Prof. Irina Belova

Biography

I have devoted my research career (19 years since my PhD 1991 excluding a two-year break 1992-93 for family reasons) to the understanding of mass transport in engineering materials. In this field, I have published ovr 230 international journal papers and review articles (95 in the last five years) and presented more than 110 supporting conference papers. Over 50 papers have been published in Phil. Mag. making me among the most published of authors in that journal.

A thorough understanding of mass transport in materials is one of the principal keys to enhancing the properties and longevity of existing engineering materials and for designing advanced materials to perform new engineering tasks. I am recognized as one of the world's leading authorities on the theory of mass transport in materials (excluding semiconductors and polymers) as evidenced by many citations to my work in the textbook "Diffusion in Solid Matter" (H. Mehrer, Springer-Verlag 2007). I have studied the following engineering materials: dilute, concentrated and ordered alloys, nano- and heterogeneous materials, and advanced ceramics. I have studied the following mass transport processes: self diffusion, impurity diffusion, inter-diffusion, grain boundary and interphase boundary diffusion, ionic conductivity and segregation. I am especially noted for combining mathematical development of theory that is tested by computer simulation done in parallel as well as real experiments performed by collaborators. I have also recently developed strong interests in developing theory describing the effective thermal conductivity in engineering composites and porous media.

I have also made a number of applied contributions. Some examples are: 1) pioneering research on the control of convection in zero-gravity crystallization processes in liquid silicon and germanium in the industrial fabrication of specialized semiconductor crystals in Russia, 2) prediction of high temperature creep in ¿-TiAl aerospace alloys for the U.S. Air Force in collaboration with Prof. Y. Mishin (GMU) and 3) initiation and development of commercial engineering software using Monte Carlo methods for bridging different length and time scales in mass and thermal transport problems in engineering composites and geotechnical materials.

In 1999 I was awarded a QEII Fellowship by the ARC and the Russell Prize for 'outstanding young researcher' by the Australian Academy of Science. In 2001, in recognition of the significance and impact of my published contributions to the theory of mass transport in alloys, the University of Newcastle awarded me the higher doctorate degree DSc (the only woman to have been awarded this degree by the University). I was awarded an APF (commenced in 2004) by the ARC. I became the Director of the Centre for Mass and Thermal Transport in Engineering Materials at Newcastle in early 2007 (11 personnel). I also linked the Centre with the Geotechnical Engineering Group to form the Centre for Geotechnical and Materials Modelling (22 personnel) and, through a rigorous refereeing process, this has been accorded Priority Research Centre status by the University (I am Co-Director of this Centre).

I have given 22 plenary/keynote lectures at major international conferences; special highlights of these was to be one of only four invited lecturers at the Bunsen Colloquium on Atomic Transport in Solids: Theory and Experiments (in honour of Professor Alan Lidiard's 75th Birthday) which was held at Rauischholzhausen Castle in October 2003 and to be invited to give special plenary lectures at the 100th Einstein Anniversary Conferences in Moscow and Leipzig in 2005. I have been a member of the international advisory boards of numerous conferences and am the Associate Editor of the Journals: Defect and Diffusion Forum, Solid State Phenomena and Journal of Functional Materials.

Qualifications

• Doctor of Science, University of Newcastle
• PhD, Institute of Hydrodynamics (USSR Acad of Science)
• Diploma in Mathematics, Novosibirsk University
• Master of Mathematics, Novosibirsk University

---

Research

Research keywords

• Computational Engineering
• Diffusion Numerical Simulations
• Diffusion Theory
• Thermodynamics

Research expertise

I have strong interests in numerical methods and the use of those methods in simulating atomic transport and thermal transport processes in engineering materials. I also have strong interests in the development of the theory of atomic transport and thermodynamics in engineering materials.

Collaboration

I have strong interests in numerical methods and the use of those methods in simulating atomic transport processes in engineering materials. I also have strong interests in the development of the theory of atomic transport and thermodynamics in engineering materials.

During my PhD research training I worked towards gaining an understanding of zero-gravity crystallisation processes of silicon and germanium. This work was guided very closely by mathematical modelling because few (in space) testing experiments could be carried out. This is possibly one of the first examples of computational modelling that guided an experimental program.

