Researcher biography

Background

Dr Anita Hill is Chief of CSIRO's Process Science and Engineering division, which has a staff of more than 350 people across five Australian sites. Dr Hill's work is building Australia’s international standing in the field of nanostructured materials and processes." Dr Hill's role is to guide the organisation’s processing and metal production activities. She has a keen understanding of the importance of translating lab research into industry technology. Dr Hill is also an Office of the Chief Executive (OCE) Science Leader with CSIRO, and a Fellow of the Academy of Technological Sciences (ATSE), as well as a member of the Boards of the:

  • Membrane Society of Australasia
  • Institute for Technology Research and Innovation (Deakin University)
  • Journal of Polymer Science (editorial board)

Biography

Dr Hill began her career at Monash University as a lecturer before consulting for the Materials Engineering and Technical Support Services. She joined CSIRO in 1996. At CSIRO, she rose rapidly to Senior Principal Research Scientist graduating, in 1999 from the Australian Graduate School of Management Executive Management Program. She took on the senior management roles of Research Area Leader for Polymer Technology in 2001 and Capability Leader for Nanostructured Materials in 2005. In 2008, Dr Hill accepted the position of Chief Research Scientist and Office of the Chief Executive Science Leader at CSIRO.

Dr Hill has received several professional awards and honours, including:

  • Adjunct Fellow, Monash University School of Chemistry, 2010
  • Australian Research Council College of Experts, 2009
  • Guest Editor, International Journal of Nanotechnology, 2008
  • Fellow, Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, 2008
  • CSIRO Medals for Research Achievement, 2004 and 2002.

Dr Hill has over 150 ISI journal papers cited over 2000 times, and an h-index of 23. She has presented at many national and international conferences, symposia and seminars. Her work to date on the transport of atoms, ions and small molecules through solids has had profound impact on the design of dense polymer membranes (published in Science 2002, 2007). Her work has been described as ‘breakthrough research’ and ‘one of the most important achievements in the field in the past decade’.

Dr Hill has established high calibre national and international linkages resulting in:

  • Three successful ARC Centres of Excellence with focus on advanced materials and processes (2003-13)
  • Two emerging science initiatives (2003-09)
  • A Flagship cluster (2006-10)
  • International research agreements with the University of Texas at Austin (2003-12) and Advanced Institute for Science and Technology Japan (2006-08).