Dr Cordelia Selomulya joined UNSW in late 2019 as a Professor (Food & Health) in the School of Chemical Engineering and as Research & Commercialisation Director for the Future Food Systems CRC. Prior to her relocation to UNSW she was an ARC Future Fellow at Monash University, where she also led the Biotechnology and Food Engineering group, which had an internationally recognised reputation in particle engineering and drying technology research, particularly for food and dairy applications. At the time this was the only facility in Australia for functional particle assembly via microfluidic spray drying.
The unique spray dryer, which Prof. Selomulya brings with her to UNSW, can also be used to synthesise other types of particles, including thermal-sensitive and bioactive particles, microparticles for controlled release and microencapsulation, magnetic and fluorescent composites, and mesoporous microspheres with hierarchal structures and properties superior to those observed on nanomaterials (Prov. Patent AU2013904021). The method is scalable and is potentially a cost-effective, energy- and material-efficient route to producing high-quality powders with improved functionality and ease of handling.
Prof. Selomulyais the director of the Australia-China Joint Research Centre for Future Dairy Manufacturing, a joint strategic initiative funded by the Australian and Chinese governments and industry partners in both countries, including Bega, Saputo Dairy Australia, Fonterra, Gardiner Foundation, COFCO and Mengniu Dairy. She was also the director of Graduate Research Industry Partnership (GRIP) for the Food and Dairy industry at Monash University. She was an ARC Future Fellow (2014 – 2018) and has been an adjunct professor at Soochow University since 2013.
Her other interdisciplinary research is on the design of nanoparticle vaccines and mesoporous materials, and includes developing multi-stage vaccines for, and designing a more efficient DNA vaccine delivery system for malaria; and understanding the role of nanoparticle adjuvants for ovarian cancer vaccines.
