MEI Poster Competition 2025: Winners Announced
The Melbourne Energy Institute (MEI) Poster Competition returned in 2025 as part of the MEI Symposium, bringing together research students from across the University of Melbourne to present work spanning materials, system, industry and energy transition challenges.
The competition provides a platform for undergraduate, masters and PhD students to communicate complex research to a broad interdisciplinary audience, with posters assessed on research quality, clarity and contribution to energy-related issues.
This year's entries were presented across four categories: Energy Materials, Energy Systems, Heavy Industry and Resources, and Power Generation and Transport. Congratulations to our prize winners and runners-up, posters from each category are listed below.
Energy Materials
1st Place: Lingzhi Cao
Deciphering Ion Specificity at Water-Mediated Graphene Interfaces via Interpretable Machine Learning
Lingzhi's research applies interpretable machine-learning approaches to investigate how specific ions interact with graphene interfaces in aqueous environments, advancing understanding of interfacial behaviour relevant to next-generation energy materials.
2nd Place: Aga Ridhova
Solution Processed MoOx Thin Films as Hole Selective Contacts for Silicon Solar Cells
3rd Place: Xuhui Zhu
Rapid Selective Recycling of Spent LiFePO4 Cathodes via a Deep Eutectic Solvent-Assisted Carbothermal Shock Method
Energy Systems
1st Place: Ronggen Chen
Optimal Co-Planning of Hybrid Energy Hubs and Integrated Electricity-Hydrogen Transmission Infrastructure
Ronggen's work develops an optimisation framework for the coordinated planning of hybrid energy hubs alongside integrated electricity and hydrogen transmission networks, addressing system-level interactions critical to future low-carbon energy systems.
2nd Place: Orlando Pereira Guzman
Physics-Informed AI for Calculating PV Hosting Capacity in LV Networks
3rd Place: Chatum Aloj Sankalpa Wijethunga Gamage
Context-Aware Stochastic Modeling of Consumer Energy Resource Aggregators in Electricity Markets
Heavy Industry and Resources
1st Place: Shayan Khakmardan
Parametric Life Cycle Assessment of Critical Battery Minerals Industry: Case of Lithium
Shayan's poster presents a parametric life-cycle assessment framework applied to lithium production, examining environmental impacts across scenarios relevant to the rapidly expanding battery minerals sector.
2nd Place: Ahmad Emamian
A Detailed Assessment of Mining Land Transformation Factors in Australia
3rd Place: Jiaou Song
Condensation Kinetics of N2 at Cryogenic Conditions from Atomisation Simulations
Power Generation and Transport
1st Place: Yue Gu
Machine-Learning Strategies for Transition/Turbulence Modelling for Low-Pressure Turbines with Unsteady Inflow Conditions
Yue's research investigates machine-learning approaches to improve modelling of transition and turbulence phenomena in low-pressure turbines operating under unsteady inflow condition, with implications for turbine performance and efficiency.
2nd Place: Kha Meng Ng
How Do Biomethane Impurities Affect Combustion Appliances?
3rd Place: Isrrah Malabanan
Co-Producing Knowledge on Residential Electric Vehicle Charging Access for Renters and Multi-Unit Dwelling Residents
The 2025 Poster Competition reflects the breadth of energy research underway across the University of Melbourne, spanning fundamental materials science, infrastructure planning, industrial system and social dimensions of the energy transition.