Connect with us
Follow us on social media
News_
Combustion engineer’s impactful legacy
11 December 2018
Outstanding researcher and role model, Emeritus Professor Brian Haynes retires
For more than 25 years, Emeritus Professor Brian Haynes has been an integral part of the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering’s strategic research direction in Clean Energy, Process Intensification and Combustion, and its life.
Emeritus Professor Brian Haynes has had a long and distinguished career in chemical process engineering and kinetic modelling of energy-intensive applications such as gasification, biofuels, combustion and CO2 capture.
With a focus on the study and application of fundamentals with a view to solving practical problems, Emeritus Professor Haynes has worked closely with industry, securing 18 ARC Discovery and Linkage grants, and in excess of $20M in research contracts, most recently with Heatric, Yara and Mineral Carbonation International.
As an author of some 200 peer-reviewed scientific publications, Emeritus Professor Haynes has worked with some outstanding collaborators.
In his early postdoctoral years, these included Professors Heinz Georg Wagner (Göttingen) and Adel Sarofim (MIT), while his work at the University of Sydney over the past 25 years has featured particularly fruitful collaborations with Professor David Fletcher in computational fluid dynamics and Dr Tony Johnston (inventor of printed circuit heat exchangers and founder of Heatric), among others.
Since joining in 1972, Emeritus Professor Haynes served the Combustion Institute (CI) as President (2004–2008) and a member of the CI Board of Directors (1998−2008), a position he has continued to hold in an honorary capacity.
He was awarded the Bernard Lewis Gold Medal in 2012 for “brilliant research in the field of combustion, particularly on the catalytic reformation of fuels, reactions in microchannels and the formation of pollutants, including soot” and more recently gave the opening address at the 37th International Symposium on Combustion in Dublin.
To honour his exceptional service, Emeritus Professor Haynes received the first President’s Appreciation Award for “his excellent service leading to long-term competitive conditions in relation to the scientific publications of the Combustion Institute”.
Brian is a great role model for academics and researchers alike. His contributions to and focus on the advancement of both fundamental knowledge and practical innovations in industrial catalytic combustion processes are the hallmark of his career with us. We can all learn from his quiet but determined demeanour and unwavering commitment to excellence in chemical engineering research and education.
Professor Dianne Wiley, Head of School
Having been the Head of the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from 1994 to 2000, Emeritus Professor Haynes will be remembered by his colleagues and PhD students for his remarkable mentorship and caring approach.
Professor Yuan Chen credits Emeritus Professor Haynes for his own decision to emigrate from Singapore to take up an academic position in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.
“When I came for my on-site interview, Brian and his wife hosted me for dinner and showed me both the academic life and personal life in Sydney," said Professor Chen.
"Over the last three years, Brian has given me advice on numerous issues and encouraged me to achieve research excellence as well as have a work-life balance.”
Part of Emeritus Professor Haynes’ legacy will be the Gordon Yu-Hoi Chiu Building, a postgraduate research facility for Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering students, made possible by the generous donation of more than $2 million negotiated by Brian.
