Solutions for future global challenges will likely be developed by the younger generation of scientists and engineers charging forward in Australia. Some of these challenges include finding ways to reduce CO₂ emissions in construction, generating renewable energy, and making better batteries.

Calix is focused on research and development, and its technologies are already being applied to these challenges in Australia and around the world. The technology company’s culture is built on the desire to do something meaningful for the planet and for people.

Young scientists and engineers who are passionate about the greater good and about solving these global challenges are finding a strong foothold at Calix. They are encouraged to buck traditional science, engineering, and construction, and develop sustainable industry options to helping to shape the future of the world they will live in.

One of the young engineers making his mark at Calix is Simon Thomsen. At just 29, Simon is working in Europe on Calix’s LEILAC project, a carbon capture initiative for lime and cement.

Simon leads the work package responsible for the engineering, procurement, and construction activities on the LEILAC project, which has just been officially commissioned. This follows his contribution to the design and build of the CFC15000, the commercial-scale demonstrator of Calix’s core technology. Simon was directly responsible for managing the first major upgrade of this first-of-a-kind plant, which improved on the original design.

Simon was handpicked to join the Europe team for the LEILAC project following a successful trial of one of the key developments of the project on the company’s existing manufacturing plant in Australia. This included planning and executing the trial, modifying the production facility, then analysing the test results. Simon completed this project within budget and on schedule without any safety incidents. This was an outstanding success that improved efficiency for Calix’s technology.

Simon also runs a work package within the SOCRATCES project which seeks to build a solar thermo-chemical energy storage research facility. If successful, this would contribute to the uptake of renewable energy. It involves coordinating five other partners’ activities within the consortium, as well as running a project within that work package to deliver another calciner based on Calix’s technology.

Another promising young star is Dr Matt Boot-Handford, who was recently appointed to the role of research and development (R&D) manager for batteries and catalysts.

Matt is responsible for defining and executing the research and development for battery and catalyst materials to ensure the programs are conducted safely, cost-effectively, timely, as well as being accurately budgeted and regularly reported to an agreed standard.

Matt is a post-doctoral chemical engineering research scientist with extensive experience in the formulation, characterisation and testing of sorbents and catalysts for clean energy production and a background in the thermochemical conversion process.

Helping to steer the world away from fossil fuels is a key ambition for Matt. He was part of Dr Qilei Song’s research group at the Imperial College in London, tasked with testing the Calix Flash Calciner (CFC) technology, which can be used to make a wide variety of mixed metal oxide materials for advanced manufacturing applications.

This experience convinced Matt to move to Australia, where he leads Calix’s efforts to produce advanced materials for lithium ion batteries. Using cheap, agricultural-grade manganese carbonate and Calix’s CFC technology, the company has already created various controlled oxidation states of highly porous manganese oxide, a common lithium battery material.

The work being done by Simon and Matt, along with their colleagues at Calix, could be a game-changer in terms of addressing the most significant problems facing the 21^st Century and beyond.