Professor Gordon Wallace
Winner: Chemistry Category, NSW Scientist of the Year 2008 Awards
 
Professor Gordon Wallace is Executive Research Director at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science, and Director of the Intelligent Polymer Research Institute at the University of Wollongong.
 
Professor Wallace is the University of Wollongong’s sole ARC Federation Fellow. His research efforts promise to revolutionise medical science by creating new bionic materials.
 
Years ago, Professor Wallace challenged the conventional wisdom that instability in polymer materials should always be eliminated. He asserted that this instability could be used to advantage if understood, directed and controlled, allowing the creation of “intelligent” polymers, that is, materials that sense and respond to stimuli. In 1990, Professor Wallace established the world’s first intelligent polymer research laboratory in NSW, and he is now widely recognised as a world leader in the development of these materials.
 
More recently, Professor Wallace has been focused on combining nanotechnology with his research into intelligent materials and is now a recognised world expert and pioneer in the emerging area of nanobionics, a field which bridges nanotechnology and human biology. His involvement in this area has led to a strong collaborative relationship with the inventor of the Cochlear bionic ear, Professor Graeme Clark.
 
Among Professor Wallace’s many achievements, his team has successfully used electrical stimulation to release nerve growth factors from polymers, significantly enhancing growth from nerve cells. This has provided great potential for nerve cell repair in patients with damaged hearing or spinal cords. 
 
He also developed the world’s first artificial muscle fibres containing carbon nanotubes, which have broken world records, performing well even when subjected to significant loads. This technology is applicable to the development of an electronic braille screen (in collaboration with private company Quantum Technology) as well as the further development of a rehabilitation glove to help repair injured hands and fingers (in collaboration with Royal North Shore Hospital).

Professor Wallace has made a significant contribution to the development of the field of electronic textiles including the development of wearable human movement sensors for the Australian Football League (AFL). These sensors will also be used in the design and development of better sports bras.

In the past five years, Professor Wallace and his team have attracted over $27 million in research funds, which includes research contracts from BlueScope Steel, Rio Tinto and the USA’s Defence Advanced Research Program Agency. A recent exciting collaborative activity (with Visiocorp) involves the development of electrochromic materials. Electrochromic materials are able to alter their optical characteristics to switch between either a dark or clear state, creating the potential for applications requiring a variable tint, such as architectural glass, aircraft windows, sunglass lenses and automotive windows.

Appointed a professor at just 32, he has so far published 433 refereed journal papers, helped establish 20 patents and successfully supervised 53 PhD students to completion.