Dr John Kavanagh

Lecturer and Director of Undergraduate Laboratories
School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering,
University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
Tel: +61 2 9036 9642
Fax: +61 2 9351 2854

Email:

Education:

• PhD (Chemical Engineering) University of Sydney 2003
• BE (Chemical Engineering, with 1st Class Honours and University Medal) University of Sydney 1999

Previous Appointments:

• Research Scientist Kodak Australasia 2003-2004
• PhD Student, University of Sydney 1999-2003

Teaching and Learning

2007-present
Lecturer and Director of Undergraduate Laborataories
School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

2005-2007
AssociateLecturer
School of Chemical Engineering
University of Sydney

Research Interests:

• Fermentation for biofuels, nitrogen fixation and vitamins
• Wastewater treatment particularly via electrocoagulation
• Reverse Osmosis
• Practical Engineering Education

Facilities

• 50 L fermenter and Bioseparations Plant
• Incubated Shakers

Consulting Interest

• Fermentation
• Wastewater Treatment
• General Chemical Engineering

Academic Profile

John Kavanagh received both his BE and PhD from the University of Sydney. He then spent two years working with Kodak Australasia primarily on product development and process improvement. John returned to the University of Sydney in 2005 as an Associate Lecturer and since then has taught a wide range of courses across the Chemical Engineering Program. John’s research interests include fermentation and the treatment of wastewater from biorefineries.

Journal Papers

• A. Berenjian, R. Mahanama, H. Regtop, R. Biffin, A. Talbot, P. Valtchev, J. Kavanagh and F. Dehghani (2011)
  Efficient media for higher MK-7 production New Biotechnology
  New Biotechnology: Special issues on Biocatalysis and Agricultural Biotechnology: number 7-9, Volume 28, Issue 6, October 2011 (Accepted July 22nd 2011)
• R. Mahanama, A. Berenjian, P. Valtchev, H. Regtop, R. Biffin, A. Talbot, F. Dehghani and J. Kavanagh (2011)
  Enhanced production of menaquinone 7 production via solid substrate fermentation from Bacillus subtilis
  International Journal of Food Engineering (Accepted June 7th 2011)
• T. Handelsman, J.M. Kavanagh, H.G.L. Coster and G.W. Barton (2010)
  Zero Discharge Fermentation
  Plant Design Desalination and Water Treatment, Volume 34 Issues 1-3 October 2011
  Accepted May 5th 2011. Special Issue from ASM6/IMSTEC2010, The 6th Conference of the Aseanian Membrane Society/7th International Membrane Science and Technology Conference, Sydney 2010.
• A. Kollaras, J.M. Kavanagh, G.L. Bell, D. Purkovic, S. Mandarakas, P. Arcenal, W.S. Ng, K.S. Routledge, D.H. Selwood, P. Koutouridis, F.E. Paras, P. Milic, E.S. Tirado-Escobar, M.J.B. Moore, P.J.L. Bell and P.V. Attfield (2011)
  Techno-economic implications of improved high gravity corn mash fermentation
  Bioresource Technology Volume 102, Issue 16, August 2011, Pages 7521-7525
• Andrew Gadd; Daniel Ryan; John Kavanagh; and Geoff Barton
  Design development of an electrocoagulation reactor for molasses process wastewater treatment Water Science and Technology (Accepted 11th of January 2010)
• T.C. Chilcott, D, Halimanto, T.A.G. Langrish, J.M. Kavanagh, and H.G.L. Coster
  Characterising moisture content and gradients near the fibre saturation point of Pinus Radiata soft wood using electrical impedance spectroscopy
  Drying Technology (Accepted 20th of January 2010)
• Daniel Ryan; Andrew Gadd; John Kavanagh; and Geoff Barton
  Integrated Biorefinery Wastewater Design.
  Chemical Engineering Research and Design Biorefinery 87 (2009) 1261-1268.
• J.M. Kavanagh, S. Hussein, T.C. Chilcott and H.G.L. Coster
  Monitoring Fouling of Reverse Osmosis Membranes using Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy
  Desalination 236 (2009) 187–193.
• Daniel Ryan; Andrew Gadd; John Kavanagh; Minghua Zhou; Geoff Barton
  A comparison of coagulant dosing options for the remediation of molasses process water.
  Separation and Purification Technology 58 (2008) 347-352
• C. Norton, I. Cameron, C. Crosthwaite, N. Balliu, M. Tade, D.Shallcross, A.Hoadley, G. Barton and J. Kavanagh Developing and Deployment of an Immersive Learning Environment for Enhancing Process Systems Engineering Concepts. Transactions of the Instituition of Chemical Engineering Education for Chemical Engineers 3 (2008) 75-83.
• J.M. Kavanagh and G.W. Barton
  Robust Optimisation of Recombinant E.coli Fermentation.
  Bioprocessing Biosystems Engineering (2008) 31: 137-143.

