2019 Corrosion Photo Competition Awards

Art in Science

We believe that art is a humanizing force that enables us to push the frontiers of knowledge and foster innovation. Thus, in December 2018, we launched the first Corrosion Photo Competition Awards as part of the Chevron-Woodside Chair in Corrosion. The goal of the photo competition is to encourage students and researchers to share their achievements (and frustrations) with their peers, colleagues, friends, and the rest of the Curtin community. 

Photos are judged not only by their perceived quality, composition, and technical merit but also by the reason that led the participants to select them. Each participant could enter two photos, and they were asked to explain why they picked them.

Below are the three winners of the 2^nd Academic Photo Competition.

Third Place

Esteban Rodoni: This image represents hours of reading, designing, cutting, heat treating, mounting, polishing, etching, and redesigning in a loop that does not seem to be over soon. Although it sounds quite depressing, I find joy, curiosity, and in cases like this: surprise.

In this frame, each colour represents an orientation that is affected by heat treatment history. So, when I look at it, what really blows my mind is that the heat acted as a brush that painted on a steel canvas. Think about how many points we didn’t reveal yet and need to be discovered. 

Second Place

Lina Silva Bedoya: This picture made me reconsider everything about my Ph.D. research. This picture was taken from a piece of rusticle from the HSK Kormoran, a German warship that sunk along with the HMAS Sydney after a short but intense battle during the Second World War. These shipwrecks are lying at 2.5 Km deep, 200km off Shark Bay (WA), and are covered in icicle-shaped iron oxide structures. Historically, microorganisms are thought to have important roles in the growth, shape, and mineralogy of these structures through a phenomenon commonly known as Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion (MIC).

First Place

Erika Suarez: I selected this electron image for the photo competition due to its similarity with the Sydney Opera house, which I consider goes beyond coincidence. It also brings pleasant memories since it was the first electron image I captured as part of the SEM training period at the beginning of my PhD.

Acknowledgments

Many thanks to A/Prof. Ian Davies, Lana McQueen, Dr. Asheesh Kumar (UWA), Dr. Hanan Farhat (QEERI), and Tanya Chambers!