UNSW 'then and now' professors story

UNSW SMaRT Centre Director has featured in a 'then and now' story of five professors at UNSW Science.

In following their passions, the professors have helped to expand collective understanding through science, have become mentors, and provided inspiration for new generations of scientists.

UNSW asked five professors to share where their journeys started, their current research and their future aspirations.

Read the full story - Veena's story below

Growing up Mumbai showed me how resourceful people were with waste and unwanted materials, and it always impressed me that people would always try to fix or modify things that were broken and didn’t work. To me, the creation of new and functional products out of things that were supposedly broken was really fascinating. I see my work not just as science and engineering, but as wider social reform.

What is your current research focus? 

As the Director of the UNSW Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (SMaRT) Centre, we we are known for pioneering the high temperature transformation of waste in the production of a new generation of ‘green materials’. We are really focussed on next gen R&D and commercialisation for our various innovations including Green SteelTM Polymer Injection TechnologyTM and our MICROfactorieTM Technologies.

What are you most looking forward to in your future work? 

In relation to net zero, recovering critical and valuable materials from waste has a big role to play in electrifying the world as we move towards renewable energies and reducing our carbon footprint. The SMaRT Centre continues to pioneer the science and practice of what we call “molecular circularity”, which is to understand at the molecular level the value of waste so it can become feedstock for remanufacturing. 

For future sustainability, we believe the future of global manufacturing lies in small-scale, decentralised technologies that will enable communities to produce many of the products, materials and resources they need locally, by largely using inputs that are unwanted or thought of as waste.