Ian Brown

Ian Brown

His research has been recognised by the award of the Royal Society of NZ Research Medal for Science and Technology in 1996, election to Fellowship of the Royal Society of New Zealand in 1999, and to Fellowship of the NZ Institute of Chemistry in 2006.

He was awarded a DSc by Victoria University of Wellington in 2000 and appointed an Adjunct Professor there in 2006, where he supervises doctoral and masters students. He is also a MacDiarmid Institute principal investigator.

Since completing his PhD in glass science with Prof. James Duncan at Victoria University in 1974, Dr Brown has carried out research across a broad front of materials science.  From 1974 to 1979 he worked at Pilkington Bros (Glassmakers) laboratories in Lancashire (UK) where he developed practical and theoretical skills in glass science and technology.  In 1979 he returned to New Zealand to DSIR Chemistry Division, where he commenced researching the structures and reactions of a range of key mineral, solid state and glass materials systems.  He also developed a range of new practical composite materials from waste glass, ironsand and other NZ resource materials for the construction sector.

Since 1992 he has had a leadership role with Industrial Research Ltd, where he is currently team manager, Materials and Energy.  Since that time he has lead and participated in numerous major materials programmes, including:

• The development and commercialisation of new sialon^[?] (Si-Al-O-N) ceramics for the international aluminium casting industry with commercial partner Pyrotek, leading to New Zealand’s first advanced ceramics business, now a multimillion dollar export industry.
• The “Materials for Hydrogen” programme, a major initiative to address climate change through substitution of fossil fuels for transport and fuel cell applications. This has led to a series of international collaborations with US Department of Energy labs and Oxford University as part of New Zealand’s contribution to the International Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy (http://www.iphe.net/).  This research has embraced hydrogen generation, storage and purification. 
• The development and commercialisation of new low energy and high durability cements, for the construction and geothermal energy industries.  
• The fabrication and properties of nanostructured porous ceramics for gas separation systems and as templates for the fabrication of conducting metal nanowires for advanced devices.

Dr Brown’s two main research passions are developing new materials, both nanoscaled and macro, for the energy sector, and to encourage the development of young scientists in materials research.