Then I moved across to the area of mass transport and thermodynamic stability of solid engineering materials. In this area, I have made significant contributions to the understanding of mass transport processes and thermodynamics in a very wide range of engineering materials. A unique feature of my approach has been the parallel development of theory and simulation. This has had substantial synergistic effects. I pioneered the routine employment of computer simulation techniques to test and verify theoretical expressions of mass transport and stability. My theoretical work has made accurate predictions about experimental mass transport and thermodynamic stability behaviour of materials from knowledge only of fundamental atomic interactions and/or atomic jump frequencies.

I have investigated mass transport and thermodynamics stability in nanostructures, composite electrolytes, multicomponent ionic compounds, interstitial alloys, dilute and concentrated multi-component alloys and ordered alloys/intermetallic compounds. Specific processes that I have successfully analysed include non-equilibrium thermodynamics, self-diffusion, free energies, chemical interdiffusion, diffusion enhancement by solutes, isotope effects, grain boundary and inter-phase diffusion, ionic conductivity, segregation effects in external forces and non-equilibrium defect concentrations resulting from radiation damage or interdiffusion.

Recently I extended my research interests to the transport of heat in engineering materials especially composites and next generation cellular metals. My colleagues and I have developed a new lattice-based Monte Carlo method that among other things allows computer tomographic images of real materials to be processed to give accurate values of effective thermal conductivities, see further below. I have also extended my interests to calculate electrical and mechanical properties of new computer-designed forms of industrially important materials, especially multi-component oxides for use in fuel cells.

Languages

• Russian

Fields of Research

Code	Description	Percentage
091300	Mechanical Engineering	45
091099	Manufacturing Engineering Not Elsewhere Classified	40
020499	Condensed Matter Physics Not Elsewhere Classified	15

Centres and Groups

Centre

• PRC - Priority Research Centre for Geotechnical and Materials Modelling

Memberships

Editorial Board.

• Selecting and editing submitted papers since1998 - Defect and Diffusion Forum (12 volumes and 2,000 pages per year)
• Selecting and editing submitted papers since 2006 - Journal of Functional Materials. This is a central international journal for russian materials science community overseas.

Appointments

Australian Professorial Fellowship Australian Research Council (Australia)

01/01/2004 - 01/12/2008

Awards

Higher Doctorate

2001	Doctor of Science University of Newcastle (Australia) The Doctor of Science (higher doctorate) degree is the highest research degree. It is given to recipients who have made a very substantial impact on their area through their published work.

Research Award.

2004	Australian Professorial Fellowship ARC (Australia) The Australian Professorial Fellowship is a highly prestigious senior research award with only a 12-13% success rate.
1999	Queen Elizabeth II Fellowship ARC (Australia) The Queen Elizabeth II Fellowship is a prestigious fellowship awarded to the top 10% of successful ARF recipients.
1999	J G Russell Award ARC (Australia) The J G Russell Award is a prestigious research award from the Australian Academy of Science given to outstanding young researchers.
1988	Lenin Scholarship Lavrentyev Institute of Hydrodynamics of the Russian Academy of Science (Russian Federation) The Lenin Scholarship was a prestigious research award for outstanding young Russian researchers.

Invitations

Bunsen Colloquium on Atomic Transport in Solids: Theory and Experiments (in honour of Professor Alan Lidiards 75th Birthday) Johannes Gutenberg-Universit¿t Mainz, Germany (Conference Presentation - non published.)	2003
100th Einstein Anniversary Conference University of Leipzig, Germany (Conference Presentation - non published.)	2005
100th Einstein/150th Fick Anniversary Conference Moscow Institute of Metals, Russian Federation (Conference Presentation - non published.)	2005
Diffusion in Solids and Liquids University of Aveiro, Portugal (Conference Presentation - non published.)	2006
DIMAT2004 Krakow University of Technology, Poland (Conference Presentation - non published.)	2004
Nano Materials 2007 University of Beijing, China (Conference Presentation - non published.)	2007

---

Administrative

Administrative expertise

I am a member of the University of Newcastle Committee on Environmental Sustainability and the Faculty of Engineering Promotions Committee.

I have served on many staff selection committees at the University of Newcastle.

I have served on many international advisory boards for international conferences and serve on three editorial boards of international journals. I am the Director of the Centre for Mass and Thermal Transport in Engineering Materials and a Co-Director of the Priority Research Centre for Geotechnical and Materials Modelling.

---

Teaching

Teaching keywords

• Computational Engineering
• Mathematics
• Numerical Methods
• Statistics

Teaching expertise

I have taught courses in numerical methods, thermodynamics and materials science.