The ARC Training Centre for Portable Analytical Separation Technologies (ASTech) is pleased to announce the appointment of Prof Brett Paull, University of Tasmania (UTAS) as Training Centre Director, and the establishment of a second University node, at the University of South Australia (UniSA).

“This is an extremely exciting time to be taking on the leadership of ASTech, as the first cohort of Australian Research Council funded students and post-doctoral research fellows are now fully on-board, and the Centre expands its capabilities with the inclusion of the University of South Australia.” said Prof Paull.

Prof Paull takes over from founding Centre Director, Prof Emily Hilder.

Prof Hilder has been appointed as the inaugural Director of the Future Industries Institute at the University of South Australia and will continue with ASTech in her capacity as Deputy Director.

The University of South Australia has an outstanding track record in end-user driven research, and through the newly formed Future Industries Institute continues a commitment to conducting research that is deeply engaged with industry.

Four ASTech Higher Degree by Research (HDR) students will transition to the University of South Australia with Prof Hilder, establishing essential critical mass in the new location.

“We have a highly educated and motivated team of investigators, thriving in the unique industry-academic research environment that is ASTech. I’m very confident that going forward ASTech will be viewed as a shining example of how research with real societal impact can be delivered more efficiently through such partnerships.” said Prof Paull.

Prof Paull has a breadth of academic and leadership experience, particularly in roles collaborating with industry and other institutions.

Before joining UTAS in March 2011, he was the Director of the Irish Separation Science Cluster (ISSC), led from Dublin City University, a multi-institutional university-industry collaborative centre established in 2009 and funded by Science Foundation Ireland. Prior to this Prof. Paull was a Chief Investigator within the Centre for Bioanalytical Sciences (CBAS), a 100% industry-funded Centre (Bristol Myers Squibb) looking into biopharmaceutical production and process analysis.

Prof Paull is also the current Director of the Australian Centre for Research on Separation Science (ACROSS), again a multi-institutional centre, with the lead node at UTAS, with over 90 researchers spread across four Australian Universities.

ASTech’s industry founder Trajan Scientific and Medical (Trajan) is a global organization that champions collaboration to drive its ongoing success and contribution to human wellbeing through science.

“ASTech is an important program for Trajan as we strongly believe that industry-led research collaborations will not only build closer ties between industry and university stakeholders but lead to a new generation of entrepreneurs passionate about commercialising their research.” said Dr Andrew Gooley, Trajan’s Chief Scientific Officer.

“We are delighted with the appointment of Prof Paull as Centre Director of ASTech given his breadth of experience in research centre management, and the expansion of ASTech to include the UniSA node.” said Dr Gooley.

“Supporting new collaborations in South Australia is well aligned with Trajan’s own growth in manufacturing capabilities following our strategic collaboration agreement with the University of Adelaide’s Institute of Photonics and Advanced Sensing.” said Dr Gooley.

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