Rate My Professor Aaron Thornton

Dr. Aaron Thornton serves as a Senior Lecturer in Engineering within the Faculty of Science and Engineering at Southern Cross University and holds the position of Principal Research Scientist at CSIRO. He earned a Bachelor of Mathematics and Finance with First Class Honours in 2005 and a PhD in Mathematics in 2010 from the University of Wollongong, the latter in collaboration with CSIRO. Specializing in mathematics, Thornton develops novel and innovative solutions across materials science, engineering, aerospace, computer science, machine learning, and biology. Bridging fundamental science, research, and industry, he has led commercial projects such as Airthena Technology for CO2 capture from air (2016-2020), a pocketable oxygen device for home healthcare with Air Liquide (2019), and noble gas therapeutics (2015-2018). Thornton has commercialised four technologies, completed training in Silicon Valley with venture capital experts in clean tech and artificial intelligence, and leverages his joint appointment to lead carbon locking and carbon accounting projects targeting net zero emissions. At Southern Cross University, he contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals and initiatives including an AI-boosted circular economy project and new scholarships in artificial intelligence and sustainability.

Thornton's research appears in high-profile journals including Nature, Nature Materials, and Energy & Environmental Science, with expertise in partial differential equations, separation science, thermodynamics, statistical physics, and proteomics. Notable publications include "A Pilot-Scale Demonstration of Mobile Direct Air Capture Technology" (2020), "Accelerating the prediction of CO2 capture at low partial pressures" (Communications Chemistry, 2023), "Machine Learning Descriptors for CO2 Capture Materials" (2023), and "Struvite Production from Dairy Processing Waste" (Sustainability, 2022). His accomplishments include the Boeing Performance and Innovation Award (2019), Department of Education Executive Endeavour Fellowship (2018), CSIRO Julius Career Award (2013-2016), Chemical Structure Association Trust Jacques-Emile Dubois Award (2013), and Young Tall Poppy Science Award (Victoria, 2012). Thornton served as President (2014-2017), Treasurer (2012-2013), and Secretary (2010-2011) of the Membrane Society of Australasia. He is on the editorial boards of Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research and Membranes (MDPI), and the Industry Advisory Board of the ARC Research Hub in Energy Efficient Separations. As a visiting scholar, he collaborates with the University of California Berkeley, Chimie ParisTech, Hanyang University, University of Cambridge, and National Technical University of Athens.