P008044revisedAU-VU:EOASEncyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation
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EnglishAACR2Anglo-American Cataloguing RulesPersoncreated2026-05-20humanKen McInnesupdated2026-05-21humanhttps://www.eoas.info/biogs/P008044b.htmpersonDuffyAlanAACR2Science communicatorAstrophysicistProfessor Alan Duffy is Pro-Vice Chancellor of Flagship Initiatives at Swinburne University of Technology, bringing together diverse research teams and industry and government stakeholders to undertake transformative innovation programmes in flagship sectors of hydrogen, renewable technologies, AI, space and aerospace, MedTech and health.
Alan was the inaugural Director of the Space Technology and Industry Institute, at Swinburne, and helped communities and companies solve their challenges on Earth through space, with multidisciplinary teams across the University's domains of aerospace engineering, data science / AI, astrophysics, and material science.
His research background is in creating simulated universes on supercomputers to understand how galaxies like the Milky Way form within vast clouds of dark matter, using SPH and N-Body+SAM techniques. He then tries to find this dark matter as a Chief Investigator of SABRE, the world's first dark matter detector in the Southern Hemisphere, housed in the Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory. As Chief Investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Dark Matter Particle Physics, he utilises a full range of other observational experiments (including microlensing, gamma-ray emission and galaxy velocity field tracers) to constrain the properties of dark matter.
Alan is also the cofounder and CEO of mDetect, a spin-off company from his dark matter research, that uses particles from space to scan through rock for mineral exploration, identification of structural weaknesses in tailings dams, and subsidence/air gaps below critical infrastructure.
He is a well recognised science communicator, being able to explain complex scientific discoveries to a wide range of academic and general audiences, through a wide range of media, including planetarium shows.20052005Education - Master of Physics (MPhys), University of Manchester20092009Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) [Astronomy and Astrophysics), University of Manchester20092012Career position - Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Western Australia20122014Career position - Postdoctoral Research Fellow , University of Melbourne20142017Career position - Research Fellow, Swinburne University of Technology20172020Career position - Associate Professor, Swinburne University of Technology20192022Career position - Member, Board of Advisors, Questacon, Canberra2020Career position - Chief Executive Officer and Founder, mDetect [muon detection technology company]2020Career position - Professor, Swinburne University of Technology20212023Career position - founding Director, Space Technology and Industry Institute, Swinburne University of Technology2023Career position - Pro Vice Chancellor Flagship Initiatives, Swinburne University of Technology2025Career position - Director, Swinburne Ventures Limited2026Career position - Director, Bionics Institute
Bionics Institute (2011 - )
Director 2026 -
Questacon - The National Science and Technology Centre (1988 - )
Member, Board of Advisors 2019 - 2022
Swinburne University of Technology (1992 - )
Pro Vice Chancellor Flagship Initiatives 2023 - ;
Founding Director, Space Technology and Industry Institute 2021-2023
'Duffy, Alan', in Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, Centre for Transformative Innovation, Swinburne University of TechnologyDuffy, AlanSwinburne University of Technology, Centre for Transformative InnovationEncyclopedia of Australian Science and InnovationResource: Experts SearchSwiburne University of TechnologyExperts SearchSwinburne University of Technology2022Resource Section: mDetect spins out from Swinburne: taking deep tech to new depthsmDetect spins out from Swinburne: taking deep tech to new depths2020Swinburne NewsResource Section: How mDetect turned scientific research into startup successHow mDetect turned scientific research into startup success2025