Scarlet Kong, mentee in the 2019 Energy Mineral Resources program in NSW (UNSW)
Scarlet is a PhD student in Materials Science and Engineering at UNSW Sydney. She received her Bachelors in both Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering, with honours in 2017.
Scarlet’s PhD project at UNSW Sydney is partnered with the Defence Materials Technology Centre (DMTC), Thales Australia and the University of Wollongong. The project is aimed to improve our understanding of how crystallographic texturing influences the mechanical and piezoelectric properties of electromechanical transducer materials used in naval sonar. The project involves computational micro-mechanical modelling and experimental structural characterisation methods, in particular, synchrotron x-ray diffraction. The project will contribute to the development of next-generation piezoelectric ceramics that can be used in underwater acoustic transducer applications. Recently, Scarlet won the Best PhD Poster prize, for this project, at DMTC’s Annual Conference in Canberra.
She has been involved in research since 2015, working as an undergraduate research assistant, and has collaborated with researchers from North Carolina State University (NCSU), the Australian National University (ANU) and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO). Her main research interest is in material’s structural characterisation, and she specialises in ferroelectric materials.
Scarlet is currently also a student ambassador for the Faculty of Science at UNSW Sydney. In this role, she regularly helps organise and run outreach events for school students and the community to promote and encourage STEM education. These events vary from organising and presenting science demonstrations to speaking at university information sessions.
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