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Fontana Corrosion Center 477 Watts Hall
2041 College Rd.
Columbus, OH 43210
phone: 614-688-4128
fax: 614-292-9857
cell: 614-432-2377
May 11, 2011
HH Uhlig Award Committee
NACE International
Dear colleagues:
It is with great pleasure that I nominate Prof. Nick Birbilis of Monash University for the H.H.
Uhlig Educators Award of NACE International. Enclosed are his CV, the nomination form
and several supporting letters from various people including NACE members, administrators
at Monash and Nick’s students. As you may know, I was the former chair of the Uhlig Award
selection committee, so I am qualified to state that this nomination package is much stronger
than most Uhlig award nominations. It is certainly much stronger than mine was when I won
the award! In any case, I’m sure that you will find Nick to be an outstanding candidate for the
Uhlig Award.
I first met Nick when he came to OSU as a post doc in 2004 as a fresh PhD graduate. Even
then Nick had a preternatural understanding of what it takes to be a successful researcher and
academic and the ability and drive to carry it out. He knows how to find the heart of a
problem, do enough work to make a reasonable advance in the field, and quickly write a
paper to clearly communicate the results. As a result, he already has a remarkable record of
achievement at a very young age. According to ISI Web of Science, in May, 2011, he has 45
publications with an h index of 11. His m index, which is the h index divided by the years
since PhD, is 1.6, which is extremely high. For example, someone of my age with that m
index would require an h index of 41, which is well above the h index of anyone in the field,
even the very senior people. This analysis indicates that Nick is poised to become one of the
most frequently referenced authors in corrosion within a few years.
Nick is also poised to become one of the leaders of the field within a few years. He is
extremely active on the international scene, which is difficult for someone in Australia.
However, he makes the effort to attend international conferences several times each year. He
is active in a number of professional societies as a symposium organizer and committee
member and is an editorial board member on several journals. Considering the three aspects
used to evaluate professors, i.e. scholarship, teaching and service, Nick is doing extremely
well on the first and third. However, the Uhlig Award is about teaching, so the rest of the
letter will focus on Nick’s teaching record and abilities.
Teaching involves both mentorship and classroom instruction. Nick has a huge research effort
that is supporting a large number of students (14), postdocs (5) and undergraduates (5).
Managing a group this size is a large task, but Nick seems to be up to it. He is also the only
instructor for corrosion courses at Monash, where he teaches 2 corrosion courses as well as
other materials courses. I know from listening to Nick give numerous presentations at FCC
group meetings and at conferences that he is a talented lecturer. He always displays a depth of
understanding along with a clarity of presentation.
I am sure you will find the attached set of supporting letters to be remarkable if you take the
time to read them. I have never seen stronger supporting letters, and have extracted a few
comments in the following. George Simon, the department head states that “Nick primarily
teaches in corrosion-based subjects and consistently rates as one of our best teachers,
gaining high scores in the online ranking given by the students. Indeed, not only is he one of
the Departments best teachers, but he ranks highly - certainly in the top 10% - of the approx.
100 Monash University Engineering academics.” Comments from his former and current
advisees include: “His attributes to easily relate very closely with his students, his passion for
the corrosion industry and his ability to infuse practical case-study to the theory taught, were
few of the qualities that I still remember from the different classes he taught. His education
style of linking practical case-studies to the theory was a crucial element in inducing interest
and discussion within the student body and was something that differentiated Nick from other
educators.” This is a most amazing quote: “He is the only academic I have met whose
students do not have a single bad thing to say about him.” And more: “Nick's diligence, bright
mind, inquisitive nature and unwavering commitment to helping others also enabled
him to achieve this success.” “Nick never shows the slightest hint fatigue or stress, always has
a positive attitude, and maintains an open door policy for students if they need assistance.”
“Nick is a young educator by age, but this is certainly not reflected in both his great depth of
knowledge and his aptitude for successfully conveying to students (or anyone else for that
matter) fundamental and complex corrosion principles.” Rudy Buchheit states “I have had the
pleasure of attending a few of Nick’s lectures while I was at Monash last year. He has the
ability to form a solid connection with a group of students and use that to deliver solid science
and engineering content.”
In summary, it is my opinion that Nick Birbilis is extraordinarily qualified for the Uhlig
Award. The award was originally intended for young educators, but that constraint has been
lifted in recent years when “older” educators (I was 43 at the time of my award) have been the
winners. Nick has been able to achieve the kind of record required for this award at a much
younger age than most. That doesn’t make him more qualified for the award, but does make
him more remarkable for the accomplishments. I am confident that you will agree with my
assessment that Nick Birbilis will make a superb Uhlig Award winner.
Thank you for your consideration of this nomination. Please feel free to contact me directly if
you need any more information.
Sincerely,
Gerald S. Frankel
DNV Chair
Professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Director, Fontana Corrosion Center
The Ohio State University
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or email [email protected].
NOMINATION FORM FOR THE NACE HERBERT H. UHLIG AWARD
This award is given for outstanding effectiveness in post-secondary, corrosion education either at the undergraduate or graduate level as exhibited by young educators who excite their students through outstanding and innovative teaching in corrosion. A young educator may qualify who has effectively conveyed and instilled in students the principles and applications of corrosion science and technology and stimulated students to enter professional pursuits in defining and mitigating corrosion problems.
To qualify, nominations must be received within 10 years of the nominee entering the field of education. Nominations must include the endorsement of three (3) NACE members closely associated with the nominee's activities, three (3) students who have been supervised by the nominee or enrolled in his/her course(s), and a senior academic administrator at the nominee's institution.
No posthumous nominations will be accepted. A nominee must be a NACE member in good standing.
Date submitted: May 11, 2011
Deadline: June 30
Full name of nominee: Nick Given Name
Birbilis Family Name
Present address of nominee: Company: Monash University Street Address: Wellington Road City Clayton State Victoria Postal Code/Zip 3800 Country Australia Telephone +61 3 99054919 Fax +61 3 99054940 E-Mail: [email protected]
Date Entered Field of Education: 2006
Title: Associate Professor
Nomination submitted by: Gerald S. Frankel Company: The Ohio State University Street Address: 2041 College Rd. City Columbus State OH Postal Code/Zip 43210 Country USA Telephone 614-688-4128 Fax 614-688-4128 E-Mail: [email protected]
Nominated by: (check one by double clicking on box, then click on ‘default value checked’)
Any Three NACE Members/ Section/Region Board/ Self/ Past H.H. Uhlig Recipient/ Senior Academic Administrator at Nominee’s Institution / NACE Awards Committee by Consensus of the Subcommittee
Nomination submitted on behalf of (name, member#): Gerald S. Frankel,
Citation for award (25 words or less to be used for publicity purposes should the nominee be selected).
For extraordinary accomplishments in mentoring and educating students in corrosion and corrosion science.
Attach nominee’s biographical data or professional resume.
Return form to: [email protected] NACE INTERNATIONAL Awards Committee Staff Liaison 1440 South Creek Dr. Houston, TX 77084-4906
NACE AWARDS COMMITTEE — January 17, 2003 Page 33
NACE H.H. Uhlig Award Page 2
H.H. Uhlig Educator Award Nominee Information
Please summarize the nominee's qualifications briefly as indicated below. Attach additional sheets as necessary. A supplementary resume or curriculum vitae may be included as well, if desired.
1. Nominee: Nick Birbilis
2. Academic Teaching Experience: Institution(s) and number of years at each.
Monash University, 2006 - present
3. Teaching Accomplishments: May include innovative teaching methods and subjects, community
services which foster educational contacts, student involvements, teaching awards, and other recognitions.
Nick completed a Graduate Certificate in Higher Education (part time education for 2 years) making him a qualified teacher (in Higher Education). This relates to undergraduate teaching. Nick has also completed both the Level 1 and Level 2 supervisor accreditation courses (certificates) - making him an accredited (and legal) research supervisor at the maximum attainable accreditation in Australia
Nick has also been proactive in the Undergraduate Research Opportunities scheme within the Faculty, and considers the teaching role to extend beyond the class room and also capture aspects of nurturing and transferring of knowledge towards his undergraduate students in a research setting.
Designed from scratch final year undergraduate advanced corrosion course
4. Other Experience: May include industrial, governmental, and other professional contacts which foster
educational development. Briefly relate these to the nominee's teaching effectiveness.
Nick is involved in the educational activities of the Australasian Corrosion Association (ACA). He was a founder of the ACA Young Corrosion Professionals group; he instigated Victorian Branch events such as the student’s night, careers night and has organized the Brian Cherry student research forum since its inception. Nick is presently serving as the ACA Victorian Branch President.
Nick is involved in NACE, and has been involved in the Research Committee, and been Chair of the Student Poster Session and Research in Progress Symposium where student participation and research are key aspects.
5. Graduate Experience, if any: Give a brief overview of graduate research contributions to student
education.
Nick presently leads a group of 29 personnel - one of the largest 'single academic' corrosion groups in world
Nick has grown and maintains a world class lab for approaching 5 years now, making techniques such as OP, AFM, SEM, micro/nanocell, advanced corrosion models, etc, available to many students, researchers, overseas students, visiting scholars, and collaborators.
Nick trained postdoctoral fellows. In all, he has advised/hosted a total of 49 research projects.
NOTE: Save document to your desktop, complete the form and submit to Awards Committee Liaison at address below
or email [email protected].
