A/Professor Tuncay Alan

A/Professor Tuncay Alan

Associate Professor
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Room 210, 20 Research Way, Clayton VIC 3800

My interests lie at the intersection of experimental physics and engineering. Over the past 10 years, my work has primarily focussed on the rich physics resulting from the interaction of vibrating micro/nanoscale structures with the surrounding fluid media. I am currently leading the Dynamic Micro Devices Laboratory, which combines nanofabrication and acoustics with new experimental techniques to study ejection and interaction of micrometer diameter aqueous droplets, synthesise nanoparticles, and develop novel sensors.

I am the Director of Industry Engagement at the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. I was awarded my PhD in Engineering (Theoretical and Applied Mechanics) from Cornell University in the US in 2007. Prior to joining Monash University,  I worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, and University College London in UK.  In 2015, I spent six months as a visiting scientist at the Paul Scherrer Institut in Switzerland.

Qualifications

  • Bachelor of Science, (BSc), Civil Engineering., Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara Turkey
  • Ph.D, (Theoretical and Applied Mechanics), Cornell University, Ithaca NY USA

Research Interests

I am leading the Dynamic Micro Devices Laboratory. Our work is at the intersection of experimental mechanics and nanotechnology, and can be grouped under three main themes:

On-demand fluidics. We explore the interaction of micro/nanoscale resonators with flowing fluid media for automated, on-demand functionalities including ultrafast mixing of chemicals, high throughput screening and personalised drug delivery.

In situ spectroscopy. We are developing techniques and building devices to study chemical reactions and nucleation events in real-time at a micro-second time resolution. The primary focus is in the synthesis of nanomaterials.

Sensing We are combining new materials with nanofabrication techniques to develop portable cheap sensors which can monitor physiological signals and detect individual molecules.

 

Research Projects

Current projects

Next generation hand-held nebulisers for aerosol drug delivery: using microfluidics to tune particle size,

Microfluidic mixing for the synthesis of functional nanoparticles (with applications to medicine and energy)

Wearable biomedical sensors

Past projects

Micro/Nanofluidic Characterisation Facility

Microelectronic 3D Imaging and Neuromorphic recognition for Autonomous UAVs

Low Observable Platform Detection, Department of Defence Science and Technology Defence Innovation Hub

Selected recent papers (full list available here)

2023

  • Sharma, K.; Pandey, S.; Sekar, H.; Alan, T.; Gundabala, V., Microfluidics Based Generation of Curcumin Loaded Microfibrous Mat against Staphylococcus aureus Biofilm by Photodynamic Therapy. ACS Applied Bio Materials 2023, 6 (3), 1092-1104.

  • Hossain, M. M.; Shabbir, B.; Liu, J.; Wan, Z.; Walia, S.; Bao, Q.; Alan, T.; Mokkapati, S., Bisphenol A Detection Using Molybdenum Disulfide (MoS2) Field‐Effect Transistor Functionalized with DNA Aptamers. Advanced Materials Technologies 2023, 2201793.

  • Deng, H.; Alan, T., Microfluidic Devices for Biosensing. Encyclopedia of Sensors and Biosensors (First Edition) 2023, 474-488.

  • Chao, I.; Lee, S.; Brenker, J.; Wong, D.; Low, C.; Desselle, M.; Bernard, A.; Alan, T.; Keon-Cohen, Z.; Coles-Black, J., The effect of clinical face shields on aerosolized particle exposure. Journal of 3D printing in medicine 2023, 7 (1), 3DP002.

    2022

  • Pourabed, A.; Veettil, T. C. P.; Devendran, C.; Nair, P.; Wood, B. R.; Alan, T., A star shaped acoustofluidic mixer enhances rapid malaria diagnostics via cell lysis and whole blood homogenisation in 2 seconds. Lab on a Chip 2022, 22 (9), 1829-1840.

  • Pourabed, A.; Brenker, J.; Younas, T.; He, L.; Alan, T., A Lotus shaped acoustofluidic mixer: High throughput homogenisation of liquids in 2 ms using hydrodynamically coupled resonators. Ultrasonics Sonochemistry 2022, 83, 105936.

