Faculty of Science

Igor Aharonovich is an award-winning scientist working on cutting-edge research into quantum sources that are able to generate, encode and distribute quantum information. A Professor in the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at UTS, Igor investigates optically active defects in solids, with the aim of identifying a new generation of ultra-bright solid state quantum emitters.

He is a chief investigator at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Transformative Meta-Optical Materials (TMOS), and leads an international collaboration investigating the chemical structure of crystal imperfections, or defects, in the nanomaterial hexagonal boron nitride (hBN).
In 2013, he established the nanophotonics research group at UTS, was promoted to Associate Professor in 2015, and to a full Professor in 2018.
His research group explores new quantum emitters in wide bandgap materials, with the aim of fabricating quantum nanophotonic devices on a single chip for the next generation of quantum computing, cryptography and bio-sensing.

In 2016, Igor and his team discovered the first quantum emitters in 2D materials that operate at room temperature based on defects in hBN.
He has co-authored more than 200 peer-reviewed publications, including one of the most cited reviews on diamond photonics. He has also written a road map for solid state single-photon sources.

In 2019, Igor co-founded the inaugural online photonics conference, Photonics Online Meetup, which attracted more than 1100 attendees from around the world, and which was highlighted by top science outlets. The conference now runs twice a year.

Igor has received several international awards including the Pawsey Medal (2017), the IEEE Photonics Young Investigator Award (2016) and in 2020 he was the recipient of the Kavli Foundation Early Career Lectureship in Materials Science from Materials Research Society. In 2021, he became a Fellow of the Optical Society (OSA), and in 2024 elected as a fellow of SPIE. 

Igor received his B.Sc. (2005) and M.Sc. (2007) in Materials Engineering from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, and a PhD from the University of Melbourne (2010).

Dr. Isa Ahmadalidokht is a Research Fellow at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), specializing in quantum microscopy. He joined UTS in October 2024, bringing extensive experience from his previous role as a Research Fellow at the Centre for Quantum Technologies (CQT), National University of Singapore (NUS), where he worked for four years. During his time at CQT, Dr. Ahmadalidokht contributed to groundbreaking projects in heterogeneous quantum interferences, quantum frequency conversion, quantum properties of 2D materials, and quantum communication. With a PhD in Photonics, he is passionate about advancing quantum technologies.

Isa is a research member of both the ARC Centre of Excellence in Quantum Biotechnology (QUBIC) and the ARC Centre of Excellence in Optical Microcombs for Breakthrough Science (COMBS).

Dr Penny Ajani is a adjunct fellow at UTS and has been actively engaged in the development, conduct and communication of biological science, especially in the area of marine phytoplankton for more than twenty years. She has worked in academia, government and also as a private consultant. She obtained her PhD from Macquarie University in 2014 and was awarded a UTS Chancellors Post Doctorate Fellowship the same year.

Her research has included the effects of ocean outfalls on water quality and marine biota, phytoplankton dynamics, and the ecology and specialist identification of harmful algal blooms. Her fellowship at UTS within the Seafood Safety Program, School of Life Sciences, engaged novel genetic tools to investigate the evolution, ecology and toxicity of harmful algae especially in relation to oyster farming. She is also interested in how ecologically significant, and potentially toxic, diatom species respond to ocean warming. This research provided critical insights into stress response, gene function and the adaptive capability of organisms to changing ocean conditions.

I am an Associate Lecturer at the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences/University of Technology Sydney. My academic background encompasses the intersection of Applied Mathematics and Engineering.  My PhD (the University of Technology Sydney) focused on the problem of treatment planning for multi-ion particle therapy, where I developed mathematical models and computer algorithms utilising applied mathematics optimisation methods to solve nonnegative linear least-square problems.

My research sits at the intersection of physics, mathematics, and engineering, with a focus on advancing the fundamental understanding of wave-matter interactions and developing analytical and computational tools to describe and model them. 

Scott Alexander is a teaching-intensive academic at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), specializing in probability, statistics and mathematical finance.

He completed his PhD in Applied Mathematics at UTS in 2017. His doctoral research focused on an exotic option pricing problem in mathematical finance and was industry-sponsored by one of Australia’s largest banks.

Since joining UTS, Scott has developed and delivered high-quality curriculum across both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. He currently serves as the Subject Coordinator and Lecturer for major courses within the Bachelor of Science and Master of Quantitative Finance programmes, including Stochastic Processes and Financial Mathematics, Probability Theory and Stochastic Analysis and Statistics and Financial Econometrics.