NACE H.H. Uhlig Award Page 3
6. Three (3) NACE Members closely associated with the nominee's activities. (Please attach letters of
endorsement):
Name: Gerald S. Frankel
Company: The Ohio State University Street Address: 2041 College Rd. City Columbus State OH Postal Code/Zip 43210 Country USA Telephone 614-688-4128 Fax 614-292-9857 E-Mail: [email protected]
Name: Rudolph G. Buchheit Company: The Ohio State University Street Address: 2041 College Rd. City Columbus State OH Postal Code/Zip 43210 Country USA Telephone 614-292-6085 Fax 614-292-9857 E-Mail: [email protected]
Name: Mary Cavanaugh Company: Cabot Microelectronics Corporation Street Address: 870 N. Commons Dr. City Aurora State IL Postal Code/Zip Country 60504 Telephone Fax E-Mail:
7. Three (3) Students who have been supervised by the nominee or enrolled in his/her course.
(Please attach letters of endorsement)
Name: Rajkumar Gopiraj Street Address: Level 45, 80 Collins Street City Melbourne State Victoria Postal Code/Zip 3000 Country Australia Telephone +61 3 9653 1234 Fax +61 3 9654 7093 E-Mail: [email protected]
Name: Aaron Sudholz Street Address: 506 Lorimer St City Fishermans Bend State Victoria Postal Code/Zip 3207 Country Australia Telephone Fax E-Mail: [email protected]
Name: Sebastian Thomas Street Address: Monash Univ. City Clayton State Victoria Postal Code/Zip 3800 Country Australia Telephone Fax
E-Mail:
NACE AWARDS COMMITTEE — January 17, 2003 Page 33
NACE H.H. Uhlig Award Page 4
8. Senior academic administrator at the nominee's institution. (Please attach letter of endorsement):
Name: George P. Simon
Institution: Head, Department of Materials Engineering, Monash University Street Address Building 19, Monash University: City Clayton State Victoria Postal Code/Zip 3800 Country Australia Telephone +61 3 9905 4936 Fax +61 3 9905 4934 E-Mail: [email protected]
To Whom It May Concern
Support Letter for Associate Professor Nick Birbilis
For the HH Uhlig Award
Professor George P Simon
Head, Department of Materials Engineering, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
I am writing this letter in support of Associate Professor Nick Birbilis’s nomination for the HH Uhlig Award. I
can verify that Prof Birbilis fits very well into the profile of research excellence and inspiration to students,
undergraduate and postgraduate, in the area of corrosion, that this award addresses. Indeed, it his infectious
enthusiasm and strong qualities of mentorship that have enabled him to rise rapidly to the level of Associate
Professor (in Australia, Nick is quite young to have reached this level), and such decisions are only made
against a background of high level, sustained activity in all areas of research, teaching and service.
His research quality is made clear by the high ranking of his publications, his presence on Editorial Boards
and the fact that he obtained a high prestigious ARC Australian Research Fellowship, provided by the
Australian Government to applicants of high merit. Further to this, he was one of the prime movers in a
significant 10 yearly research centre in pipelines that commenced last year, a significant portion of the
funding which will come to Monash to support his program (ca $500k/year). He has also been responsible for
obtaining significant funds from our Federal Government to by tools of use to the research such as a FIB and
an optical profiler amongst them. He has a broad range of “extracurricular” activities in the area of corrosion,
and indeed is currently the president of the local chapter of the Australian corrosion society. It is clear,
through all these activities and others, that he is fully engaged at all levels with corrosion research and
industrial interaction.
Nick primarily teaches in corrosion-based subjects and consistently rates as one of our best teachers,
gaining high scores in the online ranking given by the students. Indeed, not only is he one of the
Departments best teachers, but he ranks highly - certainly in the top 10% - of the approx. 100 Monash
University Engineering academics. As well gaining good ratings for his undergraduate coursework teaching,
students “vote with their feet” when doing their Final Year project in 4th
year. His projects are amongst the
most sought after, and he thus he often obtains the best students (the students get their project of choice,
depending on their previous years marks). These 4th
year students enjoy their time in Nick’s group because of its excellent facilities and quality postgraduate and Research Fellows who work there. And make no
mistake; Nick’s postgraduate group is large, clearly based on the effort that he makes with students and the
connection – both technical and personal – that results. An easygoing, friendly nature, along with a
commitment to rigor and excellence in his experimental and modelling-based research means that he can
connect with them at a number of levels. His students are also given the possibility to travel to broaden their
horizons and have their work critiqued, made possible by the excellent supporting grants that Nick has been
able to attract.
Professor George P. Simon
Head
Department of Materials Engineering Monash University
Building 19, Monash University, Victoria 3800 Australia
Telephone +61 3 9905 4936 Facsimile +61 3 9905 4934
ABN 12 377 614 012 CRICOS provider number 0008C
I cannot recommend him highly enough for this award. I believe he matches very well the requirements of
excellence and inspiration.
Yours faithfully
Professor George Simon
Professor George P. Simon
Head
Department of Materials Engineering Monash University
Building 19, Monash University, Victoria 3800 Australia
Telephone +61 3 9905 4936 Facsimile +61 3 9905 4934
ABN 12 377 614 012 CRICOS provider number 0008C
To whom in may concern,
I have known Associate Professor Birbilis since the late 1990s when I taught him during his undergraduate studies at Monash University. More recently I have come to know him as a colleague in the Department of Materials Engineering and in my role as Associate Dean (Research Training) in the Faculty of Engineering, in which capacity I am responsible for some 500 postgraduate research students. I feel I am able to comment on his interaction with both undergraduate and research students.
Nick is an innovative educator who adopts a practical action‐oriented approach to his undergraduate teaching which is reflected in the high student unit evaluation scores he routinely receives. Nick pays close attention to detail, and strives to present what could in some hands be rather dry material in an engaging manner. He is able to relate theory to practical application, and with inexhaustible patience unfailingly goes the extra mile to help students. Nick also assists students in finding work placements or jobs on graduation in corrosion‐ related fields.
In the relatively short time that Nick has been a full‐time academic he has built up one of the largest research groups in the Department, which in itself is a testament to the enthusiasm with which he engages in the task of supervising young researchers. Nick’s group is also one of the happiest I know, which is not to be underestimated. In formal and informal settings Nick is by turns role model, mentor, coach, teacher, and colleague to the students under his supervision. His students graduate as well‐rounded researchers.
In summary, I cannot recommend Nick highly enough for the H.H. Uhlig Award.
Yours faithfully,
Professor Chris H.J. Davies Associate Dean, Research Training Faculty of Engineering Postal – Monash University, VIC 3800, Australia Building 72, Clayton campus, Wellington Road, Clayton Telephone +61 3 9905 4929 Email [email protected] www.monash.edu.au CRICOS provider number 00008C ABN 12 377 614 012
To whom it may concern,
I write this letter of support for Nick Birbilis for the HH Uhlig Award, as a former student under his
tutelage at Monash University in Australia as part of my double degree in Science and Engineering.
Nick was my teacher in numerous corrosion classes I undertook as part of my Materials Engineering
degree and he acted as a mentor/co-supervisor for my industry based-honors project.
His attributes to easily relate very closely with his students, his passion for the corrosion industry and
his ability to infuse practical case-study to the theory taught, were few of the qualities that I still
remember from the different classes he taught. His education style of linking practical case-studies to
the theory was a crucial element in inducing interest and discussion within the student body and was
something that differentiated Nick from other educators.
His passion for the corrosion industry came through very clearly in each of his classes and was one of
the primary reasons that I continued to pursue a career in this field and currently work as a materials
consultant within the corrosion field for AECOM.
Nick was additionally my co-supervisor for my honor’s thesis which I completed in collaboration with
ExxonMobil and was instrumental in providing guidance and direction throughout the project.
Nick has been a mentor throughout my young professional career and he has taken an active interest
in the development of his past students within the corrosion industry and has imparted his knowledge
and assistance throughout without reservation or acknowledgement. He goes-out of his way to
provide the required introduction into his wider range of networks and has greatly assisted myself as a
young professional to expand my own network within the corrosion industry.
Nick additionally encourages and motivates his past-students to give back to the corrosion industry by
setting an example as a fine leader that we can model ourselves after as we go forward in our career.
This is particularly noticeable by the number of past students who assist Nick with presenting at
various lunch-time sessions to current students and his ability to provide a sense of community and
belonging within the corrosion industry.
I hope, I have articulated my belief that Nick Birbilis is a fine young educator in the corrosion field and
would be thoroughly deserving of this Award.
Regards
Rajkumar Gopiraj
D +61 3 9653 8960 M +61 418 969 234
AECOM
Level 45, 80 Collins Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000
T +61 3 9653 1234 F +61 3 9654 7093
Australian Government . --· - -· --·
Department of Defence
Defence Science and
Technology Organisation
Dr Aaron Sudholz
Corrosion Management Group
Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO)
506 Lorimer Street
Fishermans Bend, VIC, AUS, 3207
20th April 2011
Awards Committee StaffLiaison
National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE)
1440 South Creek Drive
Houston, TX, USA, 77084
To Whom It May Concern:
Re: Nomination of A/Prof. Nick Birbilis for H.H. Uhlig Award
I am writing to you on this occasion to endorse the nomination of Associate Professor Dr
Nick Birbilis for the H. H. Uhlig Award.
I had the good fortune to be supervised by Dr Birbilis during my PhD at Monash
University from 2007 to 2010. I was the first of a number of postgraduate students to study
corrosion under his guidance. My thesis examined the possible improvements of the
corrosion resistance of Mg-based alloys through alloying additions, which involved an
extensive electrochemical and corrosion-based investigation. Dr Birbilis' encouragement,
advice and support in this investigation were integral to the success of the work. We have
published a number of papers together during my PhD and have subsequently continued a
co-author relationship in the area of corrosion and materials science.
Dr Birbilis has a fresh and enthusiastic approach to teaching. He is fully supportive of his
student's career aspirations and also offers guidance and support in approaching various
requirements associated with completing one's studies. He is thoroughly organised,
committed and his passionate approach to his work as a researcher in corrosion and a
teacher within the faculty is infectious. He is a leader by example and demonstrates from a
practical perspective what it takes to succeed in the fields of scientific research and tertiary
education.
In summation, Dr Birbilis' qualities, both as a scientist and as an educator, make him an
inspiration to his students and colleagues alike. It is with great pleasure that I write to you
to endorse the nomination of Associate Professor Nick Birbilis for the H.H. Uhlig Award.
