Engineering researchers lead on $13 million in ARC Discovery Project Grants

Researchers from the Faculty of Engineering have been awarded over $13 million across 24 projects in 2025 ARC Discovery Project Grants funding round – almost tripling the respective number of projects and funding success from the previous year and showcasing the breadth of research expertise.

The projects span artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain technology, industrial applications of materials and more, with 22 out of 24 funded from the faculty being led by engineering researchers.

Professor Hesham El Gamal, Dean, Faculty of Engineering, commended all the successful academics from the faculty.

“Needless to say, this success was enabled by a team effort," he said. "And I am grateful to our faculty, centre research portfolios, peer reviewers, mentors, and school leadership for all their positive contributions.”

Interim Deputy Vice-Chancellor, (Research) Professor Julie Cairney, and School of Aeronautical, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering professor, also offered her congratulations to the successful applicants.

“The ARC Discovery Projects scheme is incredibly competitive, and it’s fantastic to see so many projects from the University of Sydney recognised in the latest round,” Professor Cairney said.

The full list of academics from the faculty and their projects are:

School of Aeronautical, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering

• Professor Julie Cairney (with Dr Ranming Niu, Associate Professor Patrick Burr), $1,020,143 – Developing Safe Alloys for Hydrogen-Rich Environments
• Professor Qing Li (with Dr Jianguang Fang), $734,581 – Designing Flexible Metamaterials with Exceptional Mechanical Properties
• Professor Xiaozhou Liao (with Professor Jian Wang), $627,538 – Unraveling Mechanical Behaviors of Metallic Materials at the Atomic Level
• Professor Assaad Masri (with Associate Professor Agisilaos Kourmatzis), $618,677 – Creating Optimal E-Fuel Blends for Clean and Efficient Combustion
• Professor Stefan Williams (with Associate Professor Thierry Peynot, Dr Donald Dansereau), $523,011 – Enhancing Robotic Perception in Challenging Environments

School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

• Professor Yuan Chen (with Associate Professor Hao Li), $825,497 – Innovative Carbon Material Production to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
• Professor Fariba Dehghani (with Dr Sepehr Talebian, Dr Sina Naficy, Professor Jadranka Travas-Sejdic), $512,052 – Enhancing Electroconductive Polymers for Diverse Industrial Applications
• Professor Jun Huang (with Dr Lizhuo Wang), $637,673 – Converting Glycerol into High-Value Chemicals and Green Hydrogen Fuel
• Dr Fengwang Li (with Professor Suresh Bhatia), $664,600 – Innovative Cooling Strategies for Large-Scale CO2 Electrolysis
• Professor Deanna D’Alessandro (with Associate Professor Girish Lakhwani, Dr Carol Hua), $499,601 – Creating Advanced Materials for Ultrafast Optical Signal Processing
• Associate Professor Sarina Sarina (with Dr Chung Nguyen), $414,908 – Enhancing Epoxide Production Using Light to Stabilise Metal Catalysts

School of Biomedical Engineering

• Professor Hala Zreiqat, $656,338 – Understanding the Impact of Hyperboloidal Curvature on Cell Senescence

School of Civil Engineering

• Associate Professor Federico Maggi (with Professor Alexander McBratney, Professor Budiman Minasny, Professor Damien Field), $1,134,690 – Understanding the Role of Inorganic Carbon in Soil Carbon Turnover
• Professor Abbas El-Zein (with Professor Balwant Singh, Associate Professor Pierre Rognon, Professor Catherine O'Sullivan), $625,501 – Studying Micro- and Nanoplastics in Soil to Protect Water Bodies
• Dr Benjamin Marks (with Professor Alexander Scheuermann), $579,272 – Developing a New Model to Predict and Mitigate Soil Erosion in Earth Dams
• Professor Gianluca Ranzi (with Professor Priyan Mendis), $558,761 – Creating Cementless Carbon-Negative Concrete for Sustainable Construction
• Associate Professor Pierre Rognon (with Professor David Airey, Dr Benjamin Marks), $552,481 – Improving Energy Efficiency in Excavating Granular Materials
• Associate Professor Hao Zhang (with Dr Cao Wang, Professor Dr Michael Beer), $385,359 – Developing Reliable Design Methods for Reused Steel Structures

School of Computer Science

• Associate Professor Bing Zhou (with Dr Wei Bao, Associate Professor Nguyen Tran, Professor Zhiyong Wang), $495,000 – Combining Deep Learning and Federated Analytics for Real-Time Video Applications
• Associate Professor Vincent Gramoli (with Professor Alan Fekete, Dr Qiang Tang, Professor Christian Cachin), $480,422 – Creating a Fair Decentralised Platform for Client Requests

School of Electrical and Computer Engineering

• Professor Yonghui Li (with Dr Wanchun Liu, Professor Daniel Quevedo, Professor Karl Henrik Johansson), $627,136 – Advancing Wireless Human-Machine Collaboration for Industry 5.0
• Professor Xiaoke Yi (with Professor Shujuan Huang, Dr Binesh Puthen Veettil), $594,127 – Dynamics of microwave processing to grow high-quality, stable semiconductor crystals

School of Project Management

• Associate Professor Petr Matous (with Professor Michele Ford, Associate Professor Aim Sinpeng, Associate Professor Jie Yin, Dr Kriangsak Teerakowitkajorn, Assistant Professor Benjamin Velasco, Assistant Professor Estu Putri Wilujeng), $561,608 – Role of Generative Artificial Intelligence in digital attacks on freedom of association
  

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