STAFF PROFILE
Professor Sumeet Walia
Professor Sumeet Walia is an innovator, research leader and serial inventor passionate about using technology as a vehicle to make people’s lives better.
Professor Sumeet Walia has built a strong capability in engineering new material systems and nanoelectronic/photonic devices for addressing critical technological bottlenecks particularly in healthcare, energy and manufacturing. This has enabled a wide range of partnerships with industry to translate cutting edge research into real world impact.
He has published over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles. His work appears in the highest quality outlets including Nature Communications, Advanced Materials, among many others. He is a named inventor on ten patents covering multi-sector technological innovations and products.
Professor Walia is an award-winning researcher who has served on multiple boards with extensive contributions towards Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access in the STEM sector. He has built strong national and international partnerships with stakeholders to drive common goals.
Research
Prof Walia’s research is highly multidisciplinary underpinned by a strong focus on ultra-thin (only few atoms thick) materials that show quantum-confinement induced properties and device engineering. His research is focused on creation and development of new miniaturised technology through discoveries at the interfaces of materials science, nano/optoelectronics, device engineering, artificial intelligence and biology.
Examples include creating miniaturised technology that will help overcome Moore’s Law in electronic transistors, high-speed imaging sensors embedded with artificial intelligence (neuromorphics) to mimic human vision, ultra-thin functional coatings for energy efficient windows, sensors (light, environment, chemical, bio) and new materials integrated into medical devices to tackle antimicrobial resistance. Prof Walia’s research uses a combination of materials engineering, nanoelectronics and optics to create technology platforms with desired function.
- 2013 Doctor of Philosophy (PhD., Electronic Materials), RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
- 2009 Bachelor of Engineering (BEng., Electronics with 1st Class Honours), RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
Awards and scholarships
- 2021 40 under 40 Most Influential Asian-Australians Award in Science & Medicine category. ANU Centre for Asian-Australian Leadership, PwC, Johnson Partners and Asialink.
- 2020 3M Eureka Prize for Emerging Leader in Science (Finalist)
- 2020 Australian Academy of Science EMCR Fellowship
- 2018 Royal Society of Victoria Phillip Law Post-Doctoral Award for Physical Sciences
- 2018 Australia’s Most Innovative Engineers 2018 by Engineers Australia
- 2018 Victoria Fellowship, Victorian Government
- 2017 MIT Technology Review Top 10 Technology Innovators under 35 in Asia Pacific
- 2017 Victorian Young Tall Poppy Award for Excellence in Science and Communication (Australian Institute of Policy and Science)
- 2017 Victorian Young Achiever of the Year for Research Impact – Victorian Government
Professional Activities and memberships
- Co-Chair, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee, Science and Technology Australia (2020 – Current)
- Advisory Board, Elevate Program, Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (2022 – Current)
- Project Governance Board of the Victorian Government International Education Recovery Plan (2021 – Current)
- Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee, ARC Centre of Excellence in Future Low Energy Electronics Technologies (2020 – Current)
- Founder and Chair, IEEE Nanotechnology Council’s Victoria Chapter (2019)
- Executive Board member, Science and Technology Australia (2018-2020)
- Australian Academy of Science Early-mid Career Research forum
- Royal Society of Victoria (RSV)
- Australian Microscopy and Microanalysis Society
- Australian Nanotechnology network (ANN)
Editorial roles
- Book Editor - CRC Press (1. ISBN 9781138587984, 2. ISBN 9781138710368)
- Guest Editor, Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology – Special Issue on 2D Materials
Assessor for grants and international peer-reviewed journals
- Australian Research Council – Discovery Early Career Researcher Awards, Discovery Projects, Linkage Infrastructure Equipment and Facilities Grants, Future and Laureate Fellowships
- Netherlands body of Scientific Research,
- German Research Foundation
- Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia
- Peer-reviewer for >30 international journals (Selected examples): Energy and Environmental Science, Nature Communications, Advanced Materials, ACS Nano, Nanoscale).
