ANSTO’s suite of landmark infrastructure includes the Australian Synchrotron, one of the most significant investments in science in the nation’s history. With over 6,000 registered research users and thousands of experiments undertaken there isn’t much that hasn’t been investigated at the facility.
I will describe some of the reality of keeping a lab the size of a football field operational and how research undertaken at the Australian Synchrotron impacts the way we live in areas as diverse as cultural heritage, combatting diseases such as leukaemia, food nutrition, gold mining, advanced materials and battery technology. I will also highlight some current developments, including accelerator physics, new beamlines and opportunities for graduate students.

Andrew Peele was appointed Director of ANSTO’s Australian Synchrotron in November 2013. He is also an adjunct Professor of Physics at La Trobe University with previous roles at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centre and as a practicing solicitor. Andrew’s research improves the versatility and quality of x-ray imaging, with over 100 publications including new methods in phase imaging and coherent diffractive imaging with applications such as tomographic imaging of cells and materials. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering, and immediate past President of the Australian Institute of Physics and of the Asia Oceania Forum for Synchrotron Radiation Research. He also serves as a board member for the Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering and the Australian Institute of Mathematical Sciences and on advisory boards for international synchrotron facilities, the La Trobe Institute for Molecular Sciences, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Flexible Low-Energy Electronic Technologies.