Professor Alexander Quandt, acting chair of the Materials for Energy Research Group and focus area co-ordinator for the Centre of Excellence in Strong Materials, has won the Special Annual Theme Award in the National Science and Technology Forum South32 Awards (the Science Oscars) for his work on materials for inclusive economic development. His work on the theoretical foundations, numerical implementations and practical applications of state-of-the-art material simulations focuses on first principle methods, starting from a quantum mechanical description of the atoms that constitute a given material. His methods have allowed for the development of ground-breaking contributions to the field of 2D materials that play a central role in upcoming quantum technologies.

Computer experiments have finally established themselves alongsidemore traditional experimental techniques as a powerful tool to develop noveltechnologies in a very economical and systematic fashion, says Quandt. Myresearch also points out new applications of chemical elements across the wholeperiodic table, which might lead to new types of solar cells, batteries andcomputing devices [being] developed here in South Africa.

Quandt says the highlight of his research is the work on planartypes of nanomaterials similar to the so-called wonder material, graphene. Someof his research in the field pre-dated graphene and was based on boron, theimmediate neighbour of carbon in the periodic table.

The research groups I managed in the past or started recently arerole models for unconventional but nevertheless very successful and productivemulti-disciplinary research initiatives into the fields of materials scienceand energy technologies, adds Quandt. The University of the Witwatersrand hasbecome the main hub of a new trans-continental ARUA Centre of Excellence inMaterials, Energy and Nanotechnology (ARUA CoE-MEN) that is headed by LeslieCornish and myself.

Quandt is hoping that his work may ultimately lead to theestablishment of a network of highly trained graduates that will strengthen thematerials beneficiation and high-tech sectors, something that South Africasorely needs if it wants to play a role in emergent technologies.

The goal is to develop an accurate description of optical andenergy devices over multiple length scales, which start from the atomicstructure of basic materials and extend all the way to the simulation of atypical working device, says Quandt. Understanding a solar cell, a complexoptical waveguide system or a battery in virtually all of its physical andchemical aspects allows for the optimisation of existing technologies and thedevelopment of entirely new technologies.

Ultimately, Quandt believes that the development and implementationof powerful numeric simulation methods will be a key aspect in emerging fieldssuch as Industry 4.0 and Quantum Computing.

As a student I was given a copy of Linus Paulings The Nature of the Chemical Bond, and Idevoured it in one go, concludes Quandt. Paulings unique scientific style ofcombining intuition with quantum mechanical calculations and detailedexperimental studies has always been an inspiration for my own work as amaterials scientist. It was a great satisfaction to add new fundamental aspectsto one of the most esoteric chapters in his book about electron deficientmaterials.

Quandt walks away with the Special Annual Theme Award thanks to hispioneering work in computational materials science with applications tonanomaterials, optics/photonics and renewable energy research, an award wellearned indeed. Tamsin Oxford

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