January 26, 2022

Australia Day honour for world leader in battery research

Distinguished Professor Hua Kun Liu appointed a Member of the Order of Australia

Distinguished Professor Hua Kun Liu has been appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the general division for significant service to the scientific research sector, and to tertiary education.

Professor Liu was a co-ordinator of the Energy Storage Materials Research Group (1994 -2019) at the Institute for Superconducting and Electronic Materials at the Australian Institute for Innovative Materials (AIIM).

She received the award for playing a significant role in raising the profile of Australia’s research in energy materials.

Her research has focused on achieving high energy density, high power density and long cycle-life lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles.

As well as fundamental investigations into the electrochemical and physical properties of energy materials, Professor Liu has successfully commercialised a number of innovations, applied in industry, from the ISEM laboratory.

At the Institute for Superconducting and Electronic Materials, she leads the high performing Energy Storage Materials research group that regularly publish in high impact, refereed international journals and over her career she has supervised over 95 doctoral candidates.

Professor Liu was elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Science and Engineering in 2013, and was awarded four consecutive Australian Research Council Australian Professorial Fellowships from 1994-2010. She received the UOW Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Research Excellence Senior Researcher in 2013.

In 2017, she was awarded the rare honour of a Doctor of Science by the University of Wollongong.

At the time, the Executive Director of AIIM, Professor Will Price said Professor Liu had achieved world renown for her work.

“Her research group is the largest and most influential group in the country working in lithium-ion battery development, and one of the top groups in the world in that area,” he said.

“Her group contributes more than half of all journal publications – and 60 per cent of citations – in that field in Australia.

“She has [also] played a very valuable role in on mentoring and encouraging the next generation of scientists and engineers.”