Sincerely,
Dr Aaron Sudholz
Materials Engineer
Corrosion Management Group, DSTO, Melbourne, Australia.
DSTO: Science and Technology for a Secure World
ih April, 2011
Nicholas Kirkland
Materials Engineering Department
Monash University
Wellington Road
Clayton 3800
Australia
To Whom It May Concern :
Reference Letter for Nick Birbilis
I have been lucky enough to have been asked if I would write a letter of recommendation for Dr. Nick
Birbilis for the H.H. Uhlig Award . It is an absolute honor to write such a letter about Dr. Birbilis, as the re
is no other academic who I feel deserves it more.
I met Nick in November 2008 when I came to Monash University for what was effectively my first real
experience with corrosion science . He was highly recommended by my supervisor , who had known Nick
personally and professionally for many years . When I arrived I can safely say that I knew virtually
nothing about the topic (other than what I had read in a few textbooks), but this did not deter Nick. He
s pe nt many hours providing me a crash course on everything from corrosion basics to the finer points of
electrochemical experiments . He did not treat me as an understudy or student, but more as a colleague
who was simply trying to get a good understanding of the area . This point especially made his training
and teaching effective , as I knew he was putting a genuine effort into my learning so I wished to
reciprocate by trying my hardest. At the end of my visit I left with a strong knowledge of the area and
had completed numerous experiments that I did not think were possible in the short time I had (one
month) . Throughout my seven years of secondary education , I have never learnt so much in so little time
from one person .
Over the next two years Nick was always just a quick email or phone call away and actively kept an
interest in my work . We published a paper together on the work we had done, and I was fortunate
enough to return to Monash University in November 2009 for another month . Once again Nick spent
many hours, above and beyond what I would expect, ensuring I understood everything about the
experiments I was carrying out . He also encouraged that I critically investigate the results myself before
asking any questions, a skill that has been extremely useful in building my confidence in the area .
I am not alone in my view of the effectiveness of Dr. Birbilis' teaching style. He is the only academic I
have met whose students do not have a single bad thing to say about him. From undergrads to PhDs and
Post- Docs, everyone seems to thoroughly enjoy his lectures, labs, and informal discussions . I believe this
comes from not only being highly skilled and knowledgeable in many areas of corrosion science, but also
being personable and easily approachable .
If it was not for Nick's constant energy, excitement about what is possible to discover and learn and
genuine friendship I would not currently be undertaking a research position in corrosion science . There
is t ruly no one more deserving for this award.
Sincerely,
A Nic holas T. Kirkland
A letter supporting Prot Nick Birbilis' nomination {or the H. H. Uhlig Award
TO WHOMSOEVER IT MAY CONCERN
It gives me great pleasure to take this opportunity to give something back to my teacher in the form
of this letter. I am a PhD student,currently in my second year,working on developing self-repairing
oxides to protect zinc. I have been co-supervised by Associate Prof. Nick Birbilis for about 16 months
now, and I believe that my corrosion "DNA" comes primarily from him. However I wish to outline
some of the qualities I admire in him,and aspire to have when I become a corrosion teacher myself
sometime in the future .
Love for the subject: Prof. Birbilis really loves corrosion and his demeanour shows this passion for
the subject, for young students like me this passion serves as a cata lyst to do some world class
research. I remember an incident, it was during the Monash University Open day, when students
come from all over Australia to see what's on offer in Monash. We had a small area to show young
kids about corrosion, Iremember Nick putting some Magnesium flakes in a cup of lemon juice, and
then holding a balloon at the mouth of the cup. The hydrogen evolved from the cup was able to
inflate the balloon. The youngsters were so excited and we had a number of visitors, and in the
process of demonstration our small team started loving the small act and soon started loving the
subject.
Enthusia sm: In every presentation,poster, paper,official report etc I have noticed that Prof.Birbilis
gives the final artistic touches and makes it look beautiful. The enthusiasm displayed by him in these
small activities has gone a long way in us becoming better thinkers and presenters. He built a library
in our lab with a number of classics (books and journals) on corrosion. He constantly advocates his
students to have a look at the classics and in the process shares his enthusiasm and passion with us.
/nnovat iveness: This is perhaps my biggest gain while working in Prof. Birbilis' group. I was fortunate
enough to watch some innovative experiments to simulate corrosion in lab environments, tests of
Magnesium in human body fluids, simulated tests of corrosion by sludge/ liquors in an Aluminium
production plant, corrosion of steel through concrete etc are a few examples. This is in addition to
some novel experiments like Microcell and AFM spectroscopy based techniques to understand
corrosion due to micro structural effects in Alumin ium and Magnesium. I particularly remember an
incident where he suggested a far simpler and quicker method to make a wire electrode in
comparison to more roundabout methods in literature.
This innovativeness also extends to the methods in presenting data,I have particularly observed that
he takes great effort in making sure that the data is presented in a novel way, examples are
corrosion maps of aluminium, effect of the composition of rare earths on Magnesium corrosion
represented by 3-D plots, innovative diagrams for the kinetic stability of Aluminium etc. A reader will
be able to appreciate the data and its connection to the problem at hand with such innovative
diagrams. This is one aspect I feel a student really gains from working under Prof. Birbilis. It helps us
understand,where our data stands in relation to a problem in a very easy way .
Patien ce: Allows the students to get into their stride,and supervises one step at a time- this allows
us to slowly evolve into being good researchers having gone through each step rather than
haphazardly trying to rush through to the conclusions, results etc. My pattern of thinking and
organizing has matured greatly in the last 15 months and a lot of credit goes to Prof. Birbilis in this
aspect.
Stress on Fundamentals: All students in our team start corrosion experiments at a fundamental level
like basic polarisation tests, weight loss measurements, corrosion potential measurements before
embarking on the specifics of the project. He spends a lot of time in helping us in these phases so
that irrespective of the problem we are strong in the fundamentals and importantly know how to
start/organize our research. This is another aspect which Ifeel is important for us to deal with a wide
variety of corrosion problems, it enables us to go to the basics for each problem and treat it
separately rather than becoming one dimensional in our approach.
On a totally different note, Ialso wish to mention that, in the undergraduate course here in Monash,
Prof. Nick gives the student a number of sample corrosion related problems, like fitting pit depths
observed in samples based on some probability distribution, or developing neural networks to
simulate the effect of alloying on Magnesium corrosion etc. I feel this has drawn a number of
students into corrosion, who later equipped with very strong fundamentals proceed to excel in
academia or industry.
As I mentioned earlier, I am glad to have this opportunity to give something back to Prof. Birbilis for
his role in shaping me up as a corrosion researcher. I hope to go places with this knowledge, and
sincerely wish that he receives this award for his qualities as a young corrosion educator.
Regards,
0 J -(ojo ?o;;
Sebastian Thomas,
PhD Student,
Materials Engineering Department,
Monash University,Clayton,
Victoria- 3168, Australia
To whom it may concern:
I have had the pleasure of working with A/Prof. Nick Birbilis for two years while he
served as academic advisor and senior researcher in the Department of Materials
Engineering at Monash University. A/Prof. Birbilis exhibited a wide range of skills
while building a record of outstanding performance in this role. As my supervisor, he
mastered the often-overwhelming task of corrosion science and surface engineering
and instructive leadership to help me accomplish our projects. Nick's diligence, bright
mind, inquisitive nature and unwavering commitment to helping others also enabled
him to achieve this success.
A/Prof. Birbilis was truly unique in his ability to empathize, establish support and
reach a very broad range of students and staff from diverse backgrounds. Nick
attracted a following of students and young researchers who purposefully sought him
out because he had been helpful to us as a good professional advisor. His professional
performance impressed me and built a clear goal for my future career development.
Nick is a good listener who also can convey information clearly and effectively to
individuals and groups. His common sense, research and detective skills enabled him
to find information for young researchers which was not easily locatable.
As you can tell,I hold Nick in very high regard and therefore can confidently
recommend him for the nomination for the HH Uhlig Award which would tap the
skills referenced above. Please feel free to contact me if you would like any additional
information or perspective regarding this outstanding young gentleman.
Sincerely,
Xiaobo Chen
Postdoctoral Research Fellow CAST CRC
Department of Materials Engineering
Monash University
Phone: +61-3-9905-9297
Email: [email protected]
To:
Awards Committee,
NACE
14 April 2011
Nomination of Professor Nick Birbilis for the 2011 H.G. Uhlig Award
It is a privilege to write an endorsement to support the nomination of Dr. Nick Birbilis for the H.H. Uhlig
Award for outstanding effectiveness in postsecondary corrosion education.
I have known Dr. Birbilis since 2004 when he worked as a postdoctoral researcher within the Fontana
Corrosion Center at The Ohio State University, at which I was studying for a graduate degree at the time.
During his time within the FCC, Nick operated as one of the most proficient post-docs I have ever
observed, not only producing a large quantity of high calibre work, but also taking a number of graduate
students under his wings by conveying laboratory and experimental know-how that has benefitted a wide
number of students and no doubt still percolates through the FCC today. His friendly approach and “can-
do” attitude has served as a model of what a successful post-doc should be – a model that I have tried to
emulate.
Since his time at OSU, Nick has become an Associate Professor at Monash University, and I have had the
opportunity to work with him again, this time as a postdoctoral fellow. During the past 2.5 years I have observed first hand how Nick has expanded and built a corrosion lab from nearly nothing. His research
group has grown from 2-3 students and one post-doc to more than 10 students and four post-docs in the past two years. The growth in personnel and capability in itself is rather remarkable, but it is even more
remarkable given that Nick never shows the slightest hint fatigue or stress, always has a positive attitude, and maintains an open door policy for students if they need assistance. This growth is directly related to
the excitement that Nick conveys to students about corrosion in combination with high quality projects,
which he directs. He consistently has some of the most popular and sought after 4th
year projects within the department, often leading students to follow a path of further corrosion study under his supervision at
the Graduate level. Nick’s approach and enthusiasm permeate throughout his group, creating a work environment that allows his students to enjoy their work while also giving them an opportunity for
independent thought and development. Through Nick’s dedicated efforts as an advisor and mentor, I expect a steady flow of well-rounded and conscientious corrosion engineers will emerge from Monash
University in future.
