Management

"Our future is based on the relationships we build, without that we are nothing. We must maintain that two-way communication where we deliver to our research and industry partners and we listen very closely and respond to industry's needs and problems."

CHIEF OF RESEARCH - Dr George Collins

ANSTO's Chief of Research is responsible for shaping and developing the organisation's research portfolio in order to deliver optimum benefit for Australia. This is undertaken in three ways:

• Balancing the research: Creating the most efficient spread across the areas we want to target, which are aligned with Australia's national research priorities: an environmentally sustainable Australia, promoting and maintaining good health, frontier technologies for building and transforming Australian industries, and safeguarding Australia
• Dynamic research: Balancing when we lead and when we respond by conducting future or 'discovery'  research, targeted research that often has a strong industry component, and outreach research where we promote our skills and create alliances and partnerships to secure interest and business from external organisations
• National knowledge base: Maintaining and developing a knowledge base where people can learn about our research, our international reputation, and the numerous benefits ANSTO is delivering to all Australians. Constant maintenance and rejuvenation of the knowledge base will ensure that ANSTO retains its competitive edge.

Biography

Dr George Collins is Chief of Research at ANSTO. His career with the organisation began in 1986 and he has previously been a Principal Research Scientist and Director of Materials and Engineering Science. He was appointed to his current role in 2005.

Dr Collins is an applied researcher whose background is in surface engineering. His focus is on developing new technology and adapting it to solve industry problems, as well as building collaborative networks with a variety of science based organisations.

He obtained a PhD in Plasma Physics from the University of Sydney and spent four years working on fusion-related plasma physics at the Centre de Recherches en Physique des Plasmas within the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland.

At ANSTO he played the lead role in the development of Plasma Immersion Ion Implantation (PI³), a technique to enhance the wear resistance of a wide range of metal alloys. He also led a strategic research team studying functional materials interfaces to develop novel and successful uses for thin oxide films, including scratch-resistant coatings on spectacle lenses and nano-sized inorganic matrices for delivering chemotherapy drugs.