Marcus Butler
16 April 2015: University of Canberra student Johncarlo Maddalena is making his first trip to Japan to take part in a highly sought-after internship with the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), one of the largest scientific research centres in Japan.
The fourth-year honours student will spend a month in Japan gaining first-hand experience of the materials science research being conducted at NIMS.
Mr Maddalena said he's excited by the work being done at NIMS, particularly around the use of 'supramolecules' for chiral resolution.
Supramolecular structures are large molecules formed by grouping or bonding smaller molecules together. Chiral resolution is a technique to separate molecules with the same chemical formula that are the mirror image of each other.
"Having access to supramolecules and the researchers working on them will further some of the synthetic chemistry work which I've been doing at the University of Canberra," he said.
"The work I've been doing towards graduating with honours has focused on the creation of catalysts to synthesise the kind of molecules which may be useful for medicines. These molecules may be found in nature and are useful in the creation of pharmaceuticals, industrial chemicals and pesticides, among their many applications.
Mr Maddalena explained his goal is to be able to reliably and cheaply create these molecules in the lab without having to harvest them from their natural sources, which are finite.
"Creating a successful catalyst through my research would mean cheaper medicines in the long run and that's a good goal to have," Mr Maddalena said.
He said despite not coming from a chemistry background, he's relished working in a laboratory environment.
"I was working in information technology, but I wanted a change. I found myself in a forensics lab and discovered something that I really enjoyed, so I started my undergraduate degree in pharmaceutical science at the University of Canberra.
"It was a steep learning curve stepping into the lab and building up my confidence working in this setting. I think my internship at NIMS might be a similar experience," he said.
NIMS accepts around 100 interns worldwide each year and candidates are recommended by their supervisor. In Mr Maddalena's case University's associate professor of biomedical science Ashraf Ghanem put his name forward.
"NIMS is one of the most well-known nanotechnology laboratories in the world and Johncarlo will have access to state-of-the-art equipment and instruments for his work," Dr Ghanem said.
"There's also a great benefit to the University of Canberra though this internship, achieving international exposure for the kind of research we are doing here, and expanding the skillset of our researchers at the same time," he said.
Mr Maddalena will depart for Japan and take up his internship this week.