His extensive teaching portfolio spans introductory data analysis to honours/master-level advanced stochastic processes, reflecting a deep commitment to fostering quantitative literacy and financial mathematics expertise in his students.

Current Teaching Portfolio

• 37363 Stochastic Processes and Financial Mathematics (UG) – Subject Coordinator / Lecturer / Tutor
• 37007 Probability Theory and Stochastic Analysis (PG) – Subject Coordinator / Lecturer / Tutor
• 37010 Statistics and Financial Econometrics (PG) – Subject Coordinator / Lecturer / Tutor
• 37161 Probability and Random Variables (UG) – Subject Coordinator / Lecturer
• 60117 Understanding Data and Statistical Design (PG) – Subject Coordinator / Lecturer.

Past Teaching Experience

• 37252 Regression Analysis (UG) – Subject Coordinator / Lecturer / Tutor
• 37262 Mathematical Statistics (UG) – Subject Coordinator / Lecturer / Tutor
• 37356 Design and Analysis of Experiments (UG) – Subject Coordinator / Lecturer / Tutor
• 37464 Advanced Stochastic Processes (PG) – Lecturer / Tutor
• 33230 Mathematics 2 (UG) – Lecturer / Tutor
• 37151 Introduction to Statistics (UG) – Lecturer / Tutor.

Dr Amani Alghalayini is a multidisciplinary researcher with expertise spanning cell biology, molecular biology, biophysics, biotechnology, and sensor development. She is currently based at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), where she is leading research focused on identifying and repurposing therapies for ARID1A-mutant ovarian clear cell carcinoma. Her work aims to overcome chemo-resistance and improve outcomes for women affected by this aggressive cancer.

Dr Alghalayini has a strong record of contributing to high-impact translational research through industry-academic collaborations. She played a key role in the development of a rapid point-of-care COVID-19 diagnostic cartridge in partnership with Alcolizer Technology Pty Ltd, driving antibody production, sensor development, and clinical trial implementation. This work gained national attention through media coverage by 7News, UTS News, and the IMCRC.

In collaboration with Surgical Diagnostics Pty Ltd, she contributed to an ion channel switch biosensor project, supporting the development of diagnostic platforms and drug screening tools. She has also contributed to a collaborative project with BOD Sciences investigating the biological role and therapeutic relevance of CLIC proteins.

Her doctoral research, completed at UTS in collaboration with industry, focused on lipid-membrane-coated electrodes and resulted in the development of a novel real-time biosensor for studying membrane disruption by laser-irradiated gold nanoparticles, providing insights into biomedical applications.

Dr Alghalayini continues to apply her broad skill set and collaborative approach to advance precision medicine and therapeutic innovation in cancer research.

Morgan Alonzo is a senior lecturer in the Chemistry discipline at UTS and a co-lead of the Drugs and Forensic Toxicology group, specialising in forensic and analytical chemistry. Her work integrates forensic chemistry research with teaching and program leadership in the chemistry discipline.

Morgan's research focuses on the detection, identification, and profiling of illicit substances, including the development of novel analytical approaches such as electrochemical methods, quantitative analysis of drugs and their metabolites in biological matrices, and forensic chemical profiling of illicit substances and precursor materials. This work is strongly aligned with real-world forensic applications and is conducted in collaboration with industry and law enforcement agencies. Her research includes the development of patented chemical colour tests for screening new psychoactive substances, one of which has been successfully commercialised for the detection of synthetic cathinones.

Morgan is the program director for the Bachelor of Science (Chemistry) and Bachelor of Science (Flexible) programs and also has extensive experience teaching across undergraduate chemistry and forensic science programs. Since 2019 she has coordinated the large first year subject Chemistry 1, leading its continued evolution to enhance engagement and accessibility.

Distinguished Professor Alaina Ammit is Professor of Respiratory Pharmacology in the School of Life Sciences and Associate Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Science at UTS. These positions are held collaboratively with the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research where Alaina is Research Leader.

Distinguished Professor Ammit has an international reputation for her research elucidating the mechanistic basis of inflammation in chronic respiratory diseases. Graduating with BAppSc (Biomedical Science) from UTS (then NSWIT) in 1984, Alaina went onto complete both her MSc (1990) and PhD (1996) studies through the University of Sydney. She received prestigious fellowships to support her postdoctoral studies, including an NH&MRC CJ Martin Fellowship. Returning from her postdoctoral position at the University of Pennsylvania, she was appointed Lecturer at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Sydney in 2002 and on the strength and success of her research and teaching, was appointed Associate Dean (Research) 2006-2010, promoted to Professor in 2014 and Head of the Respiratory Research Theme (2013-2016). She was recruited to UTS in 2016 in a collaborative research position in the School of Life Sciences and was the inaugural director of the Woolcock Emphysema Centre (2016 -2022) and Chair of the Research Committee and Executive Committee Member at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research (2024 - 2026). Alaina has served as Associate Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Science at UTS since 2018 and appointed Distinguished Professor in 2022 and was seconded to serve as interim Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) (July-Dec 2025).

