Dr Mahboobeh Shahbazi

Biography

Mahboobeh Shahbazi holds MSc and PhD degrees in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Wollongong, where she worked on developing energy materials including iron-based superconductors. After graduating, she joined QUT where she followed her research studies on a variety of topics including perovskite solar cells, superconductors and magnetic materials. In 2017, Mahboobeh was awarded an Advance Queensland Fellowship in partnership with Siemens. In addition, Mahboobeh collaborates effectively with Australian and overseas superconductivity experts and is a co-investigator with her collaborative network at the University of Queensland on ARC Linkage projects investigating nanostructure engineered superconductors for fusion energy and MRI applications.

In January 2023, she started a new role as Foundation Fellow for a key project with the Future Energy Exports CRC. In this role, she collaborates on hydrogen-based projects in the CRC’s Programme 2 “Hydrogen Export and Value Chains” including identifying and resolving key issues associated with scaling up electrolysers and the use of magnetocaloric materials for the efficient liquefaction of hydrogen. In addition, she was part of an ARENA-funded team investigating the operational safety of Lithium-ion batteries used in hybrid renewable energy and hydrogen production facilities.

Mahboobeh’s research interests have centred on developing new and efficient methods to synthesise a variety of energy materials including superconductors, batteries, electrolysers and magnetocaloric materials. These syntheses are aimed at cost-effective, quality materials for use in applications such as MRI instruments and fusion reactors, hydrogen liquefaction and green hydrogen production systems. She is passionate about understanding the fundamental relationships between material structure, physical and electronic properties of materials and, accordingly, improving their performance in practical applications.