The ANSTO Australian Synchrotron User Meeting was held at the Australian Synchrotron in Clayton, Victoria 109-10 November 2026.
The Synchrotron user community met to exchange ideas, showcase research, engage with synchrotron scientists, and build new connections around a shared passion for science. The User Meeting highlighted excellence in synchrotron science through the Early Career Research, Mid-Career Research, Lifetime Contribution and the Stephen Wilkins Thesis Medal.
Mid-Career Researcher Award - Dr Mark Hackett
Dr Mark Hackett of Curtin University has received the mid-career researcher award at the recent User meeting held at the Australian Synchrotron. He works in the field of analytical chemistry and bio-inorganic chemistry with a research focus is the development and application of spectroscopic tools to study the role of metal ions in healthy and diseased brain function. Synchrotron facilities are central to Dr Hackett’s research program with experiments conducted across the Australian Synchrotron and other facilities. He uses the X-ray fluorescence microscopy beamlines, X-absorption spectroscopy beamlines, and mid-infrared microscopy beamlines.
The spectroscopic imaging protocols developed by Dr Hackett have been used to study metal ion speciation in a range of brain conditions, including the natural ageing process, Alzheimer’s disease, traumatic brain injury and multiple sclerosis. These protocols have also been adopted by other research fields such as agriculture/crop science and forensic science.
Sustained Contribution - Dr Richard Garrett
Dr Richard Garrett has over 30 years of experience working at the Australian Synchrotron and other major synchrotron facilities in the United States and Japan. He was the Facility Director of the Australian Synchrotron Research Program until it concluded in 2009.
At the time of his retirement in June 2023, Dr Garrett served as Senior Advisor, Strategic Projects where he represented the organisation with a number of national and international programs and affiliations. He provided expert advice on fusion energy, synchrotron science and other technical subjects while at ANSTO. He has extensive international linkages with synchrotron and other nuclear science institutions, particularly in Asia. His roles included Treasurer and a member of the Executive Council of the Asia Oceania Forum for Synchrotron Radiation Research (AOFSRR); chair of the International Union of Crystallography Commission on Synchrotron and X-ray Free Electron Laser Radiation from 2011 to 2017.
He is a member of the High Energy Accelerator Research Organisation (KEK) Science Advisory Committee (Japan) and serves as an Australian representative on the Asian Committee for Future Accelerators.
Richard holds an Honorary Fellow position at ANSTO, and an Honorary Associate Professor appointment at the Australian National University.
Australian Synchrotron Stephen Wilkins Thesis Medal - Dr Han Wu
Dr Han Wu is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Adelaide University, working with Professor Shi-Zhang Qiao. His research focuses on aqueous rechargeable batteries, particularly zinc-based energy storage systems, with an emphasis on high-loading electrodes, interfacial chemistry, and practical battery technologies.
A key aspect of his research is the use of synchrotron-based techniques to probe structural, chemical, and interfacial changes in batteries under operando conditions, providing insights into their electrochemical reaction mechanisms. As a first or co-first author, he has published research in leading journals including Nature Chemistry, Nature Communications, Science Advances, Joule, Journal of the American Chemistry Society, Advanced. Materials (2), and Angewandte Chemie.
Early Career Researcher Award - Dr Yameng Fan
Dr Yameng Fan is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at RMIT University. She received her joint PhD from the University of Wollongong and the University of Surrey in 2023. Her research focuses on the design and development of advanced cathode materials for rechargeable batteries and the use of synchrotron techniques to understand battery reaction mechanisms, with the goal of advancing next-generation clean energy storage technologies. Her publications have attracted more than 4,500 citations with an h-index of 37.
Dr Fan’s work has been featured in this article.
