She serves on the Editorial Boards of Energy Research and Social Science and Sustainability Science. Since 2023, she has been a member of the UN Council of Engineers for the Energy Transition (CEET), established at COP27. CEET is an Independent Advisory Council to the UN Secretary-General, to contribute to their goal to build a coalition to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, and to support the United Nations to achieve global decarbonisation goals by mid-century.

Prior to joining CSRM, she was based at the Energy Poverty Research Group (EPRG), an interdisciplinary pan-UQ initiative established to support positive social, environmental and health outcomes vital for sustainable and productive livelihoods in energy-impoverished communities globally.

Nikita is a quantitative researcher with extensive experience working with large-scale surveys, longitudinal datasets, and administrative records. Her current research helps nonprofits understand their impact and informs their program design and practice to support disadvantaged people. Her work focuses on the integration of immigrants and refugees, volunteer turnover, disaster recovery, labour market inclusion, and wellbeing.

Dr Leah Sharman is an ARC DECRA Research Fellow in the School of Psychology. Her research interests are broadly in the fields of Social, Emotion, and Health Psychology with much of her research involving interdisciplinary collaborations across Law, Medicine, and Public Health. Dr Sharman's PhD was completed in 2019 with her thesis furthering understanding of our interpretations of crying and its functions. Dr Sharman's postdoctoral research is currently focused on understanding how victim-survivor experiences of loneliness are associated with health and social outcomes after escaping from intimate partner violence.

My research interests are in the field of Chemistry education, particularly how students learn in the chemistry laboratory.

I teach biological inorganic chemistry at a second and Masters level, as well as a broad range of topics in first year chemistry. I also teach the ethics of chemistry in second year.

Dr Lindsay Shaw joined the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation in 2019 and her research is focused on the application of emerging genetic and genomic technologies for horticultural crop improvement. Lindsay leads research programs in the Genetics for Next Generation Orchards Program and the National Tree Genomics Program collaborating with the Queensland Government and industry partners. Her research focuses on understanding the molecular regulation of flowering, fruit retention and canopy development in mango, avocado and macadamia.

Prior to joining QAAFI, Dr Shaw worked as a project scientist at the University of California Davis Department of Plant Sciences on understanding how genes in the photoperiod pathway interact to regulate flowering and spike development in temperate cereal crops.

Lindsay completed a Bachelor of Biotechnology with Honours and a Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Queensland before completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the John Innes Centre Crop Genetics Department in Norwich, UK, and an OCE Postdoctoral Fellowship at CSIRO, on understanding the regulation of floral and grain development in cereal crops.

Dr. Maram Shaweesh's is a qualitative researcher. Her interdisciplinary research spans several humanities and spatial disciplines, including architecture, housing adequacy, migration, multiculturalism, everyday encounters in the Australian suburb, urban design, and young people's experiences in urban spaces.

Maram has conducted various research projects focused on housing. For instance, she investigated everyday life in suburban housing as experienced by the Australian Lebanese community. This research utilised social qualitative research methods to explore the relationship between housing design and policy, and the social and cultural context in Australia, such as changing family ideals, household composition, children's wellbeing, parenting values, and social marginalisation. Additionally, Maram has experience working with remote Indigenous communities, having contributed to the "Gunana Futures" research project investigating housing adequacy in Mornington Island.

Maram was also involved in the team working on the Growing Up in Logan project as part of Growing Up in Cities. Collaborating with Logan City Council (CityStudio) and Beenleigh State High School, the project aims to understand adolescents' perceptions of urban space to better comprehend how local environments impact their everyday lives.

As part of her role at the UQ Institute for Social Science Research, Maram worked across several externally and internally funded projects, including Foundation Partner for a National Centre for Place-Based Collaboration (Nexus Centre for place-based collaboration); Targeted Review of Student Equity in Higher Education Programs and System Level Policy Levers; Social Isolation and Loneliness - Research, Analysis and Best Practice; SMBI Community Intiative - Learning by doing; Empowered Communities Partnership Lessons Learned Project; Place-based Approaches to Road Safety; and, Sharing with Friends (co-housing model for older women in Australia).