Professor Birbilis has been one of the most important professional influences on my career and
development as a scientist. It has been a great pleasure to work with and be mentored by him, and I
gladly endorse his nomination.
Kind regards,
Dr. Kevin Ralston
Department of Materials Engineering,
Monash University. Clayton, VIC. 3800. Australia.
ph. +61 3 9905 5348 / fax. +61 3 9905 4940
April 14, 2011
To whom it may concern,
It gives me great pleasure to write a letter supporting the nomination of Dr. Nick Birbilis for
the H.H. Uhlig Award. Nick epitomizes the definition of this award and there is no one more
deserving. Over the past seven years, I have had the privilege to work closely with Nick when
he was a post-doctoral researcher at The Ohio State University and to observe him as a
lecturer and advisor at Monash University. In this time, he has established himself as an expert
in the field, producing countless papers (many of very high impact), becoming heavily
involved and, in the process, well-respected in many corrosion/electrochemical organizations
(namely NACE, chairing the student poster session and RIP Symposium), and growing a
productive research group of many students and post-docs.
I know firsthand that Nick’s enthusiasm for the study of corrosion captivates students and
draws them into the field. At Ohio State, Nick was viewed as an authority on many
experimental techniques and assisted numerous students in the lab or with poignant insights
on their projects. It was clear that Nick was exceptionally suited for education and mentorship.
At Monash, Nick has the ability to maintain a friendly rapport with his students while still
being able to motivate them to produce meaningful work. During lectures, he not only
communicates the material effectively but engages the students with his passion for the subject
and good sense of humor.
Nick is a young educator by age, but this is certainly not reflected in both his great depth of
knowledge and his aptitude for successfully conveying to students (or anyone else for that
matter) fundamental and complex corrosion principles. To this day, Nick is the first (and quite
often, the only) person I consult for difficult corrosion/electrochemical questions, because of
his profound understanding of corrosion and his natural ability to effectively and courteously
explain the problem. Nick inspired me to join the corrosion field, and I can truthfully say that I
would not be where I am today without him. A letter could not even begin to describe the
impact Nick has had on my corrosion education and career or the influence he most certainly
will have on future students who are fortunate enough to work with him. Nick is undoubtedly
worthy of this award, and I whole-heartedly endorse his nomination.
Sincerely,
Dr. Mary Cavanaugh
Research Scientist
Cabot Microelectronics Corporation
870 N. Commons Dr.
Aurora, IL 60504
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Rudolph G. Buchheit
Professor and Chair 177 Watts Hall
2041 College Rd. Columbus, OH 43210 phone: 614-292-6085
fax: 614-292-9857
May 11, 2011
Professor Gerald S. Frankel
Fontana Corrosion Center
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
477 Watts Hall, 2041 College Rd.
Columbus, Ohio 43210
Re: Uhilig Award nomination for Dr. Nikitas Birbilis
Dear Jerry:
I’m thrilled to be able to contribute to what I am sure is a compelling nomination package for Professor
Nick Birbilis. I know Nick and his endeavors extremely well. I have also reviewed his nomination
application and can say without reservation that he greatly exceeds all standards for this award.
In the interests of full disclosure, Nick served as a post-doctoral researcher in my group at Ohio State
from 2004 through 2006. During his time at Ohio State, he was particularly effective as a researcher and
as a mentor to students in the group. It was apparent to me early on that he was extremely motivated, very
positive force in the group who was stepping off to a stellar career. Indeed that has been the case. Over
the past several years we have published extensively together and continue work and publish on subjects
of mutual interest. Most recently he co-hosted my research leave in Australia at Monash University and
his facilitation led to an enriching experience for me.
Because I know Nick well, I have watched closely his very impressive development as a researcher and
educator. In a very short number of years, he has become an internationally recognized figure in the
corrosion science and engineering community. By all standard measures he is an excellent scientist,
teacher and a dedicated steward to the research and educational communities in which he works. Beyond
this, he has brought great credit to Monash as an institution by creating a vibrant, well funded and well
outfitted research group that is focused in important issues in the field. He has forged important
relationships within the university, with industry and labs in Australia and within the broader international
community. His success is a direct result of his unique blend of intellect, engaging personal style and
strong desire to create meaningful and lasting impact through his research and teaching.
Nick’s scholarship has been extraordinary as you have appropriately noted in your nomination. His work
is focused on both fundamental and applied aspects of corrosion of engineering alloys with notable efforts
on other areas that he appropriately refers to as electrochemical materials.
It is no surprise to me that Dr. Birbilis has proven to be effective in organizing significant sponsorship for
his research operations and his research facilities. His current level of research support is off the chart
high in any system that I am aware of. He is overflowing with ideas that are relevant to current needs, but
also forward looking and inspirational. Combined with his ability to finish and deliver, he is a dependable
investigator and a worthy target of continued research funding. His research group is large and productive and his ability to attract the best and the brightest will only continue to grow. I fully expect him to
continue to be an effective fundraiser for his research portfolio, and he should eventually be capable of
leading large center-level activities.
I have had the pleasure of attending a few of Nick’s lectures while I was at Monash last year. He has the
ability to form a solid connection with a group of students and use that to deliver solid science and
engineering content. I have no doubt that the learning outcomes he sets for his student are exceeded. I
have also had the opportunity to see student comments on his teaching. Both structured numerical
assessments and the unstructured comments are very positive, which support my in-class observations
that he is able to connect with the students in a way that sparks their interest and enables their learning. I
am very impressed with the range of courses he is involved with and am amazed at the quantity of
teaching he manages in view of his significant research responsibilities.
Nick is a committed steward to the professional communities of which he is a part. He is involved in a
number of professional organizations, most notably NACE, but also the ACA, ISE and ECS. He serves on
a number of editorial boards, which is a testament to the credibility he has earned among his international
peers. His involvement reflects very favorably on his home department and the university and has
attracted a number of distinguished international visitors over the past several years. In the area of
corrosion and protection he has been able to make Monash one of the “must-see” destinations around the
world.
In conclusion, I believe that Dr. Birbilis’ accomplishments make him a very strong candidate for the
Uhlig Award. He is an enormously talented individual and an outstanding scientist and colleague. The
excellence with which he conducts his professional endeavors is obvious to many and he is viewed as a
rising star in the field. For these reasons, it is most appropriate and perhaps even prudent that Dr. Birbilis
be recognized with this award at this time.
Sincerely,
Rudolph G. Buchheit
Professor and Chair
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
The Ohio State University
A/Prof. Nick Birbilis
Department of Materials Engineering
Monash University,
Clayton VIC. 3800.
Australia.
TEL: +61 3 9905 4919
FAX: +61 3 9905 4940
8 Dally Street,
Northcote, VIC. 3070.
Australia.
EDUCATION
2004 Doctor of Philosophy
Department of Materials Engineering, Monash University, Australia
2001 B.Eng (Materials); First Class Honors
Department of Materials Engineering, Monash University, Australia
2010 Grad. Cert. Higher Ed.
Faculty of Education, Monash University, Australia
DISTINCTIONS
2010 Monash Research Accelerator Award, 2010.
2009 ARC Australian Research Fellow, 2010-2015
2007 Associate Professor (Honorary), The University of Melbourne.
2007 Electrochimica Acta Award, ISE, Switzerland.
2007 Australia-China Fellowship. DEST (Australia) & MOST (China).
2003 AmaC Corrosion Research Award, ACA, Australia.
2003 Harvey Herro Award in Applied Corrosion Technology. NACE, U.S.A.
2001 APA Scholarship from Commonwealth Government.
2000 Austrim-Nylex Prize for Best Honors project in Materials Engineering.
1999 ESSO Engineering Award.
EMPLOYMENT / EXPERIENCE
1/2011 - Associate Professor
Department of Materials Engineering, Monash University, Australia.
6/2008 - 12/2010 Senior Lecturer Department of Materials Engineering, Monash University, Australia.
12/2006 - Research Program Leader ARC Centre of Excellence for Design in Light Metals, Department of Materials
Engineering, Monash University, Australia.
3/2007 - Senior Corrosion Engineer & Aecom. 6/2003 – 1/2004 Level 45, 80 Collins St, Melbourne, Australia.
1/2007 – Materials and Corrosion Consultant & Centre for Advanced Materials Technology (CAMT) 11/2000 – 2/2004 Monash University, Clayton, Australia.
3/2004 – 11/2006 Post Doctoral Researcher
PERSONAL
Fontana Corrosion Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH. U.S.A.
Born 7 October 1978 in Melbourne, Australia; married to Helen, 2 children. Nationality; Australian.
AFFILIATIONS
N.A.C.E. (National Association of Corrosion Engineers) - USA
International Society of Electrochemistry (ISE) - Switzerland
The Electrochemical Society - USA
A.C.A. (Australasian Corrosion Association) - Australia
TMS - USA
INVITED TALKS / EXHIBITS:
08/2011: N. Birbilis, “The role of grain size on the corrosion of metallic materials”, Invited address:
THERMEC 2011, Quebec City, Montreal, Canada.
08/2011: N. Birbilis, “Customising the bio-corrosion rates of Mg based implants”, Invited address: The
3rd
Symposium on Biodegradable Metals (Biometal 3), Montreal, Canada
09/2010: N. Birbilis, "Aspects of corrosion on the nanoscale", Invited address: 8th International
Symposium on Electrochemical Micro and Nanosystem Technologies, Cannes, France.
09/2010: N. Birbilis, "The role of grain size on corrosion", Invited address to the Chair for Surface
Sciences (LKO), Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Erlangen-Nuremburg,
Erlangen, Germany.