  • Nair, K. P. P. R.; Veettil, T. C. P.; Wood, B. R.; Paul, D.; Alan, T., Haemoprocessor: A Portable Platform Using Rapid Acoustically Driven Plasma Separation Validated by Infrared Spectroscopy for Point-of-Care Diagnostics. Biosensors 2022, 12 (2), 119.

  • Meftahi, N.; Surmiak, M. A.; Furer, S. O.; Rietwyk, K. J.; Lu, J.; Raga, S. R.; Evans, C.; Michalska, M.; Deng, H.; McMeekin, D. P., Machine Learning-Enhanced High-Throughput Fabrication and Optimization of Quasi-2D Ruddlesden-Popper Perovskite Solar Cells. 2022.

  • Brenker, J.; Henzler, K.; Borca, C. N.; Huthwelker, T.; Alan, T., X-ray compatible microfluidics for in situ studies of chemical state, transport and reaction of light elements in an aqueous environment using synchrotron radiation. Lab on a Chip 2022, 22 (6), 1214-1230.

  • Brenker, J.; Alan, T.; Traini, D., Personalised Aerosol Loading and Management (PALM): a Handheld Device for Aerosol Drug Delivery. ONdrugDelivery Magazine 2022, (131), 44-48.

  • Brenker, J.; Al-mazi, J. G.; Le, A.; Pal, S.; Ong, H. X.; Traini, D.; Alan, T. In Microfluidic aerosol generation: development of a next generation hand-held device for aerosol drug delivery, Respiratory Drug Delivery 2022: RDD 2022, RDD Online: 2022; pp 277-280.

    2021

  • Pourabed, A.; Younas, T.; Liu, C.; Shanbhag, B. K.; He, L.; Alan, T., High throughput acoustic microfluidic mixer controls self-assembly of protein nanoparticles with tuneable sizes. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 2021, 585, 229-236.

  • Ng, C. K.; Deng, H.; Li, H.; Yin, W.; Alan, T.; Jasieniak, J. J., Synthesis of CsPbBr 3 perovskite nanocrystals with acoustically actuated millisecond mixing. Journal of Materials Chemistry C 2021, 9 (1), 313-321.

  • Nair, K. P. P. R.; Veettil, T. C. P.; Wood, B. R.; Paul, D.; Alan, T. In AN ACOUSTICALLY DRIVEN PLASMA SEPARATION SYSTEM WITH SHORT PROCESS TIME AND PORTABILITY FOR POC MEDICAL DEVICES, International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences 2021, Chemical and Biological Microsystems Society: 2021; pp 877-878.

  • Michalska, M.; Surmiak, M. A.; Maasoumi, F.; Senevirathna, D. C.; Chantler, P.; Li, H.; Li, B.; Zhang, T.; Lin, X.; Deng, H., Microfluidic Processing of Ligand‐Engineered NiO Nanoparticles for Low‐Temperature Hole Transporting Layers in Perovskite Solar Cells. Solar RRL 2021, 5 (8), 2100342.

  • Hossain, M. M.; Shabbir, B.; Wu, Y.; Yu, W.; Krishnamurthi, V.; Uddin, H.; Mahmood, N.; Walia, S.; Bao, Q.; Alan, T.; Mokkapati, S., Ultrasensitive WSe2 field-effect transistor-based biosensor for label-free detection of cancer in point-of-care applications. 2D Materials 2021, 8 (4), 045005.

  • Deng, H.; Jayawardena, A.; Chan, J.; Tan, S. M.; Alan, T.; Kwan, P., An ultra-portable, self-contained point-of-care nucleic acid amplification test for diagnosis of active COVID-19 infection. Scientific Reports 2021, 11 (1), 1-12.

  • Anaya, D. V.; Zhan, K.; Tao, L.; Lee, C.; Yuce, M. R.; Alan, T., Contactless tracking of humans using non-contact triboelectric sensing technology: Enabling new assistive applications for the elderly and the visually impaired. Nano Energy 2021, 90, 106486.

