Dr Shanaka Kristombu Baduge receives Churchill Fellowship for hydrogen storage, industry award for residential slab innovation

Dr Shanaka Kristombu Baduge has been awarded the Churchill Fellowship to design and build next-generation hydrogen storage infrastructure, and the Housing Industry Association-CSR Hunter Award in Product Innovation for the invention of the residential construction foundation slab LOKPOD system.

The Churchill Fellowship will support Dr Baduge’s efforts to investigate the new technologies and materials to store hydrogen economically and safely. This research will support Australia’s National Hydrogen Strategy to use Australia's energy resources for the hydrogen economy to decarbonise our energy market, enhance the economy, and create new jobs through energy exports.

Offering unique opportunities for researchers to expand their combined knowledge and provide modern solutions to Australia’s concerns and challenges, the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Churchill Fellowship offers each fellow share of $2,472,413 million to fund travel expenses for up to eight weeks.

Dr Baduge also received the HIA-CSR Hunter Award in Product Innovation for the design and development of a recycled plastic modular void former system for residential waffle pod foundation systems, as a solution to the existing problematic Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) pods.

This innovation decreases construction waste, time, and cost while providing a robust footing against damages caused by the shrinking and swelling of reactive clayey soil throughout Australia. The product was developed by the University of Melbourne before being licenced to the Australian Reinforcement Company which commercialised it as the LOKPOD System.

HIA-CSR Hunter Award in Product Innovation honours excellence in the design, production, and product development of new technologies to provide cutting-edge building products, materials, or other results to serve the residential building industry.