Swinburne University of Technology Engineering Professor Geoff Brooks has been awarded the Association for Iron and Steel Technology’s (AIST) John F Elliott Lectureship for 2013.
This international award honours the late Professor John Elliott of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a major figure in the history of process metallurgy.
Professor Brooks is the first Australian born and trained engineer to receive this honour, which acknowledges his contribution to developing the science behind metal production, particularly that relating to steelmaking.
The award involves delivering a lecture to engineering students at up to five leading international universities throughout the year.
Professor Brooks, who heads the high temperature processing group at Swinburne, said he was honoured to have been awarded the lectureship.
“This will be a wonderful opportunity to promote and celebrate Swinburne’s contribution to the field of process metallurgy,” Professor Brooks said.
“When I see the list of previous winners, I feel humbled, as many of these researchers are people I deeply respect.
“Professor Fruehan from Carnegie Mellon University and Professor Guthrie from McGill University are previous winners who have had a tremendous influence on improving our understanding of the science behind metals production.”
Professor Brooks acknowledged his colleagues Dr Jamal Naser, Dr Akbar Rhamdhani, Professor Yos Morsi and Dr Richard Manasseh and PhD students at Swinburne for their role in developing his research since he took up his appointment at Swinburne in 2006.
Professor Brooks is also planning to deliver the lecture at several Australian universities.
"It will be wonderful to share my love of steelmaking with students and explain to them why this is such an exciting field. I think I will be calling my lecture ‘Steelmaking at the speed of sound’,” he said.
Professor Brooks will receive the John F Elliott Lectureship for 2013 award at the AIST annual conference in May.
Last week, Swinburne hosted the fifth annual High Temperature Processing Symposium at the Advanced Technologies Centre, which houses the Robert Simpson High Temperature Processing Laboratory – a world-class high temperature engineering research and teaching facility.