Awards, Fellowships and Distinctions:

2023     Fellow of the Royal Society of NSW (FRSN)

2022     Distinguished Professor, UTS

2022     Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD)

2013      Senior Medical Scientist Award, Lung Institute of Western Australia

2011       Thompson Fellowship, University of Sydney

2006     Young Tall Poppy Award, Australian Institute of Policy and Science

2005      Senior Medical Scientist Award, Asthma and Allergy Research Institute

2004      Scientific Visits to North America, Australian Academy of Science

2001       Johnson & Johnson Research Postdoctoral Research Award, Australian Society of Medical Research (ASMR)

1998       CJ Martin Fellowship, NHMRC

1996        Martin Hardie Research Fellowship, Asthma Foundation of NSW

1990        Australian Postgraduate Award, ARC                                                                             

1989        Young Investigator's Award, Royal North Shore Hospital

Syd Ascione is a PhD student in the UTS Fish Ecology Lab, where their research investigates the ecology, life history, and conservation priorities of ghost pipefish (Solenostomidae). 

Before joining UTS, Syd spent four years as a research biologist with Project Seahorse at the University of British Columbia, Canada, where their conservation-oriented research investigated the impacts of illegal wildlife trade and bottom trawling on marine fishes, and led analyses underpinning updated IUCN Red List assessments for syngnathoid species. Her work and papers on threats to marine species have recieved international coverage in outlets including The New York Times, Smithsonian Magazine, and Mongabay.

Syd graduated from the University of British Columbia in 2022 with a Bachelors of Science in Biology (with Distinction). 

Dr. Mahuya Bandyopadhyay is an associate lecturer in the Department of Mathematical and Physical Sciences. She is a Pure Mathematician and holds a PhD in Differential Geometry. For her doctoral thesis, she studied different types of Riemannian and semi-Riemannian manifolds and their applications in the general theory of relativity and Cosmology. 

She joined UTS in March 2018. She has been teaching Mathematics and Statistics for more than ten years at the University level. Prior to that, she taught Maths and Stats as a lecturer in India for three years. Her current research interests lie in the field of Lie representation theory and Riemannian manifolds.

She is a member of the Australian Mathematical Society, MERGA and the Calcutta Mathematical Society, India.

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Dr Guochen Bao is an Emerging Leadership Fellow of the Australia National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC EL1), a Chancellor’s Research Fellow (CRF), and a Group Leader at University of Technology Sydney (UTS), with expertise in organic synthesis, analytical chemistry, spectroscopy, hybrid nanomaterials, nanophotonics characterisations, and biomedical engineering. Currently, Dr Bao leads the research focusing on developing hybrid materials, with desired functions, and optical and nanophotonic properties, and integrating these new functionalities into molecular/nano-probes and functional devices for ultrasensitive bioassay, biomedical imaging, and precise therapy.

Dr Bao obtained his dual PhD degrees from Hong Kong Baptist University in November 2020 and UTS in April 2021, under the joint supervision of Professor Dayong Jin, Professor Gary Ka-Leung Wong, Professor Peter A. Tanner, and Professor Jean-Claude G. Bünzli. Immediately after his thesis submission in September 2020, he was offered a four-month Research Associate position to develop hybrid nanoprobes and contribute the preliminary data in the development of test strips for milk proteins. In 2021, he was offered a one-year postdoctoral position at the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, UTS. In 2022, he accepted an invitation from the director of Institute for Biomedical Materials and Devices (IBMD) at UTS to become a research theme leader and core member to build research capacity in novel fluorescent probes and technologies for bio-imaging, sensing, and therapy, leading to his awarded iCare grant. In 2023, he was awarded a four-year UTS Chancellor’s Research Fellowship  to start his independent research, with the mentorship of Professor Philip A. Gale (Deputy Dean of Science), by leading the research focusing on developing hybrid materials, with desired functions, and optical and nanophotonic properties for biomedical applications. In 2024, he was awarded a five-year NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow to further strengthen his leadership and research excellence in this field.

