A/ProfNic Surawski

Nic Surawski is an Associate Professor in Environmental Engineering with expertise in alternative transportation fuels and their emissions. Nic has worked in this field since the commencement of his PhD in 2008 and is dedicated to the delivery of transportation sustainability initiatives that facilitate net zero emission outcomes. Before commencing his PhD, A/Prof Surawski worked as a research and development scientist in industry as a transport modeller with Veitch Lister Consulting. Nic’s PhD was awarded in 2012 from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) which attracted an Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Award based on his thesis examination from two Society of Automotive Engineering (SAE) Fellows. Since completion of his PhD, Nic undertook an Office of the Chief Executive postdoctoral fellowship with the CSIRO in bushfire biogeochemistry and a second postdoctoral fellowship with The Cyprus Institute in aerosol instrumentation before joining UTS.

Nic has published over 60 peer-reviewed journal articles with approximately three quarters of his papers appearing in the top journal decile (i.e. top 10 %) in the last six years. A/Prof Surawski has published his work in general interest journals including a featured article with Nature Communications along with co-authored publications in Nature Sustainability and Science Advances. Nic has published five articles in Environmental Science & Technology which is the premier technical journal in Environmental Engineering and regularly publishes in other technical journals with relevance to the transport emissions discipline such as Science of the Total Environment and Transportation Research Part D – Transport and Environment. Nic is currently ranked 15^th in the world for the SciVal topic T.23300 Traffic Emission; Nitrogen Oxide; Atmospheric Aerosol which forms part of a larger topic cluster focussed on atmospheric aerosols.

A/Prof Surawski has obtained career funding in excess of $4 M since the completion of his PhD in 2012, and has acted as sole or lead chief investigator for $540 k of this funding. Nic has delivered projects for a variety of stakeholders such as the Department of Environment, the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, the CSIRO, state government agencies, city councils and alternative engine design companies. Forty percent of Nic’s published output has attracted external funding and approximately 10 % of his outputs have been funded by the Australian Research Council with funding being awarded to his collaborators.

Nic is also a dedicated educator who demonstrates excellent educational leadership and unswerving dedication to his students. Nic has an interest in developing project-based learning outcomes that secure vital employability skills for engineering students. This approach stems from Nic’s interest in constructivist educational philosophy. Nic received a 2021 Early Career Learning and Teaching Award from UTS for these initiatives. A/Prof Surawski served as Deputy Head of School for Teaching and Learning from 2022–2024 and led the reaccreditation of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees within the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering with Engineers Australia during this term.

A/Prof Surawski has reviewed grants for the Australian Research Council Discovery scheme, The Swiss National Science Foundation and the Natural Environment Research Council in the United Kingdom. A/Prof Surawski regularly peer reviews for many high-quality journals in air quality and climate science such as Nature Climate Change, Environmental Science & Technology, Atmospheric Environment, Science of the Total Environment and Transportation Research Part D - Transport and Environment. Nic has also acted as a peer reviewer for the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report for Working Group III focussed on climate change mitigation in the transport sector.

Nic is a member of the Clean Air Society of Australia and New Zealand (CASANZ) and currently serves as the NSW/ACT branch treasurer. He also serves on the Fuel Standards Consultative Committee which is administered by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. A/Prof Surawski is also an Accredited Mathematician and is a member of the European Geophysical Union.

Nic has recently completed a CSIRO International Hydrogen Research Fellowship in partnership with colleagues at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry and the University of Cambridge working on earth system modelling of atmospheric chemistry. Apart from currently serving as a Guest Scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, A/Prof Surawski has also been a Visiting Fellow at QUT since 2018. Nic currently acts as a Review Editor for the journal Frontiers in Environmental Engineering. Nic was a member of the OPEN AIR project team that was awarded a 2024 Healthy Planet, Healthy People Award from the Banksia Foundation at their 35th National Awards.