Philip Nakashima

Philip Nakashima is an Associate Professor in the Department of Materials Science & Engineering within the Faculty of Engineering at Monash University. He is an active researcher with a PhD in Physics from the University of Western Australia (2002) and has over 25 years of experience in advanced transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and quantitative convergent-beam electron diffraction (QCBED). He is currently accepting PhD students and is involved in cutting-edge research in materials characterization and quantum information technology.

His research focuses on the development and application of advanced electron microscopy techniques to study the structure, bonding, and properties of materials such as metals, alloys, ceramics, and nanostructures. Key areas include quantitative CBED, electron crystallography, digital image restoration, noise quantification, and multi-parameter optimization. He has made seminal contributions to understanding chemical bonding in aluminum and has extensive experience in high-performance computing for materials analysis.

His most recent publications demonstrate a strong trend toward integrating machine learning with materials design, particularly for magnesium alloys, while maintaining core expertise in electron diffraction and microscopy. He continues to publish in high-impact journals such as Science, Physical Review Letters, and Acta Materialia.

Philip Nakashima has received several prestigious awards for his research excellence:

• John Sanders Medal (2012): Awarded by the Australian Microscopy and Microanalysis Society for excellence in electron microscopy techniques.
• Barry Inglis Medal (2011): Awarded by Australia’s National Measurement Institute for outstanding achievement in measurement research.
• The Cowley-Moodie Award (2006): Recognizing research excellence in electron microscopy in the physical sciences.

He has been a visiting researcher at the ARC Future Fellowship (2012–2016) and is currently an Associate Investigator in the Quantum Information Technology project (2023–2027). He teaches advanced crystallography to undergraduate and postgraduate students and has been invited to lecture at international schools on electron and quantum crystallography. His research involves collaboration with leading scientists in Australia and internationally, and he leads work on advanced microscopy for materials engineering applications.