07/2010: N. Birbilis, “Development of Corrosion Resistant Magnesium Alloys: Recent Advances and
Challenges”, Invited address: 2010 Gordon Research Conference on Aqueous Corrosion, New London,
NH. USA.
03/2010: N. Birbilis, “The role of nanostructure in pitting of Al-Alloys”, Invited talk: Corrosion 2010,
NACE International, R.I.P. Symposium on Localised Corrosion. San Antonio, TX, USA.
12/2009: N. Birbilis, “Developments in the design of corrosion resistant light metals”, Invited address:
4th
Annual Workshop of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Design in Light Metals, Geelong, Vic.
Australia.
11/2009: N. Birbilis, "Pitting on the nanoscale", Invited address to the Chair for Surface Sciences
(LKO), Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Erlangen-Nuremburg, Erlangen,
Germany.
11/2009: N. Birbilis, “Ways forward for Corrosion Resistant Aluminium”, Invited address: 1st
Symposium on Corrosion resistant materials – “The way forward”, Materials Australia, CSIRO, Clayton.
Australia.
02/2009: N. Birbilis, “Insights into the localised corrosion and developments of stainless aluminium
alloys”, Invited address: CSIRO Advanced Materials Conference and Workshop, Melbourne, Vic.
Australia.
10/2008: N. Birbilis, “Corrosion of a new class of solid solution alloys”, Invited address, 214th Meeting
of the Electrochemical Society, Honolulu, HI, USA.
12/2007: N. Birbilis, “Surface engineering – durability, wear resistance and gradient structures”, Invited
address: 2nd
Annual Workshop of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Design in Light Metals, Sydney,
NSW. Australia.
09/2007: N. Birbilis, “High-resolution electrochemical and microscopic characterization of localized
corrosion of light alloys: Possibilities and ramifications”, Invited address: 58th
Annual Meeting of the
International Society of Electrochemistry, Banff, Canada.
08/2007: N. Birbilis, “Recent advances in corrosion of magnesium alloys” Invited address to Institute of
Metals Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, China
07/2007: N. Birbilis, “Aspects of light metals surface technology” Invited address to Department of
Materials Science and Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, China
04/2006: N. Birbilis, “The role of small length-scale dissolution phenomena in localized corrosion
damage accumulation on microstructurally complex alloys”, Invited address to Department of Materials
Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA. USA
9/2006: N. Birbilis, “Microstructural-scale dissolution phenomena in localized corrosion damage
accumulation upon heterogeneous Al-alloys”, Invited address to Center for Electrochemical Science and
Engineering, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville,
VA. USA
11/2006: N. Birbilis, “Understanding and predicting damage accumulation upon high strength alloys
used in airframes”, OIE International Scholar Exposition, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH.
USA.
09/2005: R.P. Wei, D.G. Harlow, M.Z. Wang, R.G. Buchheit, N. Birbilis. “On the need for
mechanistically based modeling in life prediction and reliability analysis”, Invited plenary presentation
EUROCORR 2005. Lisboa, Portugal.
02/2005: N. Birbilis. “Seeing the Unseen; Hearing the Unhearable: New Technologies for the Senses”,
Wexner Center for the Arts, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH. USA.
11/2004: N. Birbilis, “Corrosion of AA 7X75”, Invited address to Aluminum Company of America, ATC,
Alcoa Center, PA. USA.
07/2003: N. Birbilis. “Remediation of reinforced concrete structures: The use of corrosion inhibitors”,
Invited address to Australasian Corrosion Association, Victoria Branch (Melbourne). Australia
08/2003: N. Birbilis. “Monitoring the corrosion of concrete reinforcement – Recent research and
trends”, Invited address to Australasian Corrosion Association, New South Wales Branch (Sydney).
Australia.
ADDITIONAL:
Associate Editor:
• Electrochimica Acta (2010 - )
Editorial Board
• Corrosion – NACE. (2010- )
• Journal of Testing and Evaluation, ASTM (2009- )
• Corrosion Engineering, Science and Technology (2008- )
• Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A (2009- )
Guest and Past Editor:
• Special edition of Electrochimica Acta (2009-10)
• Corrosion and Materials (2008-2010)
Reviewer for:
• Materials Today, Advanced Materials, Journal of the Electrochemical Society, Journal of
Applied Electrochemistry, Journal of Materials Research, Corrosion, Corrosion Science, ,
Surface Coatings and Technology, Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, Electrochemical and
Solid State Letters, Materials Chemistry and Physics, Advanced Engineering Materials, Key
Engineering Materials, Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Materials Charaterization, Langmuir.
Teaching: Corrosion Mechanisms and Protection Methods
Materials Durability
Materials Characterisation and Modelling
Engineering Design
Engineering Management
Current Group: 4 Postdoctoral fellows (Ralston, Chen, Gupta, Kirkland)
2 Research fellows (Edmond, Clancy)
14 postgraduate (Kirkland, Gandel, Sukiman, Thomas, Wang, Gupta,
Zhou, Sim, Waterman, Li, Venkatash, Grover, Gusieva, Dixon)
5 Undergraduate (Dias, Thornton, Simanjuntak, Truong, Curnow)
2 UROP Merit Scholars (Spark, La)
2 Interns (Krebs, Yang)
Alumni: PhD (Sudholz)
M.Eng. Sci. (Han)
Honors/FYP (op'T Hoog, Gopiraj, Stafford, Zonneveldt, Quirk, Zhou, Lashansky,
Thompson, Von Moger, Thornton, Li)
Intern / research students (Sharma, Meyer, Hego, Harant, Lespagnol, Skublova, Brunner,
Thiriat)
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
• President of the Australasian Corrosion Association (Victoria Branch) 2010 -
• Scientific Advisory Committee, Symposium on Aluminium Surface Science and Technology;
Sorrento, Italy, 2012
• NACE Scholarships, Review Panel 2011
• Symposium Chair 'Critical Factors in Localized Corrosion’. The Electrochemical Society (USA),
Boston, USA. 2011.
• Chair of Research in Progress Symposium (NACE, USA), Houston, USA. 2011
• Member of Research Committee (NACE, USA). 2007 -
• Australian Research Council (ARC) Grant Assessment (Various Schemes inlcuding DP and Future
Fellowships) 2009-
• Natural Science and Engineering research Council of Canada (NSERC) Grant Assessment (Various
Schemes) 2010-
• Research Council of Norway Grant Assessment (Various Schemes) 2011-
• Guest Editor for special edition of Electrochimica Acta on 'Corrosion Science and Technology', 2010
• NACE Seed Grants, Review Panel 2010.
• NACE Campbell Award Review Panel 2010.
• Vice-President for the Australasian Corrosion Association (Victoria Branch) 2008 -2010
• Vice-Chair of Research in Progress Symposium (NACE, USA), San Antonio, 2010
• Publicity Committee Chair, Dept. of Materials Engineering, Monash University 2009-
• Engineering Faculty Board Member, Monash University 2009-
• Symposium chair, ‘Corrosion Science and Technology’. Annual Meeting of the International Society
of Electrochemistry, Beijing, China. 2009.
• Chair of Student Poster Session (NACE, USA), Atlanta, 2009
• NACE Seed Grants, Review Panel 2008.
• Organizing Committee for 16th
International Federation of Heat Treatment and Surface Engineering
Conference, Brisbane, Australia 2007.
• Events Organizing Committee, Institute of Materials Engineers Australia (IMEA). 2008 • Vice-Chair of Student Poster Session (NACE, USA), New Orleans, 2008.
• Council Member for Institute of Materials Engineering Australia (IMEA), 2008.
• Founding Member of Australasian Corrosion Association Young Corrosion Professional Committee.
2006.
• Ex-President of Materials Engineering Student Society (Monash University) - 2000.
RESEARCH PROJECTS / FUNDING (Since arriving at Monash):
Amounts in AUD. $1 AUD = $1.02USD.
ARC is Australian Research Council (Equivalent to NSF in the USA)
k = thousand, M = million
2007 ARC LIEF, Ion Beam nanofabrication and characterisation facility for advanced materials
research – $750k
2007 ARC LIEF, Polymer characterization facility - $588k
2007 CAST-CRC, Corrosion studies on newly developed Mg -RE alloys - $15k
2008 ARC Linkage, Improved Management of Australian Port Infrastructure by Development of
Predictive Ageing Simulation - $436k
2008 ARNAM – Influence of severe plastic deformation on corrosion of Al and AA7075 - $5k
2008 ARC LIEF – Facility for innovation in structural biomaterials engineering $300k
2008 CSIRO Office of the Chief Executive, PhD scholarship and stipend - $100k
2008 Faculty of Engineering Small grants. Microstructures in 4D. - $20k
2008 Savcor Industry Funding - Antiscaling Technologies - $25k
2008 Go8-DAAD. Functional BioImplants - $14k
2009 ARC Centre of Excellence, Design in Light Metals - Phase 2. -$12M
2009 Aluminium Corporation of China -$2M
2009 ARC Linkage, Development of corrosion resistant aluminium alloys - $300k
2009 Monash New Staff member fund, Functional BioImplants - $20k
2009 CAST-CRC, Development of Corrosion resistant alloys - $90k
2010 ARC DP / ARF - Kinetic Stability of Reactive Metals - $350k
2010 Energy Pipelines CRC - $20M
2010 EPSRC/UK - International PI on LATEST2 ~£5.7M – funds to stay in UK
2010 ARC Linkage - Novel Electrowinning Anodes, - $350k
2011 Monash Research Accelerator, - $110k
2011 Pending applications include 3 ARC applications and an application to the Spanish Ministry of
Science, combined totaling $1.19M
Recent Consulting:
Rosebank Engineering, Tomago Aluminium, Savcor, HRL, Hard Technologies, Titan, Microheat
STUDENT HONORS:
2010. Mr Aaron Sudholz. 1st Place - Brian Cherry Award. Australasian Corrosion Association, Vic
Branch. 2010.
