COT INTERNATIONAL NEWS:

Centennial Scholars See the World

Australia: Research and Life on the Surf Coast
By: Andrew Parker, Centennial Scholar

Fall 2008 - My adventure this summer was a journey to south-eastern Australia with the purpose of researching nanoparticles with Dr. Takuya Tsuzuki at Deakin University’s Centre for Material and Fibre Innovation. This trip was a great opportunity to learn, not only about the technical aspects of nanoparticles, but also about myself.

The technical research was interesting because of its importance in that part of the world. South-eastern Australia is directly underneath the hole in the ozone layer. As a result, this area is bombarded by more UV radiation than anywhere else on earth. The nanoparticles that I was working on were made of zinc oxide. Zinc oxide has the ability to absorb UV radiation. In fact, zinc oxide is familiar to us all, because it is the main ingredient that makes sunscreen work. The idea of my research was to develop a nano-sized zinc-oxide particle that could be applied to textiles to protect them from UV degradation. After lots of failures, we did succeed in developing a process that could make 50x the previously makeable amount. Hopefully, this research will allow someone to successfully make an effective textile coating.

Day-to-day life was also interesting in Australia. I lived a mere 5 minute walk from some of the most famous surf beaches (Bell’s, Winkipop) in the world. The town, Torquay, is home to world-famous surf equipment companies like RipCurl and Quicksilver. Everyone in the town was a surfer. Australians are, on a whole, some of the friendliest people that I have every met, and I had a great time getting to know the people that I met in the water. Between surfing, travelling to Melbourne for Footy games, and exploring the Surf Coast, my non-research time was quickly used up.

Overall, the trip was a great experience. I worked on cutting edge research, caught some epic waves, and got to meet great people. I couldn’t have asked for more.

***For more information on international collaborations with the COT, contact Dr. Christy Cagle, Director of International Programs. To see a full list of the COT's International Linkages, visit The Office of International Affairs Searchable Archive of International Linkages (SAIL) and search by College.

***To see previous featured COT International News, click here.