Conference Chairs

Professor Nikki Stanford
University of South Australia
Nikki.Stanford@unisa.edu.au

Professor Stanford is the Dean of Programs for Engineering and Aviation. She is the Editor-in-Chief of the peer reviewed journal called Alloys, and is the Vice President of Materials Australia. She is the lead academic for the Microscopy Australia activities at UniSA, and was the Chair of the Education committee for Microscopy Australia for three years. During this time she led the redevelopment of the world’s best online microscopy training website, MyScope, which receives tens of thousands of unique users each year.

Before moving across to UniSA STEM, Prof Stanford was a Research Leader in Uni SA’s Future Industries Institute where she worked on industry-sponsored projects such as pipeline integrity, coatings and 3D printing. Her niche in the materials research field has been to bridge the gap between engineering and science by applying a broad range of advanced characterisation techniques to “real world” problems such as fatigue, light-weighting and casting. Before joining UniSA, Prof Stanford held research positions with Imperial College London, the University of Manchester, University of Wollongong, Deakin University and Monash. Her seminal work on magnesium texture and ductility has received an International award.

Associate Professor Pramod Koshy
UNSW Sydney
Koshy@unsw.edu.au

Associate Professor Pramod Koshy has a primary research foci on the development of advanced materials for environmental and biomedical applications and in the development of novel refractories for ferrous and non-ferrous metals industries, mineral processing, and the transformation of ceramic and polymeric waste materials for economical and industrially-viable high-performance applications. This makes him unique in possessing the capabilities to work on any type of material, particularly for industrial applications, through a systematic understanding of the their behaviour on a structural and functional level. 

He has co-authored >130 publications and has two international patents of the concept of completely percolated single-crystal mullite microstructures with unique high-temperature capabilities. His teaching capabilities are well documented as being the only staff in the School to win the Australian Citation award, the Faculty of Science Teaching Excellence award and the Vice Chancellor's Excellence Teaching Awards.