Damien Hicks

Prof Damien Hicks is a Professor at Swinburne University of Technology's School of Science, Computing and Emerging Technologies, leading the Complex Systems group within the Optical Sciences Centre. He holds a PhD from MIT and prior roles include physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (2000-2014) and Australian Research Council Future Fellow (2015-2019). His research spans computational neuroscience, plasma physics, bioinformatics, and optical systems, with notable contributions to EEG modeling, fusion energy, and cell lineage tracking tools like DeepKymoTracker. He teaches statistical physics and classical mechanics.

Key research interests include:

• Statistical models in single-cell biology
• Neural population dynamics and EEG analysis
• Inertial fusion experiments achieving target gain >1
• Optical neuromorphic computing (11 Tera-OPS processors)

Publications highlight interdisciplinary work across neuroscience, plasma physics, and computational biology. Awards include ARC Future Fellowship. Active grants focus on T-cell fate control and nanofabrication. Professional memberships include Sigma Xi and the American Physical Society.