Professor Michelle Spencer
Details
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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 Deputy Director of the STEM Centre for Digital Innovation and leader of the Computational Materials Chemistry and Physics group.
Professor Spencer’s research specialises in computational chemistry and physics. 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, catalysts, 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 multiple mobile applications, called Chirality-2, ARChem and ChemiMeasure for teaching concepts in undergraduate chemistry. The apps are 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.
She is the former Associate Dean (Head of Department) of Applied Chemistry & Environmental Science at RMIT University, providing tactical leadership for staff within the Discipline and 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.
Media
Research fields
- 510403 Condensed matter modelling and density functional theory
- 3407 Theoretical and computational chemistry
- 3403 Macromolecular and materials chemistry
- 340301 Inorganic materials (incl. nanomaterials)
- 340108 Sensor technology (incl. chemical aspects)
- 401703 Energy generation, conversion and storage (excl. chemical and electrical)
UN sustainable development goals
- 7 Affordable and Clean Energy
- 3 Good Health and Well Being
Supervisor projects
- Reactive small molecule sensing using 2D nanomaterials
- 16 Jan 2025
- Accelerated Materials Discovery For Next Generation Li-Ion Batteries
- 31 Jul 2024
- 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
Teaching Awards:
2024 Vice-Chancellor's Award for Teaching Excellence
2024 STEM DVC Award, Certificate of Commendation for DVC Impact, Learning & Teaching
2024 RACI Chemistry Education Division Citation
2023 Honourable Mention Finalist, LearnSci Teaching Innovation Awards
2019 Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning, Australian Award for University Teaching (AAUT)
2018 Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Strategic Contributions to Learning and Teaching RMIT University
2018 Reimagine Education Award finalist (San Francisco USA)
2018 Australian Technology Network (ATN) Teaching & Learning Excellence Award
2018 Merit Award- Community Service Markets, Victorian Information Industry Association ‘iAwards’
2017 Honorary Membership Golden Key Society, nominated by RMIT student chapter
2016 KPMG Acclaimed Educator Award
2015 Max O’Connor Chemistry Lectureship Medal
2015 RMIT Teaching Award, Higher Education Early Career Academic
2015 KPMG Acclaimed Educator award - special mention (top 5 in the university)
2015 RMIT Student Choice Teaching Award (Notable high achiever, top ranked in School), College of SEH
2014 RMIT Student Choice Teaching Award (top 5 in College of SEH)
2015 RMIT SEH commendation for a high GTS of 80%, Analytical Spectroscopy (CHEM1053)
2014 RMIT Student Choice Teaching Award, College of SEH, RMIT University
2013 RMIT Student Choice Teaching Award (Notable high achiever, top 4 in School), College of SEH
2013 RMIT SEH commendation for a high GTS of 80%, Chemistry for Life Sciences (CHEM1239)
Research interests
Michelle's research expertise is in the area of computational materials chemistry and physics. Her group focuses on using density functional theory calculations and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations to design new materials for applications in energy storage devices, catalysts, sensors and electronic devices.
HDR Supervisor interests:
- Designing electrolytes for rechageable battery applications
- High entropy oxides for sensing of reactive small molecule fumigants
- Liquid Metal Interfaces – A Novel Platform for Catalysis (DP24 Project)
- Discovery of novel and existing nanomaterials for piezoelectric and electromechanical actuator devices
- 2D van der Waals Heterostructures for electronic device technologies
