Towards a circular economy - Forward thinking on material design

We talk about circular economy as a resource conservation strategy, and its role in the world of materials to achieve resource security is ever-important.

In the meantime, material science is making fast progress to redesign materials for a circular and regenerative economy. The advancements have broader aims going beyond the market and industry requirements.


This webinar

• brings perspectives on design and development concepts adopted in world-class materials research and how they relate to the objectives of circular economy  
• unpacks strategies used in material design and learn how they relate to real-world
• facilitates understanding of the role of circular economy through the lens of achieving material security

Panel members 

Speaker 1 

Dr. Mayuri Wijayasundara. Director, Anvarta 

Mayuri is a leading expert in strategy and transformation specialising in transition towards a circular economy. She currently leads Anvarta, a consulting practice that helps organisations to transition to a regenerative model. She was engaged as Circular Economy Expert at UN Habitat.  

Mayuri was a tenured University scholar leading multiple research programs in circular economy until 2021 and has authored several research articles in multiple discipline areas related to enabling a circular economy. She is a contributor to acclaimed international forums such as World Economic Forum.  

Prior to that, she was a senior industry practitioner leading program in Asia Pacific, in resource recovery and manufacturing industries. Mayuri obtained her PhD from the University of Melbourne and is a Chartered Global Management Accountant of CIMA, UK. Mayuri currently is an advisory committee member of Recycling Victoria and holds board and advisory positions in other industry bodies and professional organisations.  
 
Linkedin | Professional Website  | Anvarta website  

Speaker 2

Matthew Barnett, Professor at Deakin University

Professor Barnett's passion is in using physical metallurgy to create new alloys and processes that reduce our environmental footprint.

He has opened up new understanding of how to develop and process magnesium alloys for use in light-weighting applications - facilitating energy saving in the transport sector.

Prof Barnett has also made breakthroughs in the technology of steel rolling, showing how lower temperatures can be employed without detriment - thereby paving the way for reduced energy demands during production.

Most recently he is focussing on how to create advanced alloys and processes that make better use of scrap metal input. This has the added benefit of opening up new avenues for Australia to create value from all the advanced and specialty alloy scrap it currently exports.

Linkedin 

Speaker 3

Alessandra Sutti, Science and Technology Australia STEM Ambassador, Associate Professor at Deakin University's Institute for Frontier Materials

Alessandra is Associate Professor at Deakin University's Institute for Frontier Materials, where she leads team that collaborates with the textiles industry to increase the sustainability and circularity of their supply chains, processes and materials. 

Ale is a materials scientist with a background in materials synthesis and manufacturing and a not-so-hidden passion for monitoring microplastics in the environment. In her spare time, she leads a world-wide environmental monitoring campaign focused on microplastics monitoring and has been enabling hundreds of teachers and thousands of students to measure and report microplastics pollution in their areas. 

Ale is a Science and Technology Australia STEM Ambassador. In this role she provides evidence and evidence-based advice to policy makers to support decision making.

Linkedin