    2020

  • Zappa, F.; Villa, F.; Lussana, R.; Delic, D.; Mau, M. C. J.; Redouté, J.-M.; Kennedy, S.; Morrison, D.; Yuce, M.; Alan, T. In Microelectronic 3d imaging and neuromorphic recognition for autonomous uavs, Advanced Technologies for Security Applications: Proceedings of the NATO Science for Peace and Security’Cluster Workshop on Advanced Technologies’, 17-18 September 2019, Leuven, Belgium, Springer Netherlands: 2020; pp 185-194.

  • Le, N. H. A.; Deng, H.; Devendran, C.; Akhtar, N.; Ma, X.; Pouton, C.; Chan, H.-K.; Neild, A.; Alan, T., Ultrafast star-shaped acoustic micromixer for high throughput nanoparticle synthesis. Lab on a Chip 2020, 20 (3), 582-591.

  • Huang, S.; Feng, C.; Mayes, E. L.; Yao, B.; He, Z.; Asadi, S.; Alan, T.; Yang, J., In situ synthesis of silver nanowire gel and its super-elastic composite foams. Nanoscale 2020, 12 (38), 19861-19869.

  • Brenker, J. C.; Devendran, C.; Neild, A.; Alan, T., On-demand sample injection: combining acoustic actuation with a tear-drop shaped nozzle to generate droplets with precise spatial and temporal control. Lab on a Chip 2020, 20 (2), 253-265.

  • Asadi, S.; He, Z.; Heydari, F.; Li, D.; Yuce, M. R.; Alan, T., Graphene elastomer electrodes for medical sensing applications: Combining high sensitivity, low noise and excellent skin compatibility to enable continuous medical monitoring. IEEE Sensors Journal 2020, 21 (13), 13967-13975.

Current funding

  1. Dr Tuncay Alan, Prof Daniela Traini, Dr Hui X Ong, Prof Daphne Flynn, Prof Bruce Thompson, Next generation hand-held nebulisers for aerosol drug delivery: using microfluidics to tune particle size, NHMRC Development Grant (2021-2023).
  2. Dr. Tuncay Alan, Dr Jason Brenker, Sample delivery for trace element analysis, Thermo Fisher Scientific (2021-2022)
  3. A/Prof Sudha Mokkapati, Dr Tuncay Alan, Prof Steven Prawer, Dr Ranjith Unnithan, Low-cost, light-weight, wireless sensors for stand-off detection and monitoring of chemical hazards, DSI Starshots Program (2021-2022)
  4. Tuncay Alan, Prof Paul King, A Prof Ashley Buckle, Dr Jason Brenker, Prof Daphne Flynn, Ms Lovisa Dousha, Inhaled alpha-1 antitrypsin therapy, Monash Institute of Medical Engineering Seed Fund (2022)

Supervision

Masters

Jackson Gum
2021

PHD

Hao Deng
2021

Neha Mehlawat
2021

Abanoub Shenoda
2021

Nenad Stanojevic
2019

Kajal Sharma
2019

Balu Raveendran
2018

Hoai Nguyen An Le
2017 to 2023

Prasanna KamalPrakash Nair
2017 to 2022

Amir Pourabed
2018 to 2022

Ganaka Chandrakumara
2013 to 2017

Jason Brenker
2013 to 2018

Ninnuja Sivanantha
2013 to 2018

Muhsincan Sesen
2012 to 2016

Citsabehsan Devandran
2011 to 2016

Mustafa Bulut Coskun
2012 to 2015

David Collins
2011 to 2015

Teaching Commitments

  • TRC4000 - Mechatronics Final Year Project 1.
  • TRC4001 - Mechatronics Final Year Project 2.
  • MEC4425 - Micro/nano solid and fluid mechanics.
  • MEC5888 - Renewable Energy Systems
  • MEC2403 - Mechanics of Materials
  • MAE2401 - Aircraft Structures
Last modified: 05/07/2024