Micro turns major for
young researcher

by Kelly Stone

Dr Endre Szili’s entire research “laboratory” can fit on a chip the size of his fingernail, but his microscopic-sized research has led to a big opportunity for this early career researcher.

Dr Szili, 30, has won a UniSA Early Career Researcher International Travel Award, which supports outstanding early career researchers to develop productive international research collaborations.

The Research Associate, working within UniSA’s Mawson Institute on an International Science Linkage project in collaboration with the University of Liverpool and University of Illinois, will next month travel to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for a six week visit.

A microplasma specialist, Dr Szili will learn about chemical vapour deposition technologies developed at MIT and explore long-term research collaborations between the two institutions.

Microplasmas are gas discharges of small dimensions ranging from micrometers to millimeters. They can be operated at atmospheric pressure and as a result, they are used in various medical and industrial applications including sterilisation, the medical treatment of human skin and the treatment and coating of surfaces with unique thin films.

Dr Szili says microplasma technology is an emerging field of nanotechnology which is attracting significant interest worldwide because of the new opportunities it opens up.

Dr Szili says being involved in an emerging technology that draws a lot of excitement in the scientific community is a rare advantage as an early career researcher.

“We are only just starting to see the huge range of potential applications and commercial opportunities afforded through microplasma technology,” he says.

“However, because most of the advancements in the technology have only taken place over the last decade there is still a lot of knowledge that we, as a scientific community, have yet to uncover. As we delve more into unravelling the mechanisms of how microplasmas work, through combined efforts between plasma physicists, biologists, chemists, material scientists and electrical engineers, we will see microplasmas being used in even more imaginative ways.

“This international trip to MIT will further expand my knowledge in these fields and provides an incredible opportunity to establish a new collaboration with a prestigious research institute. One of the great aspects of scientific research is that you never stop learning.”

Dr Szili says UniSA is a leader in the microplasma technology field within Australia.

“The technology aligns perfectly with the new Wound Management Innovation CRC program under the direction of Prof Rob Short and Dr David Steele from the Mawson Institute alongside Prof Hans Griesser (Ian Wark Research Institute), where nanotechnology is being used in the development of bioactive gels delivered on bandages to promote the healing of wounds.

“The microplasma technology will be used in the future to develop new high-throughput screening tools for monitoring wound healing and potentially develop novel wound management techniques using the microplasma source to de-activate or remove unwanted bacteria from the wound site.”

Dr Szili says microplasma research allows him to use his creativity to deliver real life outputs.

“These microscopic sized gas discharges are operated at atmospheric pressure, so they can be used in many applications including thin film coatings, sterilisation and medical treatment,” he says.

“In fact the list is only limited by your imagination.”