Luke Connal received a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering and a PhD in polymer chemistry both from the University of Melbourne, Australia. In 2009, he completed a post-doctoral position with Prof. Frank Caruso developing new techniques for the self-assembly of polymers. He was then a joint Sir Keith Murdoch Postdoctoral Fellow and Australian Linkage International Fellow at University of California Santa Barbara with Prof. Craig Hawker. In 2013, Luke returned to the University of Melbourne as a veski Innovation Fellow and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. In 2017, he moved his group to the Research School of Chemistry at the Australian National University.  He is now an ARC mid-career industry fellow and full professor and associate editor for the Royal Society of Chemistry journal “Molecular Systems Design & Engineering”; he is also currently the chair of the RACI polymer division. 

He is a co-founder of two spin out companies. His research interests lie in the development of molecular design concepts to create new materials for diverse applications, including artificial skin and tissues, sustainable polymers and surfactants, additive manufacturing electronics and water harvesting. Core competencies in the group are based on advanced polymer design, self-assembly and catalysis.