Distinguished Professor Baohua Jia

Baohua Jia joined RMIT in 2022 as a full professor and Australian Research Council Future Fellow (Level 3) in School of Science. She is the inaugural Director of Australian Centre for Atomaterials and Nanomanufacturing (ACAN). Before joining RMIT Baohua Jia was a full Professor, Founding Director of Centre for Translational Atomaterials and Research Leader at Swinburne University of Technology. She received her BSc and MSc degrees from Nankai University, China. She was awarded a PhD from Swinburne University of Technology, Australia. Professor Jia is an elected Fellow of Optica (previously known as Optical Society of America (OSA)) and an elected Fellow of Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IoM3). Since 2019, Professor Jia has been serving as the Australian Research Council College of Expert. 

Prof. Jia's research focuses on the fundamental light and nanomaterial interaction. In particular her work on laser manipulation of two-dimensional materials has led to the design and fabrication of functional nanostructures and nanomaterials for effective harnessing and storage of clean energy from sunlight, purifying water and air for clean environment and imaging and spectroscopy and nanofabrication using ultrafast laser towards fast-speed all-optical communications and intelligent manufacturing. 

In the past 10 years, Prof. Jia has secured more than $70m research grants as a key CI and an additional $10m as a key facilitator from Australian federal and Victoria governments as well as the industry. She has developed 15 patents and patent applications, which has seen a return of investment of more than $20m directly from industry. In particular, her research has led to the establishment of the pilot production and demonstration facilities for NanoPlas solar cells, graphene supercapacitors, functional graphene thin films and Solar-to-H2 generator. Her nanoprinting technology and graphene thin films have been commercialised. She is now championing the translation of atomic scale materials for nanomanufacturing.  

She has co-authored more than 300 scientific publications in highly ranked journals including 1 Chemical Reviews (IF: 60.622), 2 Nature Photonics (IF: 38.771), 9 Advanced Materials (IF: 32.086), 2 Advanced Energy Materials (IF: 26.52), 1 Nature Review Chemistry (IF: 34.571), 2 Nature Communications (IF: 14.919), 3 Light and Science Applications (IF: 17.782), 1 Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS, IF: 15.419) and 5 Nano Letters (IF: 11.189). 50 papers were published in journals with an impact factor >10 and >60 papers were published in journals with an impact factor >6. Her H-index is 59 (Google Scholar) with >12,500 citations. She has delivered >70 Plenary, Keynote and Invited talks at prestigious international conferences and serves multiples professional committees internationally and nationally, including the Joint Standards Australia/Standards New Zealand Committees. She was the Honorary Treasurer of Australian Optical Society (AOS) from 2015-2017. She also has been serving as the Associate Editor for APL Photonics since 2017 and Photonic Insight since 2021. 

She has received numerous prizes and awards including the Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowship (2021), Vice-Chancellor's Research Excellence award (2021), Vice-Chancellor's Industry Engagement Award (2018, 2016, 2011), Finalist for the Prime Minister's Science Awards (2017), Inaugural Research Impact Awards (2017), Young Tall Poppy Science Award (2013), L'Oréal Australia and New Zealand for Women in Science Fellowship (2012), Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) from the Australian Research Council (2012), Victoria Fellowship from the Victorian Government (2010), French Fellowship from the Australian French Association for Science and Technology (2010), Australia China Young Scientist Exchange Scheme grant from the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering in 2009 and 2010, Australian Postdoctoral Fellowship (APD) from the Australian Research Council (2009), Vice-Chancellor's Research Award (Early Career) for research excellence from Swinburne (2009) and the Biotechnology Entrepreneur Young Achievement Australia Award (2005).

Professor Jia's research work has been featured at the Front Covers of journals, and more than 30 of the publications were featured as highlights at scientific magazines and journals. Impact of these publications is also evidenced by more than 1000 media reports on newspapers, online, and radio and enormous investment from industry. These include the highlights from the Australian Research Council 

View more information on the Parliament of Australia website.

Projects

• “ARC Centre of Excellence in Optical Microcombs for Breakthrough Science”, ARC Centre of Excellence, 2023-2030
• “Glasshouse Films”, Future Food Systems CRC, Horticulture Innovation Australia, P2-012, 2022-2026
• “Development of Electrospinning of Micro-fibrous Materials for Air Filtration Systems and Coreshell Technology for an Antibacterial Coating”, Collaborative Research Agreement, 2022-2025
• “Zero emission utilization of biomass lignite”, Collaborative Research Agreement, 2022-2025
• “Engineering parameters for high energy density storage system”, Collaborative Research Agreement, 2022-2025
• “Tailoring smart film for energy efficient protected cropping”, ARC Linkage Projects grant (LP210200345), 2022-2026
• “High yield adaptive laser nanomanufacturing system for photonic devices,” ARC Linkage Projects grant (LP210100467), 2022-2024

Editorial board

• Associate Editor Photonics Insights (2021-)
• Associate Editor APL Photonics, AIP publisher (2017-)
• Editorial Board member of Advanced Materials and Devices (AMD), Springer Nature (2021-)
• Editorial Board member of Chinese Physics Letters (2020-)
• Editorial Board member of Chinese Journal of Lasers (2020-)
• Editorial Board member of Materials Report Energy (2019-)
• Guest Editor APL Photonics (2016-2017)

Conference organisation (from 2019)

