Research in engineering and technology spans many areas at CDU, including our Energy and Resources Institute and the North Australian Centre for Oil and Gas.
Our research extends to application and network security, the internet of things, mechatronics, and biomechanical applications. And our work as a member of the Advanced Manufacturing Alliance defines us as a pioneer and world leader in the revolutionary field of high-speed 3D metal printing.
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Professor Bogdan Dlugogorski
Professor Dlugogorski and his research group are developing new technologies that are safe to people and the environment. He invites research applications especially in areas of
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Recycling of waste plastics
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Formulating PFAS-free firefighting foams
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Mitigating NOx emissions from mining
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Refining lithium ores to lithium chemicals
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Mitigating trace pollutants in thermal processes
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Developing novel fire-suppression agents
Professor Dlugogorski is in the top 2% world’s scientists in Energy and Chemical Engineering (Stanford University World’s Top Scientists study) and has supervised or co-supervised to completion around 50 doctorate candidates.

Associate Professor Erwin Chan
Associate Professor Chan leads research in fibre-optics and photonics at Charles Darwin University.
Opportunity for research projects in:
- photonic signal processing
- lightwave synthesisers
- optically-controlled phased arrays
- photonic downconverters
- optical fibre transmission and interference mitigation filters
- photonics-based arbitrary waveform generators
- fibre optic sensors for structural monitoring, chemical and biological applications, and the oil and gas industry.

Professor Mamoun Alazab
Professor Mamoun Alazab is a full Professor at the Faculty of Science and Technology, and the Inaugural Director of the NT Academic Centre for Cyber Security and Innovation (ACCI) at Charles Darwin University, Australia.
Opportunity for research projects in:
- Malware Authorship Attribution
- Explaining AI for Malware Detection
- Generating Adversarial Malware
- Access Control and their applications in CPS, ITS, IoT, cloud computing, and Big Data
- Cyber Physical Systems and IoT
- Cyber Criminology
- Privacy-preserving
- Machine and Deep Learning applications for cyber security.
- Digital Forensics
- Organisational Security and cyber risk management

Dr Stefanija Klaric
Dr Klaric leads research in mechanical engineering, manufacturing, welding and heat treatment.
Opportunity for research projects in:
- production technologies
- exploring the influence of production parameters on part properties (additive manufacturing processes, arc and sold state welding processes, and heat treatment)
- analysing metal materials.

Dr Sami Azam
Dr Sami Azam's research aims to improve the understanding of the connection between the ears and brain, to assist with the detection of hearing disorders caused by a common ear infection found in children the world over.

Dr Bharanidharan Shanmugam
Dr Bharanidharan Shanmugam is a Lecturer in Information Technology at the Faculty of Science and Technology at CDU.
Research interests (in practice based) :
- Information, Application and Network Security
- Internet of Things – threats and applications
- application of machine learning approaches in broader cyber-security areas.

Dr Ali Rajabipour
Dr Rajabipour’s research is generally focused on the long-term behaviour of structural elements.
Research interest:
- service life of pipelines.

Dr Jim Lee
Dr Jim Lee's research has largely focused on wearable technology development, not only in sporting applications but also for workplace and rehabilitation environments.
He also has close to 50 journal and conference publications under his belt, mainly in the areas of swimming, gait, and inertial sensor development.

Dr Sina Vafi
Wireless transmission system is a well-known technology in modern telecommunications. In recent years, this technology has been specifically developed to support different types of high-speed wideband services such as internet, video and multimedia.

Dr Vinuthaa Murthy
Dr Vinuthaa Murthy is a Senior lecturer in Chemistry at the Faculty of Science and Technology.
Research interests:
- Nano-systems, conjugated with native plant extracts with biomedical applications
- Nano-systems for waste water treatment
- Characterization of material using molecular dynamics and quantum chemistry in combination with analytical chemistry

Professor Friso De Boer
Professor Friso De Boer's main research interest is the detection of abnormalities in biosignals.
Read more about HDR project opportunities with Professor Friso de Boer

Dr Jamal El-Den
Dr Jamal El-Den is a Senior Lecturer in Information Systems (IS) at the Faculty of Science and Technology at CDU. Dr Jamal is available to supervise HDR students who are interested in Social Media and business improvement, Knowledge Management, Well-being and organizational productivity, Supply Chain and Knowledge Management, and Knowledge Transfer and knowledge capture

Dr Cat Kutay
Dr Cat Kutay runs research projects in web and mobile applications for sharing knowledge using First People’s methods. She uses Augmented and Virtual Reality in her projects to bring knowledge into a learning environment
She is a software developer and researches methods to improve teaching for our students online. This includes interactive sites for knowledge collaboration and language learning.

Dr Naveen Kumar Elumalai
Dr Naveen Elumalai leads an interdisciplinary research program to develop innovative nanostructured materials and devices for applications in advanced photovoltaics, electro-mechanical sensors, flexible electronics (wearable tech), and self-cleaning coatings.
Research interests:
- Energy materials
- Electrospinning Nanostructures
- Green Hydrogen
- Air Stable Batteries and PEC cells
- Organic Solar Cells and Perovskite Solar Cells
- Photocatalytic self-cleaning coatings
- Advanced Manufacturing (3D Printing and Cold Spray)
- Advanced Electrochemical Characterization
Dr Naveen is also featured in the top 2% world’s scientists list published by Stanford University in 2022 for his impactful research in the areas of Applied Physics and Energy.

Emeritus Professor Jai Singh AM
Jai Singh AM is the Emeritus Professor of Physics at the Charles Darwin University (CDU), Darwin, Australia and Fellow of the Australian Institute of Physics.
Opportunity for Research Projects In:
- Condensed matter theory
- Excitonic processes in condensed matter, including nano and amorphous structures\
- Design of organic solar cells and organic light emitting diodes
- Design of inorganic scintillators for nuclear medical imaging

Dr Anne Ng
Dr.Ng have been a principal supervisor for 6 PhD and 1 Master by Research students to successfully completion within 4 years. She has good experience in working with students with multi-cultural background and leading them to success.
Dr Ng is available to supervise PhD and Master’s by Research in the following areas
- Using Green, Blue and Grey infrastructures to mitigate urban heat island
- Improving human thermal comfort in humantarian housing
- Water Resources modelling

Dr Milad Bazli
Dr. Milad Bazli is a lecturer in the Faculty of Science and Technology. He also holds and Honorary Fellow position at The School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering of The University of Queensland.
His current research focuses on short-term and long-term structural performance of advanced and environmentally friendly materials, such as Fibre- Reinforced Polymers and Seawater Sea sand Concrete.

Associate Prof Niusha Shafi Abady
A/ Prof Niusha Shafiabady is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Science and Technology at Charles Darwin University, Sydney Campus, Australia.
Research Interest: Using Computational Intelligence to Design Smart Decision-making Systems for Solving Real World Problems
Dr Hooman Mehdizadeh-Rad
Dr Hooman Mehdizadeh-Rad's expertise is in zero-energy buildings, heat mitigation and designing the third generation of solar cells. Hooman is a Chartered Professional Mechanical Engineer and has been awarded the 2022 "Sir George Julius" medal and the "Young Mechanical Engineer of the Year" award from Engineers Australia.
There are opportunities to undertake research projects in the following areas:
• Zero energy buildings
• Heat mitigation
• Designing organic solar cells
• Designing perovskite solar cells