SMaRT@UNSW are design repairers for Object Therapy.

Founded in 2008 by ARC Laureate Fellow Scientia Professor Veena Sahajwalla, the Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (SMaRT) at the University of New South Wales works with industry, SMEs, global research partners, NGOs, local, state and federal government, policy makers and the community on the development of innovative environmental solutions for the world’s biggest waste challenges. 

Veena, as one of the world’s leading innovators in the field of sustainable materials and an international award-winning scientist and engineer, is passionate about transforming waste produced by modern society into value added green materials. She is well known to Australians through her regular appearances as a judge on the long-running ABC TV series The New Inventors.

SMaRT’s contribution to Object Therapy is being coordinated by SMaRT researcher Dr Farshid Pahlevani, a metallurgical scientist with international experience and expertise in patent development. His research is focused on the utilisation of waste as a raw material and includes collaborations investigating the transformation of household waste into metallic alloys. 

Farshid is being assisted by PhD researchers Claudia Echeverria, an architect, textile artist and eco-social entrepreneur investigating the recovery of waste fibres for the development of novel wood-plastic bio-composites, and Heriyanto, who researches glass recycling for the development of polymeric glass composites for building applications.