Rate My Professor Matthew Barr

Dr Matthew Barr serves as Senior ANFF Support Officer in the School of Science at the University of Newcastle, part of the College of Engineering, Science and Environment. He earned his Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Newcastle, with a thesis titled 'Imaging with Atoms: Aspects of Scanning Helium Microscopy,' focused on designing and developing a microscope using neutral helium atoms as the probe. For this work, he received the Royal Society’s Jak Kelly Prize for Excellence in Postgraduate Physics in 2016. His research interests encompass apparatus design and fabrication, organic electronics, scanning helium microscopy, and x-ray microscopy. As a Research Associate and Support Officer in the Centre for Organic Electronics, which forms half of the Materials Node of the Australian National Fabrication Facility, Barr has advanced neutral helium microscopy techniques and contributed to organic electronics, particularly printed solar cells from electrically conductive plastics. He has employed synchrotron methods like x-ray microscopy and spectroscopy for fundamental research and scaled up fabrication and characterization equipment.

Barr's career includes prior roles as Research Associate and Support Officer from 2015 to 2020, Technical Assistant at John Hunter Hospital from 2009 to 2015, and Laboratory Demonstrator in the Faculty of Science and Information Technology. He served as Design Engineer for the 2022 Charge Around Australia project using printed solar for off-grid electric car charging and Project Manager for a 2024 printed solar project for the band Coldplay. Notable contributions include major printed solar installations like the Lane Cove Canopy Precinct in Sydney and developing a roll-to-roll printer during the COVID-19 pandemic that produced over a thousand face shields for medical staff. His helium microscopy team's work was featured at the Royal Society’s Summer Science Exhibition in 2019. Awards include the Frater Award (2025), College of Engineering, Science and Environment Staff Excellence Award (2024), Faculty of Science Staff Excellence Award (2020), University Medal and Faculty Medal (2009), and others. Key publications feature 'Organic Nano-Junctions: Linking Nanomorphology and Charge Transport in Organic Semiconductor Nanoparticles for Organic Photovoltaic Devices' (2024), 'Spatially resolved lattice characterization using a scanning helium microscope' (2025), 'Sub-resolution contrast in neutral helium microscopy through facet scattering' (2023), 'Image formation in the scanning helium microscope' (2018), and 'Atom microscopy - Imaging with a deft touch' (2017). These efforts have influenced advanced imaging and sustainable energy technologies.