Grain Tech Systems Pty Ltd

Chris Newman's grain industry experience is summarized as follows:

• 1970 to 1980 - Assistant Engineer to the Queensland Grain Handling Authority in Australia;
• 1980 to 1984 - Deputy Chief Engineer to the Queensland Grain Handling Authority in Australia;
• 1984 to 1991 - Chief Engineer to the Queensland Grain Handling Authority in Australia (see note below);
• 1991 to 1993 - Supervising Engineer to an Australian-funded Model Grain Depot project in Jilin, China;
• 1992 to 1994 - Part time technical adviser to the Australian-funded Thai-Australia Agricultural Extension Project;
• 1992 to 2002 - Technical Adviser to World Bank and to Chinese Ministry of Internal Trade on the World Bank's $1 billion Grain Distribution and Marketing Project;
• 1997 to present - Director of Grain Tech Systems P/L.

Note - As Chief Engineer to the Queensland Grain Handling Authority, Chris undertook several short-term overseas consulting missions including:

• 1986 - a three week lecture tour of China in the company of Dr Jonathan Banks (CSIRO), Dr David Webley (Australian Wheat Board) and Dr Ren Yong Lin (now of CSIRO);,
• 1989 - a study of temporary storage requirements for imported oil seeds in India on behalf of the National Dairy Development Board;
• 1989 - a study of fumigation and aeration requirements for the Jebel Ali import terminal silos in Dubai on behalf of the Australian Wheat Board;
• 1990 - an appraisal study for a "Model Grain Terminal Depot" in Jilin, China on behalf of the Australian International Development Aid Bureau;
• 1991 - an appraisal study for a new grain import terminal in Pakistan on behalf of the Australian International Development Aid Bureau.

In addition to his 1986 trip to China with Dr Jonathan Banks and Dr Ren Yong Lin, Chris has had a long association with the CSIRO. In 1975 he was the first engineer in Australia to adopt the CSIRO's recommendations for air-tight storage by specifying and overseeing the design and construction of the first fully air-tight silos in Australia which achieved half-life pressure-decays on empty silos of over 20 minutes (in some cases over 60 minutes).

Other cooperations with the CSIRO included:

• 1976 - coating of a silo with polyurethane foam insulation for cold temperature experimentation,
• 1977 - preparation and testing of Australia's first nitrogen (low oxygen) grain silo in,
• 1980 - installation of the first "solar siphon" on a grain silo for distributing fumigant throughout the grain mass driven by diurnal temperature changes;
• 1983 - adoption of new principles developed by CSIRO for the aeration of grain.
• 1885 - cooperatiion with CSIRO in the design and installation of the first SIROFLO system in Queensland.

Chris also pioneered the development of new ideas for bunker storages in Australia, including the use of low-height side walls (both earth and concrete) and the use of low cost light-weight polyfabric covers that have (after 25 years) now become the industry standard in eastern Australia. He also promoted the first use of large diameter "squat silos" in Australia as a means of reducing storage costs (as compared to tall "vertical silos"), bringing the concept to China where it was adopted in the World Bank's GDMP project in China, and in all subsequent Chinese-funded silo storage developments.

Chris has made several presentations at grain industry conferences. The include:

• 1987 - ACIAR Workshop on "Bulk Handling and Storage in Humid Tropical Climates" in Kuala Lumpur with a paper titled "Storage and Ancillary Equipment for Bulk Handling of Grain" as published in ACIAR Proceedings No. 22.
• 1988 - Queensland Department of Primary Industries (QDPI) Conference on "Agricultural Engineering for Conservation Cropping" in Toowoomba, with a paper titled "Off-Farm Grain Storage Facilities".
• 1989 - World Grain Congress - Brisbane October 1988 with a paper titled "Developments in Grain Storage and Handling in Australia" as published in World Grain Magazine Vol 7 No 1.
• 1989 - ACIAR International Symposium on "Fumigation and Controlled Atmosphere Storage" in Singapore, with a paper titled "Specification and Design of Enclosures for Gas Treatment" as published in ACIAR Proceedings No 25.
• 1992 - ASEAN Conference on Grain Postharvest Technology in Singapore, with a co-authored paper titled "Some Recent Australian Developments and Applications in Grain Handling and Processing".
• 1993 - International Symposium on Grain Drying and Storage Technology - in Beijing, with a paper titled "Australian Technology Applied to the Chinese Post-Harvest Grains Sector".
• 1995 - GASGA International Conference on "Grain Drying" in Bangkok, with a paper titled "Design Parameters for Aeration and In-Store Drying".
• 1998 - 7th International Working Conference on Stored Product Protection in Beijing, with a co-authored paper titled “Results of Trial of New Phosphine Recirculation Technology - Beijing Central Grain Depot, China”.
• 2000 - Controlled Atmosphere and Fumigation Conference, Fresno, USA with a co-authored paper titled ”Australian SIROCIRC: Recirculatory Phosphine Fumigation Systems at Dalian Grain Terminal and Inland Depots in China”.

Chris Newman's full CV can be downloaded by clicking here.