Our staff
Academic Director - Professor Gwenaelle Proust
Background
Professor Gwenaelle Proust's research aims to understand the properties of materials and how we can improve their performance, ultimately leading to energy savings and to safer, more efficient devices. It focuses primarily on metals, including aluminium, steel, titanium and magnesium, and how they behave when subjected to an external load. It has applications in the automotive and aerospace industries in terms of making lighter, stronger components of land and air vehicles.
Professor Proust is an academic at the School of Civil Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering and is a part of the Australian Centre for Microscopy & Microanalysis.
Chief Engineer - Bruce McLean
Background
Bruce McLean is a professional engineer with more than 30 years of aerospace & aviation industry experience. He has diverse experience in technical operations, maintenance, manufacturing and Additive Manufacturing (AM). His most recent 15 years of professional experience concerns additive manufacturing – especially the metal powder bed AM modalities.
Bruce was previously a specialist advisor to an international advanced manufacturing consultancy firm based in the US. He was one of three co-founders of Zenith Tecnica - a start-up company in Auckland in 2014 using Electron Beam Melting technology for real-world applications in sectors as diverse as Formula 1, Americas Cup Yachting, Satellites, Rocket Engine components and many implantable & prosthetic medical & veterinary devices.
Bruce recently consulted as an AM subject matter expert with projects as varied as additive Medical Device manufacturing, MMI project proposal grant submissions, developing a business case study for series production of AM Nitinol shape memory alloy medical devices and early stage commercialisation of the ceramic 3D printing equipment.
Role
As Chief Engineer, Bruce’s role is to oversee and manage the technical operations of the Sydney Manufacturing Hub.
Operations Manager – Daniel Connell
Background
Daniel joins us in the role of Operations Manager. He comes from an industrial design and project management background, where he’s worked on projects such as injection moulded medical devices, mail delivery buggies, ATM machines, commercial furniture, helicopter simulators, public artworks, and award-winning playgrounds. He’s passionate about good design and Australian manufacturing, and he looks forward to applying his experience and skills in his role at the Sydney Manufacturing Hub.
Senior Staff Engineer - Katja Eder
Qualifications
PhD in Materials Science, The University of Sydney
MSc in Mineralogy, Universität Tübingen, Germany
Background
Katja is a materials processing specialist with extensive research experience in working across a wide variety of materials. She is very experienced in understanding the microstructural response of metals and ceramics to various processing treatments and an expert in working with microstructural design and characterisation. She is experienced in focussed ion beam techniques, atom probe and electron microscopy.
Originally with a mineralogy background, she has moved from thinking about how nature changes the structure and properties of materials via geological process, to how we can purposefully engineer the properties and performance of materials. Katja received her Ph.D. from the University of Sydney in 2018 and has been working in the additive space since 2019.
Role
Katja’s role is to offer support and training to users for our 3D printing, melting/casting, and thermal processes.
Senior Staff Engineer - Mehdi Eizadjou
Qualifications
Ph.D. Materials Science and Engineering, 2017, The University of Sydney
M.Sc. Materials Science and Engineering, 2007, Shiraz University
B.Sc. Materials Engineering-Metallurgy, 2002, Sahand University of Technology
Background
Mehdi completed his M.Sc. after studying novel microstructure-property relationships in Al alloys producing by accumulative roll-bonding (ARB) technique. He served as an research engineer on several industry-based R&D projects at Shiraz University. In 2017, he finished his Ph.D. on the design of the thermomechanical processing and materials chemistry for a new advanced high-strength steel. As a Postdoctoral Researcher, he has investigated the influence of processing on AHSS, high entropy alloys (HEA), and hardmetals. He is experienced across a range of materials processing tools and a range of microscopy techniques, inclduing in-situ techniques.
Role
Mehdi’s role is to offer support and training to users for our 3D printing, melting/casting, thermal processes and thermal analysis facilities.
Senior Staff Engineer - Wen Hao
Qualifications
Ph.D. Materials Science and Engineering, 2018, The University of Sydney
Background
Wen Hao received his PhD in 2018 for the development of cast steel matrix composites suitable for use in mining and mineral processing industries through a collaboration between the University of Sydney and Weir Minerals Australia Ltd. He then continued as a post-doctoral research associate at the
University of Sydney studying additively-manufactured aluminium and stainless steel alloys, the tribological behaviour of various engineering materials, and the recycling of industrial waste for the manufacturing of wear-resistant alloys.
Between 2020 and 2022, Wen Hao joined the Monash Centre for Additive Manufacturing at Monash University as a research fellow. His main role was to work on industrial projects that involve the additive manufacturing of titanium aircraft parts that have been redesigned for weight reduction. He was also involved with research projects on developing hybrid manufacturing techniques, on the study of additively-manufactured high strength beta titanium alloys and nickel superalloys, and also on expanding the use of additively-manufactured titanium alloys to cardiovascular applications.
Staff Engineer - Patrick McCarthy
As Staff Engineer, Patrick brings a decade of professional experience in design and precision manufacturing to our team. With a background in industrial design and rapid prototyping, he has successfully collaborated with a diverse range of local and international companies, government bodies, and university research projects.
Patrick specialises in programming and operating CNC machinery, CAD modelling, mechanical design engineering, and building industrial design concept prototypes. He is passionate about advanced design technologies and using precision engineering techniques to manufacture components to fine tolerances.
Patrick has worked at the University of Sydney since 2019 where he has supported research projects in aerospace, biomedical, and mechanical engineering.