2010. Ms. Nazatul Sukiman. Student Poster Award at Annual Centre of Excellence for Design in Light
Metals Workshop, Sydney, NSW. 2010
2010. Mr. Samson Sim. Second Place at Monash Postgraduate Conference, Vic, 2010.
2010. Mr. Sebastian Thomas. Student Award at CSIRO Material Science and Engineering Post-doctoral
and Post-graduate workshop, Vic 2010
2010. Mr Aaron Sudholz. Postgraduate Publications Award (PPA), Monash University. 2010
2010. Mr Nicholas Kirkland. 2nd Place - Marcel Pourbaix Award. NACE 2010. San Antonio, TX. USA
2010. Mr Darren Gandel, Student Award at Annual CAST-CRC conference, Ballarat, Vic, 2010
2011. Ms Gunjan Gupta, Best poster award and best M.Tech thesis, SSPC 2011 (Symposium on Surface
Protective Coatings), New Delhi, India, 2011
2011. Mr Nicholas Kirkland. College of Engineering Publication Scholarship. University of Canterbury.
PUBLICATIONS:
Journal articles
Sudholz, A.D., Gusieva, K., Chen, X.B., Muddle, B.C., Gibson, M.A., Birbilis, N., “Electrochemical
behaviour and corrosion of Mg–Y alloys”, Corrosion Science, (2011), doi:10.1016/ j.corsci.2011.03.010
Chen, X.B., Birbilis, N., Abbott, T.B. “A simple route towards a hydroxyapatite-Mg(OH)2 conversion
coating for magnesium”, Corrosion Science, (2011) doi:10.1016/j.corsci.2011.03.008
Wang, Q., Birbilis, N., Zhang, M.X., “Interfacial structure between particles in an aluminum deposit
produced by cold spray, Materials Letters (2011), doi:10.1016/j.matlet.2011.03.035
Chen, X.B., Birbilis, N., Abbott, T.B., "A review of corrosion resistant conversion coatings for
magnesium and its alloys", Corrosion, 67 (3), 2011, 035005. pp1-16.
Ralston, K.D., Fabijanic, D., Birbilis, N., "Effect of Grain Size on Corrosion of High Purity Aluminium"
Electrochimica Acta, 56, 2011, pp1729-1736.
Sudholz, A.D., Kirkland, N., Buchheit, R.G., Birbilis, N., "Electrochemical properties of intermetallic
phases and common impurity elements in magnesium alloys", Electrochemical and Solid State Letts., 14
(2), 2011, pp.C5-C7.
Xu, D.K., Birbilis, N., Lashansky, D., Rometsch, P.A., Muddle, B.C., "Effect of solution treatment on
the corrosion behaviour of aluminium alloy AA7150: optimisation for corrosion resistance", Corrosion
Science, 53 (1), 2011, pp.217-225
Yang, H., Guo, X, Wu, G., Ding, W., Birbilis, N., "Electrodeposition of chemically and mechanically
protective Al-coatings on AZ91D Mg alloy", Corrosion Science, 53 (1), 2011, pp.381-387
Ralston, K.D., Birbilis, N., Cavanaugh, M.K., Weyland, M., Muddle, B.C., Marceau, R.K.W., "Role of
nanostructure in pitting of Al–Cu–Mg alloys", Electrochimica Acta, 55 (27), 2010, pp.7834-7842.
Buchheit, R.G., Birbilis, N., , " Electrochemical Microscopy: An Approach for Understanding Localized
Corrosion in Microstructurally Complex Metallic Alloys", Electrochimica Acta, 55 (27), 2010, pp. 7853-
7859
Knight, S.P., Birbilis, N., Muddle, B.C., Trueman, A.R., Lynch, S.P., "Correlations between intergranular
stress corrosion cracking, grain-boundary microchemistry, and grain-boundary electrochemistry for Al-
Zn-Mg-Cu alloys", Corrosion Science, 52 (12), 2010, pp.4073-4080.
Ralston, K.D., Birbilis, N., Davies, C.H.J., "Revealing a relationship between the grain size and corrosion
rate of metals", Scripta Materialia, 63, 2010, pp.1201-1204.
Birbilis, N., Cavanaugh, M.K., Sudholz, A.D., Zhu, S.M., Easton, M.A., Gibson, M.A., "A combined
neural network and mechanistic approach for the prediction of corrosion rate and yield strength of
magnesium-rare earth alloys", Corrosion Science, 53, 2010, pp.168-176.
Han, Y.K., Birbilis, N., Spencer, K., Zhang, M.-X., Muddle, B.C., "Investigation of Cu coatings
deposited by kinetic metallization". Materials Characterisation, 61 (11), 2010, pp.1167-1186.
Wang, Q., Spencer, K., Birbilis, N., Zhang, M.-X., "The influence of ceramic particles on bond strength
of cold spray composite coatings on AZ91 alloy substrate", Surface Coatings and Technology, 205 (1),
2010, pp.50-56.
Kirkland, N.T., Birbilis, N., Walker, J., Woodfield, T.B., Dias, G.J., and Staiger, M.P., "In-vitro
dissolution of magnesium–calcium binary alloys: Clarifying the unique role of calcium additions in
bioresorbable magnesium implant alloys", Journal of Biomedical Materials Part B: Applied Biomaterials,
95B (1), 2010, pp.91-100.
Ralston, K.D. Birbilis, N, Weyland, M., Hutchinson, C. R. "The effect of precipitate size on the yield
strength-pitting corrosion correlation in Al-Cu-Mg alloys", Acta Materialia, 58, 2010, pp.5941-5948.
Kumar, A., Kanta. A., Birbilis, N., Williams, T., Muddle, B.C., "A Pseudoboehmite-Silane Hybrid
Coating for Enhanced Corrosion Protection of AA2024-T3", Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 157
(10), 2010, pp. C346-C356.
Cavanaugh, M.K., Buchheit, R.G., Birbilis, N., "Modeling the environmental dependence of pit growth
using neural network approaches", Corrosion Science, 52, 2010, pp.3070-3077. (IF=2.316, 3/70, A*)
Ralston, K.D., Birbilis, N., "The effect of grain size on corrosion: A review ", Corrosion, 66(7), 2010,
075005 pp.1-13.
Birbilis, N., Ralston, K.D., Virtanen, S., Fraser, H.L., Davies, C.H.J., "Grain character influences on
corrosion of ECAPed pure magnesium". Corrosion Engineering, Science and Technology. 45 (3), 2010,
p224-230.
Ralston, K.D., Fabijanic, D., Birbilis, N., "Surface Modification for Enhanced Corrosion Resistance
Using Fluid Bed Reactor Chemical Vapour Deposition (FBR-CVD)", Materials Science Forum, 654-656,
2010, pp 1956-1959.
Kirkland, N.T., Lespagnol, J., Birbilis, N., Staiger, M.P., "A survey of bio-corrosion rates of magnesium
alloys", Corrosion Science, 52, 2010. p287–291.
Li, J.F., Birbilis, N., "Study on synergetic effect of Mg2Si and Si particles on intergranular corrosion of
Al-Mg-Si alloys through multi-electrode coupling system", Journal of Chinese Society for Corrosion and
Protection, 30(2), 2010. p107–113.
Birbilis, N., Meyer, K., Muddle, B.C., Lynch, S.P., “In situ measurement of corrosion on the nanoscale",
Corrosion Science. 51, 2009. p1569–1572.
Li, J.F. Birbilis, N., Li, C.X., Jia, Z.Q., Cai, B., Zheng, Z.Q., "Influence of retrogression temperature and
time on the mechanical properties and exfoliation corrosion behavior of aluminium alloy AA7150",
Materials Characterization, 60 (11), (2009), p.1334-1341.
Birbilis, N., Easton, M., A.D. Sudhloz, Suming Zhu, Gibson, M.A., “On the corrosion of binary
Magnesium-rare earth alloys", Corrosion Science. 51, 2009. p683–689.
Chia, T.L., Easton, M.A., Zhu, S.M.. Gibson, M.A., Birbilis, N., Nie, J.F. "The effect of alloy
composition on the microstructure and tensile properties of binary Mg- Earth alloys", Intermetallics 17,
2009. p481–490.
Li, J.F., Jia, C.Z.Q., Li, X., Birbilis, N., Cai, C.,"Exfoliation corrosion of 7150 Al alloy with various
tempers and its electrochemical impedance spectroscopy in EXCO solution", Werkstoffe und Korrosion.
60 (6), (2009), p407-414.
Sudholz, A.D., Birbilis, N., Bettles, C.J., Gibson, M.A., “Effect of atypical alloying additions on the
corrosion of Mg alloy AZ91E”, Journal of Alloys and Compounds. 471, 2009. p109–115.
Cavanaugh, M.K., Buchheit, R.G. and Birbilis, N., “Evaluation of a Simple Microstructural-
Electrochemical Model for Corrosion Damage Accumulation in Microstructurally Complex Aluminum
Alloys”: Engineering Fracture Mechanics. 76, 2009. p641–650.
Quirk, S.E., Birbilis, N., Cavanaugh, M.K., Hutchinson,
C.R., da Costa Teixeira, J., Ringer, S.P.,
“Corrosion of a New Class of Solid Solution Al Alloys” ECS Transactions, 16 (32), 2009. p73
Cavanaugh, M.K., Birbilis, N., Buchheit, R.G., “A Quantitative Study on the Effects of Environment
and Microstructure on Pit Initiation in Al-alloys" ECS Transactions, 16 (52), 2009. p1.
Birbilis, N., Buchheit, R.G., “Measurement and discussion of low temperature hot corrosion damage
accumulation upon Ni-based superalloy Rene 104”, Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A. 39A
December 2008. p3224-3232
Birbilis, N., Cavanaugh, M.K., Buchheit, R.G., “Predicting corrosion damage from microstructure in a
deterministic sense: A first order example for aluminium alloy 7075-T651”, Corrosion and Materials, 33
(5) 2008. p14-22
op’t Hoog, C. Birbilis, N., Estrin, Y., “Corrosion of pure Mg as a function of grain size and processing
route”, Advanced Engineering Materials. 10 (6), p579 2008.
op’t Hoog, C., Birbilis, N., Zhang, M-X., and Estrin, Y., “Surface grain size effects on the corrosion of
magnesium”: Key Engineering Materials. 384, p229. 2008.
