Affiliate of Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Green Electrochemical Transformati
ARC COE for Green Electrochemical Transformation of Carbon Dioxide
Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology
Professor
School of Chemical Engineering
Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology
Availability:
Available for supervision
Biography:
John Zhu is currently a Professor in the School of Chemical Engineering, UQ. He is also the inaugural Director of Carbon Energy Research Centre. He received his PhD in Chemical Engineering, UQ in 2002, then worked as a lecturer in Curtin University of Technology from 2002 to 2004. He moved back to UQ at the end of 2004 and has been working in the same school until present. He is the recipient of a number of awards and fellowships, including RK Murphy Medal 2013, Freehills Award IChemE 2011, runner up of Innovator of the Year Award International IChemE 2011, the University of Queensland Foundation Research Excellence Award 2007, an ARC Future Fellowship from 2013 to 2016, an ARC Queen Elizabeth II Fellowship from 2008 to 2012, an ARC Postdoctoral Fellowship from 2003 – 2005. In May 2012, John Zhu’s long term collaborative research with Eden Energy was recognised by Thomson Reuters Innovation Award for Innovative Collaboration between the University of Queensland and Eden Energy.
Research:
John Zhu’s research interests and expertise exist in advanced catalysis, gas adsorption and separation, direct carbon fuel cells and solid oxide fuel cells with strong application focus on clean energy and environment. His current projects include research into scale up of direct carbon fuel cells, next generation solid oxide fuel cells, hierarchically-structured bulk materials for gas storage and catalytic reaction, carbon nanotubes/MOFs composite membranes, carbon nanotube reinforced polymer composites for automotive applications, advanced plasma-assisted catalytic processes for clean energy production and air pollution control.
Teaching and Learning:
John has taught several engineering courses including Research Methods (CHEE7200), Heat and mass transfer (CHEE3002), and Engineering investigation and analysis (CHEE3010). He is currently lecturing a third year course, Reaction Engineering (CHEE3005).
Projects:
1. Transport Processes in Flexible Porous Materials for Gas Separation and Storage, ARC DP
2. Prototype test of Direct Carbon Fuel Cells, QLD Research Partnership Program
Dr Zyta Ziora received PhD (Wroclaw University of Science & Technology, Poland) in chemistry and has wide range of experience in development of antimalarial therapeutics (the University of Montpellier, France), antibacterial agents, enzyme inhibitors and drug candidates against Alzheimer disease (Kyoto Pharmaceutical University, Japan). Her research time is currently dedicated mainly to projects devoted to the modification of existing antibiotics, and complexing them with additional antimicrobial agents, like metal ions, to produce more potent alternatives and by this to overcome the drug resistance of superbugs. She is also working on alternative to antibiotics nature-derived compounds with antimicrobial and anticancer potency, such poliphenolic derivatives to control tyrosinase function.
