Professor Julie Cairney is a Professor of Materials Engineering at the University of Sydney and also serves as the University’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research Enterprise).  She specialises in using advanced microscopy to study the three-dimensional structure of materials at the atomic scale. Her projects cover hydrogen embrittlement in steels, corrosion, nuclear materials and biominerals. Many of these projects are carried out in collaboration with industry. Her work is published in the top international journals, including Science and the Nature series. She has received a number of awards for this work, including the 2020 Acta Materialia Silver Medal, an international prize that recognises scientific contributions and leadership in materials science. She is the author of over 300 publications, cited nearly 15,000 times, including a book on the subject of atom probe microscopy.