- Kabir, S.,Nirantar, S.,Monshipouri, M.,Low, M.,Walia, S.,Sriram, S.,Bhaskaran, M. (2022). Device Geometry Insights for Efficient Electrically Driven Insulator-to-Metal Transition in Vanadium Dioxide Thin-Films In: Advanced Electronic Materials, 8, 1 - 9
- Shabbir, B.,Liu, J.,Krishnamurthi, V.,Tran, K.,Abbas, S.,Khan, H.,Walia, S.,Li, Y.,Spencer, M.,Mahmood, N., et al.,, . (2022). Soft X-ray Detectors Based on SnS Nanosheets for the Water Window Region In: Advanced Functional Materials, 32, 1 - 8
- Gu, Y.,Serna, M.,Mohan, S.,Ahmed, T.,Walia, S. et al.,, . (2022). Sulfurization Engineering of One-Step Low-Temperature MoS2 and WS2 Thin Films for Memristor Device Applications In: Advanced Electronic Materials, 8, 1 - 8
- Ahmed, T.,Kuriakose, S.,Abbas, S.,Mayes, E.,Mazumder, A.,Balendhran, S.,Spencer, M.,Akinwande, D.,Bhaskaran, M.,Sriram, S.,Walia, S. (2022). Mixed Ionic-Electronic Charge Transport in Layered Black-Phosphorus for Low-Power Memory In: Advanced Functional Materials, 32, 1 - 11
- Walia, S. (2022). Light-Driven Machine Vision Using Low-Dimensional Material Systems In: Advanced Materials Technologies, , 1 - 10
- Kumari, S.,Chouhan, A.,Sharma, O.,Abbas, S.,Tran, K.,Spencer, M.,Bhargava, S.,Walia, S.,Ray, A.,Khatri, O. (2022). Surface Functionalization of WS2Nanosheets with Alkyl Chains for Enhancement of Dispersion Stability and Tribological Properties In: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 14, 1334 - 1346
- Rahman, M.,Cai, L.,Abbas, S.,Tucker, S.,Burton, A.,Perera, G.,Spencer, M.,Walia, S.,Sriram, S.,Gutruf, P.,Bhaskaran, M. (2022). Nicotine Sensors for Wearable Battery-Free Monitoring of Vaping In: ACS Sensors, 7, 82 - 88
- Dudko, I.,Dursap, T.,Lamirand, A.,Botella, C.,Regreny, P.,Danescu, A.,Brottet, S.,Bugnet, M.,Walia, S.,Chauvin, N.,Penuelas, J. (2022). Hexagonal Ge Grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy on Self-Assisted GaAs Nanowires In: Crystal Growth and Design, 22, 32 - 36
- Monshipouri, M.,Walia, S.,Bhaskaran, M.,Sriram, S. (2021). Particle tracking simulation of an air channel transistor In: AIP Advances, 11, 1 - 7
- Dhanabalan, S.,Sriram, S.,Walia, S.,Avaninathan, S.,Carrasco, M.,Bhaskaran, M. (2021). Wearable Label-Free Optical Biodetectors: Progress and Perspectives In: Advanced Photonics Research, 2, 1 - 18
11 PhD Completions19 PhD Current Supervisions and 1 Masters by Research Current Supervisions
- Scalable atom-thin materials for monolithic electronics and optoelectronics. Funded by: ARC Discovery Projects commencing in 2022 from (2022 to 2024)
- Large-Area Detection of Improvised Explosive Devices by Portable Artificial Intelligence-Powered ElectronicNoses (administered by USyd). Funded by: Office of National Intelligence National Intelligence and Security Discovery Research Grants from (2022 to 2025)
- New window technologies for residential buildings. Funded by: Innovation Connections grant - Cat 1 from (2022 to 2022)
- Photonic Chip Integration Facility. Funded by: ARC Linkage Infrastructure Equipment and Facilities (LIEF) Grant from (2021 to 2022)
- DNA nano biosensor for cancer diagnostics (Administered by University of Melbourne). Funded by: National Foundation for Medical Research and Innovation (NFMRI) 2018 onwards from (2021 to 2022)