US graduate to study carbon nanotubes at UOW

Jul 23, 2004

Carbon nanotubes may not be a term on everyone's lips, but for scientists there is an enormous interest in the potential for their mechanical and electronic properties.

One such scientist keen to explore their potential is Mr Rishi Gupta, a physics graduate student from the University of Texas at Dallas who was selected to participate in the first Australia Summer Institute as part of the United States National Science Foundation (NSF) funded program - East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes (EAPSI).

EAPSI provides US graduate students in science and engineering first-hand research experience in Australia, China, Japan, Korea or Taiwan.

Rishi chose Australia and will spend about eight weeks at the University of Wollongong, conducting a research project that will investigate the potential of carbon nanotubes to act as host material in inherently conducting polymer (ICP) containing nanomaterials.

Nanomaterials are materials on a minute scale which have the potential for far-reaching industrial, biomedical and electronic applications. Nanomaterials can be metals, ceramics or polymers (plastics). It is expected that chemical and physical insights of the interaction between carbon nanotubes and ICP could aid the development of applications for nanomaterials.

Rishi will be under the supervision of Director of Intelligent Polymer Research, Professor Gordon Wallace, and looks forward to learning more about Australian language, culture, collaboration and research policy. The project is intended as a stepping-stone to further collaborations between Professor Wallace and Dr Marc in het Panhuis (Rishi's supervisor), who spent six weeks at UOW in 2002 undertaking similar work.

For further information: contact Gordon Wallace - 4221 3127.

-RP