Melbourne TED Talks is featuring Box Hill South’s Dr Han Lin and Surrey Hill’s Chris Helder

A wonder material being developed by Swinburne University could mean you might never run out of phone battery again. Lead scientist Dr Han Lin will talk supercapacitors at TEDxMelbourne Limitless.

Dr Han Lin and author Chris Helder (inset) will be presenting at TEDxMelbourne Limitless.

Inspirational TED Talks are returning to Melbourne and showcasing some of the world’s leading scientists and people who have made a massive impact on various sectors.

Two Whitehorse intellectuals Dr Han Lin, a 3D printing extraordinaire from Box Hill South and Chris Helder a business communications genius from Surrey Hills will be speaking at TEDxMelbourne Limitless on June 5.

Author Chris Helder will be at Melbourne's TED Talks

Chris Helder

“It seems that lately there’s been a deluge of voices that have repeated in unison “think positively”. And for some, it’s surely worked.

But weren’t there times where you felt too tired or sad to frame your thoughts like this?

Does it sometimes feel as if you’re making a huge effort to force yourself to be happy, and in the end you find yourself feeling even worse?

I encourage people to think according to what’s useful, instead of thinking positively.

I call it Useful Belief and it’s a game changer for dealing with your reality.

It will enable you to apply a new framework to help improve the focus of your time and energy.

By thinking about what’s useful for us, we are still drawn into action.

And each situation, however ordinary, can be the playground to put this tactic into practice, allowing us to act differently. Usefully.

If we become more conscious of the opportunities that surround us, our brain will connect us with thoughts that will help us achieve what we want, changing our focus to what’s useful.”

Chris Helder, based in Surrey Hills, is a business communication genius, international keynote speaker and author.

Dr Han Lin will be at Melbourne TED Talks

Dr Han Lin

“Batteries are essential to our daily lives to power almost everything, ranging from personal electronic devices to electric vehicles.

However there are several problems with batteries: they can take a long time to charge, they have a limited lifespan for charging and discharging and they’re bad for the environment, therefore requiring special expensive disposal processes. In addition, if they are mistreated, they may explode.

Consequently there is a substantial amount of effort being put in to developing a new type of battery technology and I get a lot of excitement exploring batteries.

Who doesn’t want their phone or car battery to charge in seconds, last forever and be safer?

At Swinburne University we are working with a wonder material called graphene, which has a huge surface, is more conductive than copper, and stronger and lighter than steel.

One gram of graphene can cover the entire MCG in Melbourne. All of these properties make graphene an excellent candidate for storing electricity by allowing the ions to attach on the large surface.

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We are developing something called a supercapacitor made of graphene.

Think of it as a battery that can charge in seconds and almost never wear out.

More importantly it is made entirely of carbon materials and doesn’t need all the toxic and rare earth elements like regular batteries, so it’s environmentally friendly.

Large-scale production of graphene for producing these supercapacitors was once unachievable, but using a laser 3D printer, we are able to produce graphene at a low cost.

The new energy-storage technology could soon replace the batteries in our cars, phones and more.

And because the technology is extremely flexible and thin (as thin as ordinary printing paper), the new supercapacitors could potentially be built into clothing, or worn as a watch strap, to achieve a wearable power supply.”

Dr Han Lin, from Box Hill South, is a 3D printing extraordinaire and Swinburne University Centre for Translational Atomaterials senior research fellow.