Birbilis, N., Buchheit, R.G., “Electrochemical characteristics for intermetallic phases common to
aluminum alloys as a function of solution pH”, Journal of the. Electrochemical Society 155 (3), pC117,
2008.
Birbilis, N., Cavanaugh, M.K., Kovarik, L, Buchheit, R.G. “Nanoscale dissolution phenomena in Al-Cu-
Mg alloys” Electrochemistry Communications, 10, p.32. 2008.
Cavanaugh, M.K., Birbilis, N, Buchheit, R.G. and Bovard, F., “Investigating localized corrosion
susceptibility arising from Sc containing intermetallic Al3Sc in high strength Al-alloys” Scripta
Materialia, 56 (11), p995. 2007.
Birbilis, N., Howlett, P.C., MacFarlane, D.R. and Forsyth, M., “Exploring corrosion protection of Mg via
ionic liquid pretreatment” Surface Coatings and Technology, 201, p4496. 2007.
Birbilis, N. and Holloway, L.J., “Use of the time constant to detect corrosion speed in reinforced concrete
structures” Cement and Concrete Composites 29, p330. 2007.
Birbilis, N., Cavanaugh, M.K. and Buchheit, R.G., “Electrochemical behavior and localized corrosion
associated with Al7Cu2Fe particles in aluminum alloy 7075-T651” Corrosion Science 48 (12), p4202,
2006.
Birbilis, N., Cavanaugh, M.K. and Buchheit, R.G., “Electrochemical response of AA7075-T651
following immersion in NaCl solution” ECS Transactions 1 (4), p115, 2006.
Forsyth, M., Howlett, P.C., Tan, S.K. MacFarlane, D.R. and Birbilis, N., “An Ionic Liquid Surface Treatment
for Corrosion Protection of Magnesium Alloy AZ31” Electrochem. Solid State Letts. 9 (11), pB52, 2006.
Birbilis, N. and Buchheit, R.G., “An experimental survey of electrochemical characteristics for
intermetallic phases in aluminum alloys” Journal of the Electrochemical Society 152 (4), pB140, 2005.
Birbilis, N., Padgett, B.N. and Buchheit, R.G., “Limitations in microelectrochemical capillary testing and
transformation of electrochemical transients for acquisition of microcell impedance data” Electrochimica
Acta 50, p3536, 2005.
Birbilis, N., Buchheit, R.G., Ho, D.L. and Forsyth, M., “Inhibition of AA2024-T3 on a phase-by-phase
basis using an environmentally benign inhibitor: Cerium dibutyl-phosphate” Electrochem. Solid State
Letts. 8 (11), pC180, 2005.
Birbilis, N. and Cherry, B.W., “Monitoring the corrosion and remediation of reinforced concrete on-site:
An alternative approach” Werkstoffe und Korrosion 56 (4), p237, 2005.
Birbilis, N. Holloway, L.J. and Forsyth, M., “Simulated transient loss of cathodic protection for buried
pipelines” Corrosion 61 (5), p.498, 2005.
González, J.A., Miranda J.M., Birbilis N. and Feliu S., “Electrochemical techniques for studying corrosion of
reinforcing steel: Limitations and Advantages” Corrosion 61 (1), p37, 2005.
Birbilis, N. and Cherry, B.W., “An alternative methodology for the on-site monitoring of corrosion and
remediation of reinforced concrete” Corrosion Engineering, Science and Technology 39 (4), p.321, 2004.
Singh Raman, R.K., Birbilis, N. and Efthimiadis, J., “Corrosion of Mg alloy AZ91 – The role of
microstructure” Corrosion Engineering, Science and Technology 39 (4), p346, 2004.
Birbilis, N. and Buchheit, R.G., “Corrosion damage accumulation on high strength aluminum alloys:
Some advances in understanding the role of intermetallics” Corrosion and Materials 29 (6), p4. 2004.
Birbilis, N., Nairn, K.M and Forsyth, M., “On the electrochemical response and interfacial properties of steel-
Ca(OH)2 and the steel-concrete system measured using galvanostatic pulses” Electrochimica Acta 49, p4331,
2004.
Birbilis, N., Nairn, K.M. and Forsyth, M., “Transient response analysis of steel in concrete” Corrosion
Science 45, p1895, 2003.
Book Chapters
Birbilis, N., Muster, T., Buchheit, R.G., “Corrosion of aluminium alloys”, in: Corrosion Mechanisms in
Theory and Practice. (Ed. P. Marcus). CRC-Press, In press.
Birbilis, N., Hinton, B.R.W, “Corrosion and corrosion protection of aluminium”, in: Fundamentals of
aluminium metallurgy. (Eds. R Lumley). Woodhead, UK. 2010.
Scamans, G., Birbilis, N., Buchheit, R.G., “Corrosion of Aluminium and Aluminium Alloys”, in: Shrier's
Corrosion. (Eds. T. Richardson). Elsevier, 2009. p1974-2010 (ISBN-13: 978-0-444-52788-2; ISBN-10:
0-444-52788-5)
Refereed conference papers
Buchheit, R., Cavanaugh, M.K., Birbilis, N., "Using artificial neural networks to model the
environmental dependence of pit growth in aluminium alloys", Proc. Conf. Corrosion And Prevention
’10, (ACA), Adelaide, Australia, 2010. (Paper 77).
Thomas, S., Venkatraman, M.S., Cole, I.S., Birbilis, N., "Electrochemical performance of zinc in acidic
chloride solutions", Proc. Conf. Corrosion And Prevention ’10, (ACA), Adelaide, Australia, 2010. (Paper
96).
Zhou, X., Birbilis, N., Macdonald, D.D., "Kinetic stability of aluminium" Proc. Conf. Corrosion And
Prevention ’10, (ACA), Adelaide, Australia, 2010. (Paper 102).
Sukiman, N.L., Birbilis, N., Buchheit, R.G., "Corrosion Maps For Aluminium Alloys" Proc. Conf.
Corrosion And Prevention ’10, (ACA), Adelaide, Australia, 2010. (Paper 103).
Ralston, K.D., Birbilis, N., "The effect of ECAP and grain size on corrosion resistance of AA2024-T3",
Proc. Conf. Corrosion And Prevention ’10, (ACA), Adelaide, Australia, 2010. (Paper 95).
Gandel, D.S., Birbilis, N., Easton, M.A., Gibson, M.A., "Influence of Manganese, Zirconium and Iron on
the corrosion of magnesium", Proc. Conf. Corrosion And Prevention ’10, (ACA), Adelaide, Australia,
2010. (Paper 118).
Chen, X.B., Birbilis, N., Abbott, T.A., "Phosphate conversion coatings for magnesium and its alloys"
Proc. Conf. Corrosion And Prevention ’10, (ACA), Adelaide, Australia, 2010. (Paper 84).
Ralston, K.D., Fabijanic, D.J., Birbilis, N., "Surface Modification for Enhanced Corrosion Resistance
Using Fluid Bed Reactor Chemical Vapour Deposition (FBR-CVD)", in Proceedings: The 7th Pacific
Rim International Conference on Advanced Materials and Processing (PRICM 7). IMEA. Cairns. 2010
Sudholz, A.D., Birbilis, N., Easton, M.A. and Gibson, M.A., “Unraveling the Corrosion Properties of
Magnesium Rare Earth Alloys” Proc. 8th International Conference on Magnesium Alloys and their
Application, Weimar, Germany, 2009.
Easton, M.A., Zhu, S.M., Birbilis, N, Sudholz, A.D., Gibson, M.A. and Nie, J.F., “Microstructures and
Properties of HPDC Mg-Rare Earth Based Alloys” Proc. 8th International Conference on Magnesium
Alloys and their Application, Weimar, Germany, 2009.
Knight, S.P., Lynch, S.P., Birbilis, N., and Muddle, B.C., “Remedial treatments for stress corrosion
cracking in Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys” Proc. Conf. Corrosion and Prevention ’09, Coffs Harbour, Australia,
2009.
Sudholz, A.D., Birbilis, N., Easton, M.A., Gibson, M.A. and Muddle, B.C., “A deconstruction approach
to investigating the corrosion behaviour of Mg-Rare Earth alloys” Proc. Conf. Corrosion and Prevention
’09, Coffs Harbour, Australia, 2009.
Hill, J-A., Varella, F., Forsyth, F., Howlett, P.C., Birbilis, N., Hinton, B.R.W. and Markley, T., "The
Inhibiting Effects of Cerium Di Phenyl Phosphate on the Corrosion and Stress Corrosion of 7000 Series
Aluminium Alloys” Proc. Conf. Corrosion and Prevention ’09, Coffs Harbour, Australia, 2009.
Holloway, L.J., Karajayli, P., and Birbilis, N., “Galvanostatic Pulse Corrosion Rate Monitoring for Steel
in Concrete” Proc. Conf. Corrosion and Prevention ’09, Coffs Harbour, Australia, 2009.
Ralston, K.D., Birbilis, N., Hutchinson, C.R., “Corrosion resistant medium strength Al-Cu-Mg alloys”
Proc. Conf. Corrosion and Prevention ’09, Coffs Harbour, Australia, 2009.
Ralston, K.D., Birbilis, N. "Grain Size Effects on Alloy Corrosion" Proc. Conf. Materials and Austceram
2009. Gold Coast, Australia, Manuscript 185, 10pp, 2009.
Lynch, SP., Knight, S.P., Birbilis, N., Muddle, B.C., “Heat-Treatment, Grain-Boundary Characteristics,
and Fracture Resistance of Some Aluminium Alloys”, Proc. International Conference on aluminium
alloys, Aachen, Germany, 2008.