Conference Papers

• J.Kavanagh, V. Gomes, B. Eichstaedt, J.Orellana and L. van der Veer. Transforming University Utilities into Laboratory Resources.
  Chemeca Perth, September 2009
• Geoff Barton, Claudio Carrasco, Andrew Gadd, John Kavanagh and Daniel Ryan
  Electrocoagulation of Biorefinery Wastewater.
  World Congress of Chemical Engineering 8, WCCE8 Montreal 2009
• Daniel Ryan; Andrew Gadd; John Kavanagh; and Geoff Barton
  Design development of an electrocoagulation reactor for organic wastewater treatment.
  Aquatech Amsterdam September 30th – October 2nd 2008
• J.M. Kavanagh, S.Hussain, T, Handelsman T.C. Chilcott and H.G.L. Coster
  Measuring Fouling and Cleaning of Industrial Reverse Osmosis Membranes by Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy
  Chemeca 2008 Newcastle September 28th - October.1st 2008.
• D. Zamri, P. Koutouridis, P. Johnson, A. Abbas and J. Kavanagh Supporting Experiential Learning: An Integrated Website for Chemical Engineering Laboratories.
  Chemeca 2008 Newcastle September 28th - October.1st 2008.
• H.S. Sidhu, J. Kavanagh, S.D. Watt and M.I. Nelson. Performance Evaluation of Ethanol Production Through Continuous Fermentation.
  Chemeca 2008 Newcastle September 28th - October.1st 2008.
• C. Norton, I. Cameron, C. Crosthwaite, N. Balliu, M. Tade, D.Shallcross, A.Hoadley, G. Barton and J. Kavanagh Enhancing the Understanding and Insights of Students and Industry Operators in Process Engineering Principles via Immersive 3D Environments
  The 18th European Symposium on Computer Aided Process Engineering ESCAPE – 18 Lyon, France June 2008
• C. Norton, I. Cameron, C. Crosthwaite, N. Balliu, M. Tade, D.Shallcross, A.Hoadley, G. Barton and J. Kavanagh Pedagogic Principles for an Immersive Learning Environment for Process Engineering Australasian Association for Engineering Education Conference, Melbourne December 2007.
• J.M. Kavanagh, S.Hussain, T.C. Chilcott and H.G.L. Coster
  Monitoring Fouling of Reverse Osmosis Membranes using Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy
  IMSTEC 2007, November 2007
• J.M. Kavanagh, T.A.G. Langrish, T.C. Chilcott and H.G.L. Coster
  Measurement of Timber Moisture Content and Gradients by Non-Invasive Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy.
  Chemeca 2007, Melbourne, September 2007.
• J.M. Kavanagh, T.C. Chilcott and H.G.L. Coster
  Monitoring Fouling of Reverse Osmosis Membranes using Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy
  Chemeca 2007, Melbourne September 2007.
• J. Kavanagh and J. Shi. Excessive Lanfill Leachate Scale Formation
  Chemeca Auckland New Zealand, September 2006.
  G.W. Barton, J.M. Kavanagh, J.A. Romagnoli, R.K. Malik and T.X. Doan
  Modelling of a Non-Induced E.coli Fermentation Producing Porcine Growth Hormone
  International Federation of Advanced Control, Computer Applications in Biotechnology 8, IFAC CAB 8, Quebec city, June 2001.
• G.W. Barton, J.M. Kavanagh, J.A. Romagnoli, R.K. Malik and T.X. Doan.
  Optimisation of Recombinant E.coli Fermentation.
  6th World Congress of Chemical Engineering, Melbourne Australia, September 2001.
• D. Wang, J. Kavanagh and J. A. Romagnoli.
  Robust MPC Design Based on a Generalized Objective Function.
  International Federation of Advanced Control, DYCOPS 6, Chejudo Island South Korea, June 2001.
  G.W. Barton, J.M. Kavanagh, J.A. Romagnoli and R.K. Malik.
  Productivity Improvement In Non-Induced E.coli. Australian Biotechnology Association Conference, Brisbane, July 2000