I enjoy being outside and doing something active such as walking, cycling or running.
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NAME: Anita D’Angelo
CURRENT TITLE: Diffraction Scientist ORGANISATION: CSIRO AREA OF EXPERTISE: Characterisation of minerals and materials, structure-property relationships, materials science. YEARS OF EXPERIENCE: 9 EDUCATION: I obtained my Bachelor of Science (Applied Chemistry)(Honours) in 2009 from Curtin University Perth, and my PhD (Materials Science) in 2016 from Monash University, Melbourne. WEBSITE/TWITTER: Google Scholar |
What does your job involve?
Developing the capabilities of CSIRO to obtain a greater understanding of minerals. I also focus on developing our techniques to investigate a sample's amorphous component. Another exciting part of my job is working with industrial partners to improve their processing abilities. This involves a lot of in-situ or ex-situ XRD experiments, sample preparation and analysis for the clients. Within our group we have informal meetings to discuss results, plan experiments and potential future ones. I am interested in using diffraction to look at minerals on the short range scale, so I spend a considerable amount of time developing our methods, analysing various minerals and processing the data.
Developing the capabilities of CSIRO to obtain a greater understanding of minerals. I also focus on developing our techniques to investigate a sample's amorphous component. Another exciting part of my job is working with industrial partners to improve their processing abilities. This involves a lot of in-situ or ex-situ XRD experiments, sample preparation and analysis for the clients. Within our group we have informal meetings to discuss results, plan experiments and potential future ones. I am interested in using diffraction to look at minerals on the short range scale, so I spend a considerable amount of time developing our methods, analysing various minerals and processing the data.
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What’s a typical day like?
Day to day I am either carrying out work for our clients or working on and looking at the interatomic distances of crystalline and amorphous materials. I can usually be found in one of our laboratories or in front of my computer. Occasionally I might be at a conference or training event. |
What do you love about working with X-rays?
I find crystallography fascinating and that peaks in powder diffraction patterns are due to X-rays diffracting off of layers of atomic planes within a material. X-rays can be used to gain so much structural information. I also like how X-rays can be used for a variety of different applications such as imaging, spectroscopy etc. |
What’s challenging?
Working with natural mineral samples as they can be comprised of many phases, which can be quite challenging to identify. As much information about the mineral and the industrial process/treatment it has been through needs to be obtained to help identify these phases. Without these challenges I really doubt my work would be so interesting though. Also, aligning a capillary can be quite trying sometimes!
Working with natural mineral samples as they can be comprised of many phases, which can be quite challenging to identify. As much information about the mineral and the industrial process/treatment it has been through needs to be obtained to help identify these phases. Without these challenges I really doubt my work would be so interesting though. Also, aligning a capillary can be quite trying sometimes!
Any advice to people looking for a career in X-ray analysis?
Do what you love to do, focus on quality over quantity, be honest and always work to the highest standard. Really understand your science and learn as much as you can. Form collaborations, give presentations and go to meetings (such as AXAA!) to discuss what you do with others. I believe if you have a good scientific reputation then the opportunities will arise.
Do what you love to do, focus on quality over quantity, be honest and always work to the highest standard. Really understand your science and learn as much as you can. Form collaborations, give presentations and go to meetings (such as AXAA!) to discuss what you do with others. I believe if you have a good scientific reputation then the opportunities will arise.
Why is it good to be involved with AXAA?
It is an Australian organisation that represents academic, industry and government X-ray and neutron scientists from all scientific disciplines. They are a great supportive, friendly and helpful community of experts in X-ray and neutron techniques. It is always great to catch up with everyone at the AXAA conferences and have a good discussion about anything X-ray or neutron related. AXAA is also a strong supporter of young scientists and are extremely generous when it comes to supporting students. Their generosity allowed me to attend AXAA 2014 and without that I would not have been able to get to meet their members and build my professional network.
It is an Australian organisation that represents academic, industry and government X-ray and neutron scientists from all scientific disciplines. They are a great supportive, friendly and helpful community of experts in X-ray and neutron techniques. It is always great to catch up with everyone at the AXAA conferences and have a good discussion about anything X-ray or neutron related. AXAA is also a strong supporter of young scientists and are extremely generous when it comes to supporting students. Their generosity allowed me to attend AXAA 2014 and without that I would not have been able to get to meet their members and build my professional network.