Rate My Professor Geoff Spinks

Geoff Spinks is Senior Professor and Head of School in the School of Mechanical, Materials, Mechatronic and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Wollongong. He received his PhD from the University of Melbourne in 1990 for research on the mechanical behaviour of polymers. Spinks joined the University of Wollongong as a Lecturer in December 1989 and progressed through promotions to Senior Lecturer, Associate Professor, and eventually Senior Professor. In 2011, he was awarded an Australian Research Council Professorial Fellowship to conduct full-time research on intelligent polymers at the Innovation Campus. He currently also serves as Director of the UOW Makerspace and Academic Leader for the Making Future Industries Challenge within the university's Global Challenges Program.

Spinks' academic interests center on smart materials, with specializations in artificial muscles, soft robotics, and wearable robotics. His research develops new materials and manufacturing methods for these fields. He has amassed over 36,000 citations on Google Scholar, demonstrating substantial influence in materials science and engineering. Key publications include 'Carbon Nanotube Actuators' (Smart Materials and Structures, 1999), 'Conductive Electroactive Polymers: Intelligent Polymer Systems' (2008), 'Electrically, Chemically, and Photonically Powered Torsional and Tensile Actuation of Hybrid Carbon Nanotube Yarn Muscles' (Science, 2012), 'Artificial Muscles from Fishing Line and Sewing Thread' (Science, 2014), and 'Dual High-Stroke and High–Work Capacity Artificial Muscles Inspired by DNA Supercoiling' (Science Robotics, 2021). For his work on artificial muscles in miniature devices, Spinks was awarded a Science Breakthroughs of the Year at the 2021 Falling Walls Science Summit.