Facilitating innovative materials design critical to energy transition

Madeleine Buckingham | Department of Materials and Science Engineering

Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Materials and Science Engineering (Honours)

A true global citizen, Madeleine grew up in France, China and Indonesia. Passionate about languages, she speaks English and French, and is learning German, Japanese and Indonesian.

Keenly interested in the arts and science, she considered a variety of tertiary study options including mathematics, art history, chemistry and French.

“I enjoyed the process of making art - working through from having an idea, to doing research, prototyping, refining and finally producing something that I was proud of. At the same time I was also an enthusiastic maths and science student,” she says.

Engineering and the Arts: A New Perspective

In contemplating her academic options, one of Madeleine’s teachers fundamentally changed her view of Engineering.

“I didn't know I could combine all of my passions until a teacher of mine told me about what engineering is. I had been under the impression that engineering was just about machines and automation -- it seemed too distant to be something that I could do.

My teacher helped me realise that engineering is all about creative problem solving that simply uses maths and science as tools rather than pencils and paintbrushes.”

And so she enrolled for a double degree: a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Literary Studies with a minor in European Languages; and a Bachelor of Materials and Science Engineering.

Specialising in Materials

Of the decision to specialise in Materials Madeleine says “I chose materials because I thought it is the best specialisation for learning how things work from first principles.

Materials Science is all about studying how nano or micro characteristics translate to macro properties. Materials engineering enables us to answer questions like: how do I build a plane that can withstand large and regular temperature variations? How do we create light-weight, moisture-wicking fabrics? How do we design a foldable phone screen?”

A Focus on Energy Transition

Maddy’s final year project is on topological insulators, a unique class of materials perfectly conductive on the surface and insulative in the bulk. Her group’s research for the project involved analysing data from tests undertaken at the Australian Synchrotron (Clayton, Victoria) and The Soleil Synchrotron (Paris, France).

She says “The field that interests me the most is the energy transition. Innovative materials design is critical to facilitating our energy transition and my materials studies have prepared me well so far for a career in the energy transition field.”

Innovation and Achievement

In 2024 Maddy participated in Monash’s Industry Innovation Program, receiving a scholarship for her work.

For the Woodside-Monash Energy Partnership, she and her program partner designed, created a prototype and tested a ‘hydrogen fence’. Together they built a 1m electrolyser to convert water into hydrogen and oxygen gases. Their work aimed to minimise the costs of hydrogen production, with the added benefit of making hydrogen accessible in rural areas.

GradConnection’s Top100 Future Leader Award in the EY Innovation Category, featuring on the cover of the Australian Financial Review Magazine.

Course Highlights and Advice

She says the highlights of her course have been time spent with the Monash Carbon Capture and Conversion student team; travelling to New York after winning the OpenAir Challenge to present research and ideas; and travelling to Bangkok for a Youth Conference at the United Nations

To future students, Maddy says “I would advise young students to sign up for all of the opportunities that interest them, no matter how out of reach they may seem. If you put yourself out there, great things will come your way.”

Find out more about Materials Engineering specialisation