Personnel changes

In 2023, we said farewell to Kate McGeoch, who served with distinction as our Chief Operating Officer for five years. She has embarked on a new chapter as Associate Director of the Research Office at UNSW Sydney. Subsequently, we were thrilled to announce Dr Nick Kirkwood as the new Chief Operating Officer. With extensive experience in the Centre, first at Laboratory Manager for the NanoScience Lab at the University of Melbourne and then as our Science & Industry Liaison Manager, Nick brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the role, enhancing our capacity for innovative and entrepreneurial research.

We have also extended a warm welcome to two new Node Administrators, Jeremy Platt at the University of Sydney, and Ana Amaral Ferreira with Monash University. This year also marked a milestone for 31 graduates from Exciton Science, which included an impressive cohort of 21 PhD candidates, 8 Masters of Science graduates, and two Honours students.

Additionally, we farewelled 23 postdoctoral research fellows as they took on intriguing positions across the globe. The achievements of our alumni fill us with pride as they excel in both academia and industry. They have secured prestigious positions at home and abroad, joining esteemed institutions and leading companies.

Among them are Francesco Campaioli, now a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellow; Jessica Alves at CRO Group; Elham Gholizadeh at Dewpoint Innovations; Rohan Hudson with MOGLabs; William Kendrick at Deloitte; Mykhailo Klymenko at CSIRO Data 61; Jamie Laird at CSIRO; Pria Ramkissoon at the Australian Synchrotron; Zachariah Levey at VXB Aerospace; and Boer Tan with Oxford PV. The exciting paths they have chosen are a positive reflection on their experience within our Centre.