Sylvia Tulloch is an

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

materials scientist Materials science is an interdisciplinary field of researching and discovering materials. Materials engineering is an engineering field of finding uses for materials in other fields and industries. The intellectual origins of materials scien ...

, who was awarded an

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

in 2025 for her work in renewable energy, innovation and the technology commercialisation field, specialising in

cleantech Clean technology, also called cleantech or climate tech, is any process, product, or service that reduces negative environmental impacts through significant energy efficiency improvements, the sustainable use of resources, or environmental prote ...

and decarbonisation. She is one of the Australian solar industry pioneers, and is a female founder and female '

Angel Investor An angel investor (also known as a business angel, informal investor, angel funder, private investor, or seed investor) is an individual who provides capital to a business or businesses, including startups, usually in exchange for convertible de ...

Education and career

Tulloch has a Bachelor of Science, as well as a Masters of Materials Science – Ceramics, both from the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...

. Tulloch has been a member of various cleantech industry companies. She was one of the members of the Future Manufacturing Industries Innovation Council. As at 2025, she is also chair of the ACT Renewable Energy Innovation Fund Business Advisory Board. Tulloch was also the co-founder and director of Halocell, formerly known as Greatcell Energy, the managing director of Dyesol, from 2004 to 2012, and founder of Silicon Technologies Australia, from 1987 to 2000. She was Chief Scientist of Morganiste Australia from 1975 to 1977. Tulloch has held numerous roles in the field of

renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

, including Director of Uniflow Power, Director of SunDrive Solar, Chairperson of Lava Blue, and the chairperson on the Business Advisory Board of the Renewable Energies Innovation Fund, from 2016 to 2021. She was Chair of Zeotech Limited, a company which processes industrial

kaolin Kaolinite ( ; also called kaolin) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedral sheet of alumina (). ...

and minerals processing, for manufactured

zeolites Zeolites are a group of several Microporous material, microporous, crystalline aluminosilicate minerals commonly used as commercial adsorption, adsorbents and Catalysis, catalysts. They mainly consist of silicon, aluminium, oxygen, and have the ge ...

. At Lava Blue, she was also chair for the company, that developed materials which were high purity, for the production of solar batteries, as well as other energy technologies. Tulloch was also the chair of a company which was involved in developing sensor technology with medical applications, Balance Mat. Tulloch is the Chair of Griffin Accelerator Holdings, and one of the board members of the Canberra Innovation Network. Tulloch is an '

', having sold her business in 2012, and then deciding to share her wealth in several other companies in the start up phase. Tulloch is one of very few female founders

or female Angel Investors, and Tulloch also mentors and provides business and tax advice, as well as introductions to relevant business services such as patent lawyers. Over Tulloch's career, having sold her business in 2012 after seven years of listing on the ASX, she has been the chair or board member for various clean tech startups. She has also mentored various start-ups, including the Canberra-based deep-tech start-up, PPB, as well as other companies through the Griffin Accelerator.

Awards

* 2012 – Lifetime Achievement Award Finalist. 2012 Endeavour Awards from Manufacturing Month. * 2025 – Member of the Order of Australia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tulloch, Sylvia Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Australian women scientists Members of the Order of Australia University of New South Wales