Lynch, SP., Knight, S.P., Birbilis, N., Muddle, B.C., “Stress corrosion cracking of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys:
Effects of composition and heat treatment”, Proc. 2008 International Hydrogen Conference: Effects of
hydrogen on materials, Jackson Hole, WY, USA. 2008.
Sudholz, A.D., Birbilis, N., Bettles, C.J., Gibson, M.A., “Corrosion behaviour of Mg-alloy AZ91E with
atypical alloying additions”, Proc. Conf. Corrosion and Prevention ’07, Sydney, Australia, 2007.
Holloway, L., Birbilis, N., “Is Cathodic Protection the Green Option?”, Proc. Conf. Corrosion and
Prevention ’07, Sydney, Australia, 2007.
Birbilis, N., Buchheit, R.G. and Holloway, L.J., “Advances in monitoring the corrosion and protection of
concrete reinforcement over the past decade” CORROSION/ 2006, NACE, San Diego, CA, Paper 06332,
13pp, 2006
Birbilis, N., Cavanaugh, M.K., Buchheit, R.G., Harlow, D.G. and Wei, R.P., “Understanding damage
accumulation upon AA7075-T651 used in airframes from a microstructural point of view”, Proc.
Symposium; Applications of Materials Science to Military Systems, 11pp, MS&T, Pittsburgh, PA, 2005.
Holloway, L., Birbilis, N. and Forsyth, M., “Long term monitoring of a reinforced concrete remediation
method in a marine environment” Proc. Intl. Conf. Eurocorr, Nice, France, Manuscript 490, 10pp, 2004.
Birbilis, N., Miranda, J.M., González, J.A. and Forsyth, M., “On the determination of the corrosion status of
steel embedded in concrete via electrochemical techniques” Proc. Conf. Corrosion and Prevention ’03,
Melbourne, Australia, Paper 100, 12pp, 2003.
Singh Raman, R.K., Birbilis, N., Anderson, L., Nie, J.F. and Cherry, B.W., “Corrosion of magnesium
alloy AZ91: The role of microstructure” Proc. Conf. Corrosion and Prevention ’03, Melbourne,
Australia, Paper 30, 8pp, 2003.
Chaturvedi, R., Singh Raman, R.K., Saxena, A., Birbilis, N. and Muddle, B.C., “Role of microstructure in
corrosion of magnesium alloy ZC63” Proc. Conf. Corrosion and Prevention ’03, Melbourne, Australia,
Paper 112, 7pp, 2003.
Yang, Y., Birbilis, N., Sanjayan, J.G. and Taplin, G., “Corrosion behaviour of loaded reinforced concrete
beams housed in an environmental chamber” Proc. Conf. Corrosion and Prevention ’02, Adelaide,
Australia, Paper 12, 10pp, 2002.
Nairn, K.M., Birbilis, N. and Forsyth, M., “Corrosion current measurement in reinforced concrete using
voltage pulses” Proc. Conf. Corrosion and Prevention ’02, Adelaide, Australia, Paper 57, 10pp, 2002.
Nairn, K.M., Birbilis, N. and Forsyth, M., “Corrosion current measurement in reinforced concrete using
voltage pulses” Proc. 15th
International Corrosion Congress, Granada, Spain, Paper 590, 10pp, 2002.
Birbilis, N, Nairn, K.M. and Forsyth, M., “Determination of the corrosion status of concrete
reinforcement using galvanostatic pulses” Proc. Conf. Corrosion and Prevention ’02, Adelaide, Australia,
Paper 21, 9pp, 2002.
Birbilis, N., Gerritsen, B. and Cherry, B.W., “Monitoring the corrosion and protection of concrete
reinforcement using control curves” Proc. 15th
International Corrosion Congress, Granada, Spain, Paper
85, 8pp, 2002.
Birbilis, N., Cherry, B.W., Gerritsen, B. and Forsyth, M., “Monitoring the corrosion of concrete
reinforcement using control curves”. Proc. 9th
Intl. Conf. on Durability of Building Materials and
Components, Brisbane, Australia, Paper 257, 6pp, 2002
Birbilis, N., Cherry, B.W., Nairn, K.M., Forsyth, M., Monitoring the corrosion of concrete reinforcement
using galvanostatic pulses, Proc. Conf. Corrosion and Prevention ’01. Newcastle, Australia, Paper 85,
2001.
Birbilis, N., Cherry, B.W., Nairn, K.M., Forsyth M., A consideration of the limitations of polarisation
resistance as a method to determine corrosion status of concrete reinforcement. Engineering Materials-
2001. IMEA, Melbourne. 2001. (Page 279).
Nairn, K.M., Phanasgaonkar, A., Birbilis, N., Blin, F., Forsyth, M., Corrosion monitoring using voltage
pulses – Application to reinforced concrete in the presence of corrosion inhibitors. Engineering
Materials-2001. IMEA, Melbourne. 2001. (Page 307)
Other
Williams, G., Birbilis, N., “Localized Corrosion of Binary Nd-Mg Alloys in Chloride-Containing
Electrolyte Studied Using a Scanning Vibrating Electrode Technique”, Proc. Research in Progress
Symposium. CORROSION/ 2011, NACE, Houston, TX, 1pp, 2011.
Lewis, M., Birbilis, N., Cole, I.S. Buchheit, R.G., “Characterization of Cooperative Inhibition of Al
Alloy Pitting Corrosion by Zn2+
and Vanadates Across pH and Chloride Ion Concentrations by Optical
Profilometry and Empirical Modeling”, Proc. Research in Progress Symposium. CORROSION/ 2011,
NACE, Houston, TX, 1pp, 2011.
Chen, X.B., Kirkland, N.T., Birbilis, N., “Controlling the Bio-Corrosion of Mg-Based Implants”, Proc.
Research in Progress Symposium. CORROSION/ 2011, NACE, Houston, TX, 1pp, 2011.
Cole, I.S., Corrigan, P., Hanna, M., Sim, S., Birbilis, N., “Corrosion in CO2 Pipelines for CO2
Sequestration - Will We Have a Problem?”, Proc. Research in Progress Symposium. CORROSION/ 2011,
NACE, Houston, TX, 1pp, 2011.
Kirkland, N.T., Waterman, J, Staiger, M.P., Birbilis, N., “Effect of Buffering System on Biological
Performance of Mg Alloys”, Proc. Research in Progress Symposium. CORROSION/ 2011, NACE,
Houston, TX, 1pp, 2011.
Cavanaugh, M.K., Buchheit, R.G., Birbilis, N, "Using artificial neural networks to model the environmental
dependence of pit growth in aluminum alloys", Proc. Research in Progress Symposium. CORROSION/
2010, NACE, San Antonio, TX, 1pp, 2010.
Ralston, K.D., Birbilis, N., Hutchinson, C.R., Weyland, M. "The role of nanostructure in pitting of Al-
Alloys", Proc. Research in Progress Symposium. CORROSION/ 2010, NACE, San Antonio, TX, 1pp,
2010.
Kirkland, N., Staiger. M.P., Birbilis, N., Woodfield, T., Dias, G., "Biocorrosion behaviour of Mg-Ca
binary alloys". Proc. 20th Annual Australasian Society for Biomaterials & Tissue Engineering (ASBTE)
Conference, Feb 2010. Brisbane, Australia, 2010.
Buchheit, R.G., Birbilis, N., "Electrochemical Microscopy: An Approach for Characterizing and
Understanding Localized Corrosion in Microstructurally Complex Metallic Alloys", Proc. Symp.
Corrosion Science and Technology, 60th Annual Meeting of the International Society of
Electrochemistry, Beijing, China, Abs., 2009.
Ralston, K.D, Birbilis, N., Hutchinson, C.R., Ringer, S.P., "Localised Corrosion on the Nanoscale of
Medium Strength Al-Cu-Mg Alloys", Proc. Symp. Corrosion Science and Technology, 60th Annual
Meeting of the International Society of Electrochemistry, Beijing, China, Abs., 2009.
Birbilis, N., Hutchinson, C.R., Quirk, S.E, Cavanaugh, M.K., Ringer, S.P., “Corrosion of a new class of
solid solution Al alloys”, Proc. Symp. Corrosion and Electrochemical Properties of Bulk Metallic
Glasses and Nano-Crystalline Materials, 214th Meeting of the Electrochemical Society, Honolulu, HI,
1pp, 2008.
Cavanaugh, M.K., Birbilis, N., Buchheit, R.G., “A Quantitative Study on the Effects of Environment and
Microstructure on Pit Initiation in Al-alloys”, Proc. Symp. Critical Factors in Localized Corrosion 6, in
Honor of Professor Shibata, 214th Meeting of the Electrochemical Society, Honolulu, HI, 1pp, 2008.
Birbilis, N., “Advances in the development of corrosion resistant magnesium alloys”, Proc. Research in
Progress Symposium. CORROSION/ 2008, NACE, New Orleans, LA, 1pp, 2008.
Meyer, K., Birbilis, N., “Measurement of localised corrosion on the nano-scale”, Proc. Conf. Corrosion
and Prevention ’07, Sydney, Australia, 2007. (Extended abstract and Poster).
Birbilis, N., Cavanaugh, M.K. and Buchheit, R.G., “Small Length-Scale Dissolution Phenomena in Al-
Cu-X Alloys”, Proc. Symp. Critical Factors in Localized Corrosion 5, a Symposium in Honor of Hugh S.
Isaacs, 210th Meeting of the Electrochemical Society, Cancun, MX, 2pp, 2006.
Birbilis, N., Buchheit, R.G., Harlow, D.G., Wei, R.P. and Wang, M.Z., “Predicting Corrosion and
Corrosion Fatigue in AA7075-T6 Used in Airframes”, Proc. Research in Progress Symposium.
CORROSION/ 2005, NACE, Houston, TX, 1pp, 2005.