Curated as part of National Science Week, we present the “Interview with STEM Experts” video series. Featuring four scientists: Dr Danish Kazmi, Dr Jingwei Hou, Dr Teresa Ubide and Georgia Williams. These interviews offer a fascinating glimpse into their work and personal journeys in STEM. Designed to inspire curiosity and innovation, the series highlights the diverse impact of STEM.
Position: Education Program Coordinator
Organisation: Everick Foundation
At 22 Georgia Williams is finishing her Honours in Archaeology while working at the Everick Foundation, the non-profit arm of the cultural heritage consultancy company Everick Heritage.
Georgia studied a Bachelor of Arts/Science, majoring in Anthropology and Archaeological Science at the University of Queensland. Georgia says “in high school, my perception of archaeology strongly favoured the humanities. Only once I started my undergraduate degree did I realise how ‘scientific’ archaeology was!”
Her excavation experiences in Hawai’i and North Stradbroke Island have confirmed how grounded archaeology is in scientific analysis. Georgia has collected charcoal samples for radiocarbon dating, interpreted sediment cores and marvelled at the preservation of thousands of tiny fish scales.
Georgia works as Everick’s Education Program Coordinator assisting with outreach initiatives including school visits and their annual field school. This role provides her with an opportunity to engage with the public and encourage others to see how science can bring the past into the present.
Position: Lecturer in Geotechnical Engineering
Organisation: School of Civil Engineering, The University of Queensland
Dr Danish Kazmi is a civil and geotechnical engineer, researcher, science communicator and sustainability enthusiast.
He is sharing his passion for sustainability. His PhD research investigated the use of crushed waste glass as a sustainable alternative to depleting natural and quarried (manufactured) sand in a construction application.
Dr Kazmi’s research focuses on developing sustainable geomaterials by recycling ever-increasing wastes as alternatives to natural aggregates in construction, helping the transition towards a circular economy. Dr Kazmi is also a passionate science communicator and a double award winner at the UQ’s Three Minute Thesis Competition (3MT) at his school level. He won the Young Science Ambassador Award for the Wonder of Science Program, received the prestigious UQ Global Change Scholar Award and is a UQ Future Leader. His research has been featured in Medium, Endeavour Magazine (UK), Quarry Magazine and other well-reputed media platforms.
He has published two high-definition UQ-branded Video Abstracts to communicate his research to society more broadly.
He is a certified Carbon Literate, UQ Volunteer and Wellness Ambassador, and accredited Mental Health First Aider.
Dr Kazmi’s mentors at UQ are Professor David Williams and Dr Mehdi Serati.
Position: ARC Future Fellow
Organisation: Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology
One of Dr Hou’s research interests is regulating the physical and chemical properties of microporous glass materials, and realising efficient separation, catalysis and energy applications. What does this mean?
Dr Hou is currently leading a global team of researchers who developed technology to produce next-generation composite glass for lighting LEDs and screens on smartphones, televisions and computers!
The team found that encasing extremely sensitive nanocrystals called lead-halide perovskites in porous glass makes them suitable for practical use because it gives the structure an evenness, unlike traditional glass.
Their findings may enable the manufacture of glass screens that are not only unbreakable but also deliver crystal clear image quality and could be applied in new generation solar cells for renewable electricity or biomedical imaging applications.
Dr Hou and his colleagues are using an artificial intelligence-powered robotic platform to automate and process data so they can direct their time into other innovations.
Dr Hou was named an Australian Research Council Future Fellow in 2021, and the Discovery Early Career Researcher Award in 2018.
He joined the University of Queensland in 2019 after receiving his Ph.D in Chemical Engineering in 2015 (University of NSW) and working at the UNESCO Centre for Membrane Science and Technology (2015-2017) and University of Cambridge (2017-2019, affiliate of the Trinity College) for his post-doctoral research.
Position: Senior Lecturer in Igneous Petrology
Organisation: School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Queensland
Teresa’s research includes the study of tiny crystals that form deep in volcanoes and may be as small as a grain of salt. Her current research includes applying high-resolution petrology, geochemistry and geochronology to investigate why, how and when volcanic eruptions start.
Dr Ubide uses field observations, detailed microscopy and analysis and geochemical modelling at the mineral and melt scale to build a detailed reconstruction of magmatic processes through time.
Her research may provide new information that may be the key for advance warnings before volcanic eruptions and lead to more effective evacuations.
Originally from San Sebastian in Spain she studied and researched her way from Spain, The Netherlands and Ireland before moving to Australia in 2016 to lecture at the University of Queensland’s School of Earth and Environmental Sciences.
You can watch Dr Ubide explaining her research and how volcanoes work in podcasts, videos and an episode of Scope TV!