SEAM Profile: Hsin-hui Huang

Hsin-hui Huang is a PhD Candidate with the Australian Research Council (ARC) Industrial Transformation Training Centre in the Surface Engineering for Advanced Materials (SEAM) at Swinburne University of Technology.

From a young age, Hsin-hui has been driven by a deep curiosity to understand the 'why' behind everything around her and the curiosity to unravel the mysteries of the world we inhabit. This innate passion naturally led her into the realm of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) studies.

Hsin-hui earned her Bachelor's degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder in the US with a double major in chemistry and biochemistry and a minor in mathematics. Her focus was physical chemistry and inorganic chemistry, and during her university years, she studied electron transfer to mimic photosynthesis for hydrogen generation and synthesized inorganic compounds for water splitting. She found fundamental sciences along with mathematics to be captivating and intelligible. She was guided to examine the fundamental principles of the world of natural and artificial systems. These passions led her to further studies in advanced materials focused on nanomaterials at the University of Ulm in Germany. At this University, Hsin-hui delved into the realm of surface chemistry. Her thesis was part of a project that aims to improve lithium-ion batteries with advanced atomic imaging techniques to study the interaction between ionic liquids and metal surfaces. This experience gave her an edge, not only in improving her research and analytical skills but also in broadening her mind to the fields of applied sciences.

After earning her Master’s degree, Hsin-hui had the privilege of working at the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) in the advanced processing team that was pioneering making smaller yet more powerful semiconductor chips for smartphones, cars, and other day-to-day items. This was the first time Hsin-hui saw her studies being applied in the real world and on an industrial scale. Seeing the real-world applications of science reignited her passion for research and led her back to academia to work in an intense femtosecond laser laboratory at Academia Sinica in Taipei, Taiwan. Her research topic was the interaction between intense femtosecond lasers and matter, which results in highly nonlinear optical processes. This photon conversion made the generation and control of terahertz (THz) and X-rays possible, and with this knowledge, we not only get to understand the fundamental mechanisms but also improve the current spectroscopy techniques or communication technology.

As Aristotle astutely noted, "The more you know, the more you realize you don't know." Once she set foot on this path, there was no turning back. The educational and practical experiences have uniquely prepared her for the challenge of joining the PhD program with the ARC research team called SEAM.

ARC-SEAM excites Hsin-hui the most due to the faculty, the equipment facilities, the diverse team, and the balance between fundamental science and real-world applications. This is a great opportunity to combine out-of-the-box creative thinking and a real-world solution. In this new role, she is working on understanding the fundamentals of a new class of alloy materials called High-Entropy Alloys (HEAs) with the help of THz spectroscopy methods.

As a woman in SEAM, Hsin-hui is grateful for the platform they have provided for her to speak up and show young girls that women have a wealth of capabilities to excel in STEM studies and achieve remarkable feats.

Acknowledgement: This work has been supported by the Australian Research Council (ARC). The ARC Training Centre in Surface Engineering for Advanced Materials, SEAM, has been funded under Award IC180100005. The additional support from industrial, university and other partners is critical for our success.

For more information about SEAM, please visit www.arcseam.com.au/ or email seam@swinburne.edu.au

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