Dr Tim Stait-Gardner

• Qualifications
• Biography
• Research
• Selected Publications
• Grants/Current Projects 
• Teaching Interests
• Awards/Honours
  

Qualifications

PhD, B.Sc

Biography

Dr Stait-Gardner obtained his PhD in theoretical physics from the University of Western Sydney (UWS) in 2006. His PhD examined thermodynamics in the curved spacetime of general relativity. He was associated with the Fusion Research Group at UWS for three years beginning in 2000. His topic of study at the time was laser confinement and he worked specifically on the problem of deriving the form of the electromagnetic field from the vector potential for Laguerre-Gaussian Beams. Since completing his PhD, Dr Stait-Gardner has worked closely with the Nanoscale Organisation and Dynamics group headed by Professor Price on a variety of projects in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance/Magnetic Resonance Imaging (NMR/MRI).

Dr. Stait-Gardner is currently National Imaging Facility (NIF) officer at UWS. He has worked on collaborative projects with a variety of groups (from UWS, UNSW, USyd, CSIRO). These projects have ranged from assessing various contrast agents to determining the mechanical properties of skin, to investigating whether inorganic phosphorus regulates the rate of leaf photosynthesis and growth during phosphorus starvation.

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Research

Dr Tim Stait-Gardner is particularly interested in the physics of intermolecular dipolar coupling between molecules separated by macroscopic distances and the observable effects of such couplings during specially tailored NMR experiments. These long-range dipolar couplings may account for some anomalous variations in the measured diffusion coefficient when the SS-PGSE experiment is run at very fast speeds. A thorough investigation of the effects of intermolecular multiple quantum coherences may allow significant improvements to sequences like SS-PGSE resulting in new very fast, accurate and precise diffusometry techniques. In addition Dr Stait-Gardner believes there is a vast range of untapped potential applications for intermolecular dipolar couplings.

Dr Stait-Gardner is interested in speeding up diffusion measurements significantly while still retaining other information such as chemical shifts. Such fast diffusion sequences will not only allow for much more efficient use of NMR spectrometers but will also extend the application of diffusion measurements into previously inaccessible time domains. Current diffusion measurements start from a static equilibrium and their speed is limited by the need to wait for equilibrium after each scan before a new scan can begin. He is looking at the possibility of creating a well-defined dynamic equilibrium reducing or eliminating the need to wait for full relaxation after each scan. A number of difficulties arise such as the effects of multiple quantum coherences and the possibility of distant dipolar couplings which make this far from straightforward and connect this work to Dr Stait-Gardner's other interest in intermolecular dipolar couplings.

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Selected Publications

Stait-Gardner, T., Castillo, R. (2006). Difference between Hawking and Unruh radiation derived from studies about pair production by lasers in vacuum Laser and Particle Beams 24, 579-603

Zheng, G., Stait-Gardner, T., Kumar, A.P.G., Torres, A.M., Price, W.S. (2008). PGSTE-WATERGATE: An STE-based PGSE NMR sequence with excellent solvent suppression
Journal of Magnetic Resonance 191, 159-163

Stait-Gardner, T., Kumar, A.P.G., Price, W.S. (2008). Steady State effects in PGSE NMR diffusion experiments
Chemical Physics Letters 462, 331-336

Yadav, N.N., Stait-Gardner, T. and Price, W.S. (2008). Hardware considerations for Diffusion MRI. In: Diffusion MRI (D. Jones, Ed.), Oxford University Press. In Press (16 Oct 2008). (Invited chapter).

Stait-Gardner, T., Willis, S.A., Yadav, N.N., Zheng, G. and Price, W.S. (2009). NMR Diffusion Measurements of Complex Systems. In: Diffusion Fundamentals III, (C. Chmelik, N. Kanellopoulos, J. Kärger, and D. Theodorou, Eds.), Leipzig University Press. pp. (Invited chapter). 183-204. ISBN 978-3-86583-387-7

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Grants/Current Projects

• A collaboration with the National Wine and Grape Industry Centre (NWGIC) at Charles Sturt University (CSU) on the characterisation of Shiraz berries with a view to further study of berry split.
• Steady-state fast diffusion research
• Collaborations with internal and external partners involving MRI through the NCRIS/NIF

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Teaching Interests

Dr Stait-Gardner's teaching duties mainly revolve around the mentoring of honours and PhD students within the Nanoscale group.

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Awards/Honours

• UWS Symposium & Workshop on NMR Imaging and Diffusion 2006 Best Poster Prize
• New South Wales Australian Institute of Physics Prize (Best Honours Student 2001)
• The Australian Postgraduate Award (2001-2004)

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