Honorary Professor Nick Birbilis is presently the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Built Environment at Deakin University.  Nick was previously the Interim Dean and Deputy Dean of the ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science. Professor Birbilis was appointed Interim Dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS), within the Australian National University, in October 2021 and was appointed Honorary Professor of the ANU in August 2022 when he took up his current appointment at Deakin University.

Nick previously served as Deputy Dean (and acting Associate Dean Research) with CECS from November 2018 – leading the College through an unprecedented investment to reimagine engineering, computing and technology for the 21^st century.

Nick co-led the development and implementation of this strategic vision for the college, focusing on non-traditional and innovative research, multi-dimensional inclusive education and state of the art infrastructure. Nick went on to lead the refresh of this strategy in order to support an education led recovery for the ANU, mid-way through the COVID-19 pandemic, after a period of immense change.

As an academic, Nick is a world-renowned materials engineer recognised for contributions in microstructure-corrosion relationships, including in the area of light alloys and additively manufactured alloys as well as 3D printing, with >20 associated patents. His research is highly interdisciplinary, including ground-breaking demonstration on a number of stainless alloys and development of highly ductile magnesium, right through to detailed electrochemical analysis that has unravelled many microstructure-corrosion relationships (across all the engineering materials). As part of his dedication to the field of materials engineering, Nick founded the ‘Birbilis Family Corrosion Award’ at Monash University, with an eye to creating more opportunities for engineering students from diverse backgrounds.

He is a Fellow of the Electrochemical Society, the National Association of Corrosion Engineers, the International Society of Electrochemistry, and Engineers Australia. Nick has also been awarded numerous accolades, including the Batterham Medal from the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and the HH Uhlig Award from the Electrochemical Society USA.  Having published over 450 papers, with >26000 citations, he is also the Editor-in-chief of the interdisciplinary journal npj Materials Degradation. and serves as a long-standing Editor for the journal Electrochimica Acta. 

Nick received a Bachelor of Engineering (First Class Honors) in 2001 and a PhD from Monash University in 2004. The applied nature of his research and experience in materials durability saw Nick work in parallel as a Senior Corrosion Engineer with AECOM in addition to being a teaching and research academic. From 2013-2018, Nick was the Head of Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Monash University where he led with a focus on student growth and diversity. In this period, Nick was also the awarded the foundational honour of the Woodside Innovation Chair at Monash University. Nick has undertaken Executive leadership training from Oxford University and Business Administration training from the University of Illinois.

Over the past decade, Nick has maintained a focus on transformational leadership, empowering and enabling others, whilst also creating systems and infrastructure to allow world leading research and impact. He has a strong passion for engagement and enterprise – which are critical to the function of modern universities and their role.

Nick believes that engineering, computing and the use of technology will play a critical role in society as we head towards Industry 4.0. He is a passionate educator and strong advocate for diversity in STEM, who enjoys working on projects of social relevance and impact.

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nick.birbilis@anu.edu.au