• General Chair International Conference on Nanomaterials and Atomaterials Sciences and Applications (ICNASA), 2023, Jan 31-Feb 3, 2023, Melbourne, Australia.
• Technical Program Committee (TPC) member, Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO): "Photonic Integration" subcommittee, San Jose McEnery Convention Center, San Jose, California, USA, 07 – 12 May 2023
• TPC co-chair, 27th Optoelectronics and Communications Conference (OECC2023), OECC, Shanghai, China, Jun 2 to 6, 2023
• Scientific Advisory Committee, 2022 Conference on Optoelectronic and Microelectronic Materials and Devices (COMMAD), Adelaide, Australia, 11-16 December 2022
• Technical Program Committee 2022 Australian and New Zealand Conference on Optics and Photonics (ANZCOP), Adelaide, Australia, 11-16 December 2022
• Conference Co-Chair, International Symposium on Advanced Materials and Sustainable Technologies, Carins Australia, Nov 30 to Dec 2, 2022
• Program Committee member of The Australian and New Zealand Conference on Optics and Photonics, 2022, Adelaide, Australia. 
• General Chair International Conference on Nanomaterials and Atomaterials Sciences and Applications (ICNASA), Feb 2-Feb 4, 2022, Melbourne, Australia.
• Organising committee for Nanomaterials & Electronics for Wearable, Implantable Devices & Applications, 6 December 2021, Brisbane, Australia.
• General Chair International Conference on Nanomaterials and Atomaterials Sciences and Applications (ICNASA), 2020, Jan 31-Feb 3, 2020, Melbourne, Australia.
• General Chair International Conference on Nanomaterials and Atomaterials Sciences and Applications (ICNASA), 2019, 04 - 06 July 2019, Melbourne, Australia.
• Conference Chair for 2019 International Conference on Optical Instrument and Technology (OIT'19), November 2-4, Beijing, China.
• Organising committee for Asia Communications and Photonics Conference 2019 (ACP 2019) 2-5 November, Chengdu, China 2019.

Professional membership and services

• University IP Committee (2017-2020), Institute Executive Committee (2019-) and Faculty Executive Committee (2019-2021) and School Executive Committee (2021-).
• Fellow, Optica (previously known as Optical Society of America (OSA)), 2020-
• Member of Australian Research Council, College of Experts, 2019-
• Fellow of Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, 2019-
• President Australia-China Advanced Materials and Manufacture Association (ACAMMA)
• Treasurer, Australian Optical Society (AOS), 2014-2018
• Committee Member of Academic Senate, Swinburne University of Technology, 2014-2015
• Committee Member of Joint Standards Australia/Standards New Zealand Committees
• Life Member of Optical Society of America (OSA)
• Life Member of SPIE - the international society for optics and photonics

Selected News release (from 2020)

• 2021-06-04: The graphene revolution - is it happening? - ABC The Science Show
• 2021-04-19: GENERATION OF SUPER-RESOLVED OPTICAL NEEDLE AND MULTIFOCAL ARRAY USING GRAPHENE OXIDE METALENSES - The Graphene Council
• 2021-04-16: Generation of super-resolved optical needle and multifocal array using graphene oxide metalenses - EurekAlert
• 2021-02-12: Small world: atom-scale materials are the next tech frontier - The Conversation
• 2021-01-28: New catalyst produces green hydrogen from seawater - Swinburne University of Technology
• 2020-10-30: Microbubbles Made of Graphene Make Lenses More Precise - Intelligent living
• 2020-10-26: International recognition for Swinburne’s Professor Baohua Jia - Swinburne University of Technology
• 2020-10-07: The Optical Society Announces 2021 Fellows Class - Optical Society
• 2020-10-06: Graphene microbubbles make perfect lenses - SPIE news
• 2020-08-24: Ultra-thin lens breakthrough that could revolutionise miniature cameras - Manufacturer's monthly
• 2020-03-26: Researchers Develop New Graphene Solar Thermal Film to Absorb Sunlight with Over 90% Efficiency - Saur Energy
• 2020-02-12: Next Tech Frontier – Can Graphene Change The World? - Tech Financials
• 2020-02-12: Small world: atom-scale materials are the next tech frontier - Physics.Org
• 2020-01-31: Atomaterials are new nanomaterials and they're going to change our world – Mirage

• PhD by research in Optics, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia
• MSc by research in Optical Communications, Nankai University, P.R. China
  
• BSc in Applied Optics & BEc in Management (Double Degree), Nankai University, P.R. China
  

The world's most prosperous and advanced economies are innovation-driven. To generate real life impact, innovative and cutting-edge research need to build close relationships with industry sectors. 

Baohua's research and innovation career has been closely linked to industry:

• Extensive engagement in research commercialization. Developed 15 patents and patent applications, which has seen a return of investment of more than $20m directly from industry. Heavily engaged with industry partners, helping them in solving practical problems and identifying knowledge gaps and converting these into scientific inquiries.
  
• Establishing pilot production and demonstration facilities for NanoPlas solar cells, graphene supercapacitors, functional graphene thin films and Solar-to-H2 generator. 
• Commercialize nanoprinting technology and graphene thin films. 
• Champion the translation of atomic scale materials for nanomanufacturing.
• Providing expert advice for the Commonwealth Senate Select Committee on Electric Vehicles, Department of the Senate | Parliament House, Canberra, August 2018