I am an Aboriginal woman from the Ngen'giwumirri language group (Daly River, Northern Territory), born in Brisbane and connected to Indigenous communities across South East Queensland. I currently hold the position of Associate Professor, Principal Research Fellow, and Deputy Head of School in the School of Education at The University of Queensland. My research program is nationally and internationally recognised, with a focus on Indigenous education, codesign in Indigenous education, Indigenous participation in STEM, youth studies, flexi schooling, and education policy. I lead an extensive externally funded research program, including Australian Research Council (ARC) grants and government tenders, and I actively contribute to policy development through advisory roles at both state and national levels. I am a Chief Investigator on the ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous Futures.

I am committed to advancing strengths-based approaches in Indigenous education. My scholarship includes over 100 publications, and I have co-edited two major texts in the field. The first, “Indigenous Education in Australia: Learning and Teaching for Deadly Futures” (Routledge, 2021), which received a national award at the Education Publishing Awards Australia. My most recent book, “Strengths-Based Approaches to Indigenous Education Research and Practice” (Routledge, 2025), co-edited with Professor Grace Sarra, further contributes to the growing body of work that centres Indigenous voices and leadership in education.

Throughout my career, I have received multiple awards in recognition of research excellence and leadership, including the UQ Foundation Research Excellence Award (2021), the UQ Award for Excellence in Graduate Research Leadership (2024), and the National ACEL Leadership Award (2020). As a qualified and experienced secondary teacher, I remain deeply committed to research translation and applied research that support advancing educational equity. I designed a specialised program aimed at growing the Indigenous Education research workforce, the SoE DEADLY Community, providing mentoring early career researchers and supervising Indigenous higher degree research students.

My work continues to be driven by a belief in the transformative power of education and the importance of Indigenous-led research and practice, underpinned by Indigenous-informed evidence, and a commitment to bridging research, policy and practice.

Dr. Shaygan is a soil scientist who works on multidisciplinary projects. She obtained both her BSc and MSc degrees in Agronomy from the University of Tehran, followed by a Master of Environmental Management from the University of Queensland. Dr. Shaygan completed her PhD in Soil Science at the University of Queensland. Prior to joining SMI in 2017, she worked with the NSW Department of Primary Industries.

Dr. Shaygan's research focuses on the rehabilitation of degraded landscapes and mine sites, mine cover design, quantification and modelling of water flow, solute and nutrient transport in porous media, soil erosion, characterization of soil hydrological and mechanical properties, and soil salinity management. In addition, she investigates the integration of biofuel crops into mine closure strategies, with a particular focus on the use of Pongamia trees for land rehabilitation, carbon sequestration, and biofuel production.

Her research interests include but are not limited to: (i) salinity management, (ii) land rehabilitation, (iii) water flow and solute/nutrient transport in porous media, (iv) erosion processes, (v) Pongamia tree growth and responses to different environmental conditions, and (vi) soil hydrological modelling.

Since joining SMI, Dr. Shaygan has secured over $3.8 million in grant funding, including more than $1 million as Lead Chief Investigator (Lead CI). Her research projects have been supported by the mining industry (e.g., Stanmore Resources and Anglo American), the Queensland Government, and the Australian Coal Association Research Program (ACARP).

