Dr . Zain Ul Abideen | UNSW Research

Keywords

Fields of Research (FoR)

Nanomaterials, Waste management, reduction, reuse and recycling, Functional materials, Electrochemical energy storage and conversion, Environmentally sustainable engineering, Sensor technology (incl. chemical aspects)

SEO tags

Renewable Energy

Environmental Management Systems

Environmentally Sustainable Manufacturing

Industrial Chemicals and Related Products

Waste management and recycling

Biography

Dr Zain Ul Abideen is a Microfactorie Engineer at the Sustainable Materials Research & Technology (SMART) Centre at UNSW Sydney. He specialises in sustainable materials and circular economy solutions, focusing on regenerating and reforming materials from electronic and industrial waste for energy storage devices and environmental monitoring applications.

Dr Zain completed a PhD in Materials Engineering (Nanotechnology) at the Australian...view more

Dr Zain completed a PhD in Materials Engineering (Nanotechnology) at the Australian National University, Australia, where he developed sensor technologies and advanced nanomaterials for environmental and health monitoring. He has worked on interdisciplinary and international research projects and has published in reputable peer-reviewed journals on sustainable materials, nanotechnology, and sensing technologies.

Dr Zain earned a Master of Engineering in Materials Engineering from Inha University, South Korea, where he developed expertise in advanced material synthesis. He further honed these skills as a Product Development Engineer at SukgyungAT, South Korea, contributing to the development and manufacturing of inorganic nanomaterials for advanced industrial applications.

Professional Experience

2024 – Present Microfactorie Engineer
Sustainable Materials Research & Technology (SMaRT) Centre, School of Materials Science and Engineering, UNSW, Australia

2024 – Present Project Consultant
Department of Electronic Materials Engineering, Research School of Physics, Australian National University, Australia

2024 – 2024 Teaching Assistant
Research School of Engineering, Australian National University, Australia

2020 – 2024 Ph.D. Researcher
Nanotechnology Research Laboratory, Research School of Engineering & Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Australia

2016 – 2018 Product Development Engineer
Research & Development Team, SukgyungAT Co. Ltd, Republic of Korea

My Qualifications

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Materials Engineering (Nanotechnology)
The Australian National University (ANU), Australia (2020–2024)
Thesis: Flame Synthesized Metal Oxide Nanoparticles and Miniaturized Opto-Electronic Devices for Gas Sensing

Master of Engineering (ME) in Materials Engineering
Inha University, Republic of Korea (2014–2016)
Thesis: Semiconducting Oxide-Graphene Nanocomposite Gas Sensors for Environmental Monitoring and Noninvasive Medical Diagnostics

Bachelor of Engineering (BE) in Materials Engineering
GIK Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology, Pakistan (2010–2014)

My Awards

2023 ANU+ Award

2022 IEEE NANO 2022 Travel Award (700 USD)

2022 ANU Vice Chancellor’s Travel Grant (1500 AUD)

2020 Best Poster & Presentation Award: Our Health In Our Hands Runner-up

2020 ANU Ph.D. International Full Scholarship (ANU, Australia)

2020 ANU HDR Fee Remission Merit Scholarship (ANU, Australia)

2016 Best Research Student Award (Inha University, Korea)

2015 Best Paper Presentation Award (MRS Korea)

2014 Jungseok International Full Scholarship (Inha University, Korea)

My Research Activities

Dr Zain focuses on sustainable materials and innovative waste recycling solutions, with an emphasis on addressing environmental challenges and advancing circular economy practices. His current projects include the identification and quantification of microplastics in mixed waste and wastewater, exploring their sources, and the investigation of degradation mechanisms in artificial turf and the formation of microplastics under real-world conditions. He also works on the characterization of gases from various wastes as potential fuels for industrial applications. His research integrates interdisciplinary approaches to develop innovative, scalable, and sustainable solutions for environmental monitoring and resource recovery.

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