Dr Bao’s research excellence is evidenced by a growing number of publications in highly regarded journals. His work has been mostly published in top and prestigious journals, including Nature Reviews Materials, Light: Science & Applications (Nature Publishing Group), Nature Photonics, Nano Letters, ACS Nano, Coordination Chemistry Reviews, Analytical Chemistry, Advanced Science, and Angewandte Chemie. This has resulted in a high average impact factor (>20) in his leading papers (first/corresponding authours). Notably, His works “A stoichiometric terbium-europium dyad molecular thermometer”, “Lanthanide complexes for drug delivery and therapeutics” and “Nanoparticles give mice infrared vision” resulted in Best Paper of the Month awards at UTS. His equal first-author paper on responsive microrobots featured on the cover page of the high-quality journal ACS Nano. Dr Bao’s knowledge and views on hybrid lanthanide nanoparticles and their potential applications resulted in invited first/corresponding authored review papers in the respected journals Coordination Chemistry Reviews (2021 & 2022) and Nature Reviews Materials. He also shared scholarly opinions as the first author of a “News & Views” article in Nature Photonics.

Dr Bao has built broad national and international collaborations and demonstrated emerging leadership, including serving on conference organisation committees and editorial boards, chairing seminars, securing research fundings (>1.5 M income, e.g. NHMRC Investigator grant, Chancellor’s Research Fellowship, iCare grant, Tour De Cure grant), reviewing for highly ranked journals, and assessing HDR written works and conducting oral interviews in Stages one and two, assessing grant applications (e.g. for German Academic Exchange Service), mentoring and supervision of HDR and visiting students.

Daniel is the Business Development Manager in the Faculty of Science. He supports the faculty's facilities and academic staff in the development of discoveries, and works to connect researchers with industry and government partners seeking collaborative and impactful research projects. Along with industry collaborations and partnerships, his other focus includes technology translation and commercialisation, as well as IP evaluation and development. Daniel has a technical background in molecular microbiology with experience in various research organisations, including universities, government and a MedTech startup. 

Dr Barbara Brito Rodriguez is a UTS Visiting Fellow and Veterinary Research Officer NSW DPI (Biosecurity & Food Safety).  

She is interested in supporting the design of animal disease control measures and surveillance using the results of scientific studies. Her research areas are quantitative epidemiology, animal disease modeling, and molecular epidemiology (pathogen genetics) of infectious animal diseases. She is also interested developing advanced skills in epidemiology, statistics, and sequence data analysis, with particular focus in metagenomics.

Dr Julian Broséus is a forensic scientist whose work sits at the intersection of digital traces, forensic intelligence, data analytics, and the analysis of complex systems. He joined the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) in October 2025 as Senior Lecturer in Digital Forensic Science, bringing a unique combination of academic expertise and international operational experience gained across Europe, North America, and Australia.

Julian holds a PhD, MSc and BSc in Forensic Science from the University of Lausanne's School of Criminal Justice (École des Sciences Criminelles, Switzerland). His doctoral research focused on forensic drug intelligence, chemical profiling, multivariate statistics, and machine learning applications in forensic science, earning a Faculty Award in recognition of the quality of his PhD thesis.

His international career spans academia and global regulatory organisations. After completing his PhD at the University of Lausanne, he held a Lecturer and Research Fellow position at the School of Criminal Justice, advancing research in forensic drug intelligence, illicit markets, and digital traces while teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students. He subsequently served as Invited Professor at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (Canada), where he contributed to teaching, research supervision, and the development of the undergraduate forensic science program. His contributions were recognised with a special commendation from the Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Physics. He also collaborated with the National Bureau of Investigation of Finland, leading the implementation of the country's first intelligence-led cocaine profiling program.

From 2017 to 2025, Julian worked at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in Lausanne, Switzerland, where he conducted global investigations into doping and corruption in sport, including Operation LIMS, the most successful anti-doping investigation and one of the largest digital forensic investigations in modern sport. His work involved the analysis of terabytes of data and millions of files, contributing to major regulatory outcomes and international anti-doping proceedings. He also founded and led WADA's Data Analytics Unit, developing data strategies that enhanced organisational performance and transformed complex datasets into actionable intelligence for decision-makers.

At UTS, Julian's teaching and research focus on digital forensic science, digital trace analysis, forensic intelligence, online illicit markets, data analytics, and the application of emerging technologies to forensic science and investigations. He is particularly interested in how digital traces can be transformed into actionable intelligence to support investigations, inform decision-making, and improve understanding of complex problems through interdisciplinary approaches. Through his research, teaching, and industry engagement, he is committed to advancing the role of forensic science and digital traces in addressing contemporary crime, integrity threats, and complex investigative challenges.