Professor Michelle Spencer
Details
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College: Learning, Teaching and Quality
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Department: Learning, Teaching and Quality
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Campus: City Campus Australia
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michelle.spencer@rmit.edu.au
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ORCID: 0000-0003-4646-1550
Open to
- Masters Research or PhD student supervision
About
Professor Michelle Spencer is the Deputy Director for the STEM Centre for Digital Innovation. Her research expertise is in computational materials chemistry and physics.
Professor Spencer’s research specialises in computational chemistry. She focuses on using density functional theory and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations to determine the structure, dynamic properties and surface reactions of materials and nanomaterials for applications in electronic devices, gas sensors and batteries.
She collaborates with industry and local and international researchers and has secured research grants from both industry and government. She collaborates extensively with Defence Science and Technology (DST) and the CSIRO. She is also an Associate Investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence in Future Low-Energy Electronics Technologies (FLEET).
Professor Spencer is passionate about digital innovations in science education, and has developed a mobile application, called Chirality-2, for teaching concepts in undergraduate chemistry. The app is available to download for free on the Google Play and Apple stores.
Michelle has been awarded multiple university, national and international teaching grants and awards for excellence in HE teaching and digital innovations, including a 2019 AAUT Citation for Excellence in Teaching.
As former Associate Dean of Applied Chemistry & Environmental Science, Professor Spencer is a member of the School of Science Executive and provides tactical leadership for staff within the Discipline. She was responsible for leading her Discipline to deliver on College research and teaching strategy.
Michelle is also an active researcher and has won competitive grants from the Australian Research Council (ARC), the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and several national supercomputing facilities. She has a strong interest in materials science, particularly for sustainable energy technologies.
Professor Michelle Spencer has numerous external industry partners, including the CSIRO, DST and AIST Japan.
Supervisor projects
- Computational studies towards the role of stereoelectronic effects on structure and reactivity of organic and biomolecular systems with their possible applications
- 14 Mar 2023
- Exploring Structural Stability and Electronic Properties of Nanostructured SiC Allotropes by First-Principles Calculation
- 25 Jan 2023
- Chemical design and development of 3D bi-functional catalysts for water-splitting
- 27 Jul 2022
- Discovery of Novel Materials in Actuator Applications
- 6 Jan 2020
- The Discovery of Tunable 2D Materials and van der Waals Heterostructures for Next-gen Technologies
- 12 Dec 2018
- Boron-based Cations and Anions as Ionic Liquid Electrolyte Components for Rechargeable Lithium Metal Batteries
- 4 Sep 2017
- A Combined Computational and Experimental Approach to Characterising the Adsorption of Hydrophilic Pollutants onto Oasis® HLB
- 16 Feb 2016
Teaching interests
Computational materials chemistry and physics, nanomaterials, materials, sensors, surface chemistry, batteries, electronic devices.
