Dr Tingting Song Awarded the Ian Polmear Early Career Research Award

Dr Tingting Song has been awarded the Ian Polmear Early Career Research Award by Materials Australia, in recognition of her highly innovative contributions to alloy design, metal additive manufacturing, and functional nanoporous metals — as well as her growing influence as a young leader in materials science.

This award recognises early career professionals who have made outstanding advancements in the application of materials knowledge through innovation, development, research, or commercialisation. Dr Song’s achievements span all of the above.

In a field defined by precision, experimentation and persistence, Dr Song has emerged as a bold and original thinker. Her research is breaking new ground in titanium alloy development and high-performance nanomaterials, with the potential to transform biomedical applications, antibacterial surfaces, and sustainable alloy processing.

A Rising Star in Materials Science

Based at RMIT University’s Centre for Additive Manufacturing, Dr Song holds an ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) and an RMIT Vice-Chancellor’s Research Fellowship — two of Australia’s most competitive research appointments.

Since completing her PhD in 2016 (jointly between The University of Queensland and RMIT), Dr Song has led and co-led projects worth more than $1.2 million, collaborated with international leaders in advanced manufacturing, and published breakthrough findings as the lead author in journals such as Nature, Acta Materialia, and Additive Manufacturing.

Her 2023 Nature paper, Strong and ductile Ti-O-Fe alloys by additive manufacturing, represents a significant advancement in titanium alloy design and advanced manufacturing. The study integrates alloy design with process simulation and additive manufacturing techniques to produce strong, ductile titanium alloys using abundant, low-cost oxygen and iron — elements traditionally regarded as impurities.

This innovation not only reduces the material cost of titanium production but also enables the upcycling of titanium manufacturing waste into highperformance materials. Dr Song's work is increasingly focused on sustainable manufacturing and represents a new frontier in impurity-tolerant alloy design.

Transformative Impact Through Research and Innovation

Dr Song’s contributions to dealloying (a process that selectively removes elements from alloys to produce nanoporous structures) have advanced the theoretical foundations of phase transformation at the nanoscale. By introducing the concept of nanocurvature-driven nucleation, Dr Song revealed that intermetallic compounds can form at near-room temperatures, with significantly improved control over their structure and properties.

This theory was validated through a combination of in-situ synchrotron experiments and thermodynamic modelling, establishing a promising foundation for the efficient, lowtemperature production of materials like Cu₃Sn — previously thought to require elevated-temperature processing.

Dr Song is a co-inventor of a dealloyingbased micro-nano metal surface technology capable of eliminating deadly bacteria within two minutes—a breakthrough with substantial potential to revolutionize infection control in healthcare, public infrastructure, and food processing. Following its publication in Biomaterials, the technology garnered widespread attention, reaching over 300 million online views through global mainstream and specialist media outlets.

Continuing her innovative work, Dr Song is now applying advanced dealloying principles to the additive manufacturing of hierarchical titanium-tantalum lattice materials for biomedical implants, combining the strength and lightweight properties of 3D-printed metals with the biofunctional benefits of dealloyed surfaces and tantalum materials. This research, funded by the Australian Research Council, could lead to the next generation of customisable, highly biocompatible implants for orthopaedics and beyond.

Leadership, Collaboration and Service to the Profession

Dr Song’s contributions extend beyond the lab. She has played key roles in organising major industry events — notably serving as the conference secretary for both the first (2017) and second (2019) Asia-Pacific International Conference on Additive Manufacturing (APICAM) held in Melbourne.

During the 2019 event, when two major conference rooms had to be unexpectedly replaced after the opening session, Dr Song led the volunteer response, coordinating a seamless transition that kept the conference on track. Her leadership was instrumental in ensuring the event's success. She will again support the upcoming APICAM 2025, reinforcing her long-standing commitment to the professional community.

Dr Song also serves as a peer reviewer for a wide range of leading journals and is a regular assessor for national and international research funding bodies, including the Australian Research Council, Australian Synchrotron, and international beamline facilities in Japan and Germany.