7 minute read
CMatP Profile: Dr Leon Prentice
Where do you work? Describe your job.
I recently moved from CSIRO Manufacturing to take up the role of Chief Research and Development Officer at SDI—a biomedical manufacturing company in Bayswater, Melbourne. SDI employs close to 400 people around the world (including a significant sales network), exports 90 per cent of its production, and is one of the global leaders in dental restorative materials and related products. My role oversees research and development, builds the overall Innovation strategy of the company, and manages some of its key external research collaborations.
What inspired you to choose a career in materials science and engineering?
I’ve always loved materials. They’re the perfect interface between physics, chemistry, and engineering! I considered the pure option – Materials Engineering at Monash – after high school. In fact, my brother’s friend gave me a Materials Engineering Student Society t-shirt while I was in Year 11, but Melbourne University called more loudly. I started in Mechanical Engineering, moved to Chemical, did a double degree with Physics, and headed mostly into research. After undergraduate study I started working in research and development (R&D) for SDI, and undertook a PhD in biomaterials at the same time.
Who or what has influenced you most professionally?
It’s difficult to give credit to any one person. Different people have influenced me in many ways. At CESL, an older engineer would walk by with a casual gait and his hands in his pockets but calculate in his head the heat load in a titanium pressure oxidation autoclave by the volume of steam condensate we collected. (“Thirteen BTUs…”) He taught me that understanding how things work can be readily coupled with basic heat balances to get quick meaningful answers. At CSIRO, Mark taught me that keeping the collaborators and clients front of mind meant thinking about what the work would mean for them, and how it could make life easier. Kathie taught me that people are different, and that consideration and mindfulness go a very long way in building teamwork.
Which has been the most challenging job/ project you’ve worked on to date and why?
Probably one I can’t say much about, but it involved critical deadlines, novel chemistry and process equipment, and complex professional relationships! I’ll have to cite another.
Soon after taking on the Metal Industries Research Program at CSIRO, we faced challenges that in some ways were existential queries about the Program. I worked with my leadership team (and beyond) to sharpen our strategy and focus, pursue some major opportunities, build connections, make the case for new staff (including post-docs), and successfully push for a Science Leader. For a while there, I didn’t think metals had a long-term future in CSIRO, but we made some profound changes and advances.
What does being a CMatP mean to you?
A badge of professionalism. It means someone else has had a look at what I can do, measured it against established criteria (that are beyond a pass mark at university), and said I measure up. More than that, though, are two other factors – a commitment to furthering the profession, and the professional network.
On the first of those, it means encouraging others to get into the field, by setting an example of what a career pathway can be, exemplifying excellence in professional ethics and technical capability, and mentoring and encouraging students and early career engineers. On the network side, it’s good to see others at events or in newsletters, and a real pleasure to connect at conferences or on projects that bring our capabilities and interests together.
What gives you the most satisfaction at work?
Seeing processes and products become a commercial reality, making a real difference to the world. Sometimes research can focus on a problem that’s fundamental or esoteric – the results may be great, but in the end the impact may be incidental or very far in the future. I like seeing the results of research scaled up, implemented, and achieving a benefit beyond the commercial. The ‘beyond commercial’ is really important to me – a large part of what I’ve worked on professionally has a real environmental or healthcare benefit. For example, my first ever ‘real’ engineering project, at BHP, was in lead (Pb) recycling; the CSIRO MagSonic™ process could reduce CO2 emissions
by up to 85 per cent; and SDI’s dental restorative and preventative products, that we develop, can help treat the 2.3 billion people who suffer from dental caries (decay).
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
Always be upfront – never try to hide technical or interpersonal issues. There have been times when things have gone wrong – either technically or interpersonally – and I’ve seen firsthand what happens when those issues are ignored, or the topic or person simply avoided. I once led a project, where I was the key researcher, that was meant to be a quick (few weeks) exploration for a client. After three weeks of anomalous results, I realised I had a different thermocouple than what I had thought, and I’d been out by 150°C, wasting time and materials. I had to just own it. Interpersonally, people often don’t get along, and sometimes conflict is inevitable. Perhaps in addition to the ‘be upfront’ message is the ‘appropriate forum’ message: choose when, where, and with whom to have the difficult conversations. Sometimes that might mean acting immediately, one to one; sometimes it’s scheduling the discussion and having others involved. Be sensitive to the dynamics, focus on the outcome you seek, and remember they’re people.
What are you optimistic about?
This is a difficult one. I think we’re in a climate emergency, and doing far too little too slowly; global inequality is shocking (I grew up in Tanzania and Kenya) and rich countries could do much more; geopolitics are fraught, and respect is hard to find. On the positive side, I do see significant effort by people who care, and it’s making a (slow) difference. And those people are increasingly working together. I’m passionate about new energy sources – concentrated solar thermal is one of my favourites – and new processes like carbon-neutral cement and steel. I see the materials agenda as fundamentally underpinning these opportunities. As we develop better materials, we’re also working at developing the whole lifecycle for them, and I’m optimistic that a real circular economy is coming soon.
What have been your greatest professional and personal achievements?
I’ve been thankful for awards over the years. Highlights included Victorian Professional Engineer of the Year, IChemE’s Sustainable Technology Award, and the TMS Vittorio de Nora Prize. The de Nora prize is probably the biggest – administered by TMS between 2010 and 2014, it was awarded for Environmental Improvements in Metallurgical Processes (in my case, for MagSonic™). Sometimes the achievements aren’t awards, however, getting a Science Leader in Active Materials into my research program at CSIRO was a big one. Have a look at a past issue of this very magazine for Dr Antonella Sola CMatP – I’m really pleased she’s moved to Australia to take on this great role! In terms of personal achievements, I’m just thankful for the blessing of a wife and two daughters, and I’m thankful for the opportunity to mentor and encourage students and early career researchers and engineers. Sometimes it’s close to home: my wife completed a PhD in bioethics while working full time as a neonatologist, and I hope I helped a little!
What are the top three things on your “bucket list”?
Get a multi-combination driver’s licence. Reversing a B-Double! Living on Mars. Books like Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars Trilogy, or Andy Wier’s The Martian, bring together physics, engineering, and sociology into an awesome frontier.
Just travelling again. One of the real joys before COVID was combining both mine and my wife's overseas conferences, and taking our two daughters away for a couple of weeks. Doing more of that is high on the priority list, when we’re allowed to go again – or even have conferences again!
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