Shekar is a Senior Intensive Care Specialist and the Director of Research in the Adult Intensive Care Service at the Prince Charles Hospital. He holds academic appointments as a Professor at the University of Queensland, Adjunct Professor at Queensland University of Technology and Associate Professor at Bond University, Gold Coast. Shekar is the recipient of the Metro North Hospital and Health Service Clinician Research Fellowship and the Queeensland Health Research Fellowship. Shekar specialises in the design and conduct of both pre-clinical and clinical studies. His ongoing research programs, “The NO Tube Project” and “ The Budget ICU Project”, bring together clinicians, multidisciplinary allied health professionals, engineers, scientists, health economists, industry and policy experts to minimise the burden of invasive mechanical ventilation in intensive care units and to improve access to intensive care services around the world. His current body of research includes the pathophysiology of cardiorespiratory failure, sepsis and extracorporeal life support (ECLS). Shekar has significant experience in conducting mechanistic research in large animal models of lung injury, mechanical ventilation, sepsis and ECLS. His pioneering work in drug pharmacokinetics in adult patients on ECLS was recognised globally. He is the chief investigator of an ongoing international multi-centre clinical study that aims to develop drug dosing guidelines for ECLS patients. Shekar has secured over $20 million in grant funding, published over 300 peer-reviewed articles, 60 conference abstracts, 14 book chapters and has delivered over 100 national and international lectures. He regularly reviews articles for leading journals and competitive grant applications. He is routinely involved with bedside teaching and simulation exercises, as well as supervision of RHD students. Shekar has collaborated extensively both nationally and internationally. He is a member of the Scientific Committee of the International ECMO Network. He is the global research lead for Extracorporeal Life Support Organisation (ELSO) Education Taskforce and is a member of the Asia-Pacific ELSO Steering and Education Committee. He is also the Chair of the global ELSO COVID-19 working group. Shekar contributes to the Australia and New Zealand Intensive Care Society COVID-19 Guideline Committee and is the Co-Chair of the National COVID-19 Clinical Evidence Taskforce Hospital and Acute Care Panel. He has significant experience with Clinical Information Systems (CIS) and is the Chair of the CIS Special User Group in Queensland.

Dr Shekari completed her PhD with Queensland University of Technology in 2016, and her postdoctoral fellowship with Alertness CRC at Monash University and Austin Health in January 2019. Shamsi is currently a Research Fellow with the Institute for Social Science Research (ISSR) at UQ. Her research interests are key socio-psychological issues such as drowsy / fatigued driving and risky driving behaviours. Shamsi is one of the investigators of the NHMRC project “Reducing crash risk for young drivers: A randomized control trial to improve sleep”.

Dr Sherlock is an anaesthetist and hyperbaric physician with an interst in research and the application of Hyperbaric Oxygen treatment in sudden sensorineural hearing loss.

Brad Sherman is a UQ Laureate Fellow at The University of Queensland. Professor Sherman's previous academic positions include posts at Griffith University, the London School of Economics, and the University of Cambridge. His research focuses on the intersection of intellectual property and science and technology studies, as well as the impact of intellectual property on food and agriculture. He is currently working on the role intellectual property played in the formation of the Californian citrus industry in the early twentieth century.

Dr Chase Sherwell is a Research Fellow at the UQ Learning Lab and the Principal Research Technician for the Compassionate Mind Research Group in the School of Psychology. His research combines neuroscientific, psychological, and educational perspectives to provide tools for enacting learning, well-being, and behavioural change in real-world contexts. With a focus on application, Dr Sherwell’s work aims to identify metrics of internal psychological mechanisms that can be easily interpreted and integrated by professionals and end-users to facilitate skill development and mental health in everyday life.

With a background in cognitive neuroscience, psychology, and education research, Dr Sherwell leads projects that aim to explain learning, development, and mental health across disciplinary lines: from the level of neural networks through to everyday experience. Integrating multi-modal techniques including digital interaction, biometrics, and neurophysiology, Dr Sherwell develops tools, user experiences, and analytics that provide actionable metrics and insights for professionals and researchers.

Dr Sherwell is a Research Fellow in the UQ Learning Lab: a team of multi-disciplinary researchers, educators, and industry partners who collaborate to transform learning, teaching, and training in diverse school and post-school environments through the science of learning. In this role, Dr Sherwell lends his expertise in cognitive neuroscience and psychology to develop projects aimed at understanding and measuring the barriers, facilitators, and mechanisms of self-regulation in professional contexts. He leads projects designing digital tools providing educators with real-time feedback on learner states and skill development integrating smartphone apps and biometrics from wearable devices.

Dr Sherwell is also the Principal Research Technician for the Compassionate Mind Research Group – the leading research hub for Compassion Science in Australia, based at the UQ School of Psychology. In this role, he oversees research design and development across projects investigating the mechanisms of prosocial behaviour in everyday life, barriers to clinical interventions, and the efficacy of online interventions for mental health.