Dr Ylias Sabri is an Associate Professor in the School of Engineering (Chemical and Environmental Engineering) at RMIT University, where his research operates at the interface of materials science and environmental engineering. He received his Doctor of Philosophy from RMIT University and has maintained a continuous research and academic appointment at the institution since 2011, advancing from Postdoctoral Fellow through Senior Lecturer to his current professorial role. He concurrently holds an honorary appointment as a Visiting Scientist with CSIRO Manufacturing and serves as a Group Leader within the Centre for Advanced Materials and Industrial Chemistry (CAMIC), in addition to co-leading the Electrical and Electronics Engineering research cluster within his School. His research programme centres on the rational design of nanostructured materials for gas sensing, pollution control, and resource recovery, and is distinguished by a sustained effort to balance fundamental scientific inquiry with technology translation and circular-economy outcomes.
Over a career spanning more than fifteen years, Ylias has established a substantial international reputation in chemical sensing and sustainable materials, evidenced by an h-index of 45, in excess of 5,500 citations, over 130 peer-reviewed journal articles (94 per cent in Q1-ranked venues), two book chapters, and seven patents, four of which are Patent Cooperation Treaty filings. A defining feature of his work is its translational reach: his early development of mercury-vapour sensing technologies, undertaken in collaboration with South32 and Alcoa World Alumina, informed large-scale industrial mercury-mitigation strategy, while his more recent hydrogen- and ammonia-sensing platforms and a licensed ionic-liquid solvent system for polymer recycling continue to progress along commercialisation pathways.
As Lead Chief Investigator on competitive grants exceeding $25 million over the past five years, he has directed numerous large-scale, industry-partnered and international research programmes, including clean-innovation networks extending across the Asia–Pacific region. His contributions have been recognised through awards including the 2023 RMIT Vice-Chancellor’s Research Engagement and Impact Award and the 2023 STEM Research Impact Award, and he remains deeply committed to research training, having supervised fourteen doctoral candidates and overseen fifteen higher-degree-by-research completions while mentoring a cohort of research fellows and assistants. He further contributes to his discipline as an Editor for the Journal of Sensors and Micromachines.
Research interests
Circular economy for urban residues.
Research expertise
Renewable energy; Circular economy; Materials science; Pollution control.
