Person
Batterham, Robin John (1941 - )
AO FAA FTSE FREng FNAE FAusIMM FIChemE FISS FAIM FAICD HonFIEAust
- Born
- 3 April 1941
Brighton, Victoria, Australia - Occupation
- Chemical engineer, Chief Scientist and Mining engineer
Summary
Robin Batterham was appointed Chief Scientist of the Commonwealth of Australia in May 1999. He was re-appointed to the position in 2002, after the initial tenure expired. He has also been Managing Director of Research and Technology Support, Comalco and Chief Technologists, Rio Tinto Limited since 1999 (December). Batterham is a director of many boards and associations and has lectured widely throughout Australia and overseas. After completing his PhD at Melbourne University, Batterham took up a postdoctoral position with ICI Central Research Laboratories in England. He returned to Australia and was employed as a research scientist by CSIRO (Division of Mineral and Process Engineering. By 1985 he had become Chief of that Division. Three years later he left CSIRO to join CRA, then Rio Tinto in 1995. He was Chief Scientist of Australia from 1999 to 2005.
Details
Chronology
- 1965
- Education - Bachelor of Engineernig (BE), University of Melbourne
- 1968 - 1970
- Career position - CSIRO Postdoctoral Fellow at ICI Central Research Laboratories, UK
- 1969
- Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Melbourne
- 1970 - 1981
- Career position - Research Scientist, CSIRO Division of Chemical (later Mineral) Engineering
- 1973 -
- Career position - Fellow, Institute of Instrumentation and Control, Australia
- 1981 - 1985
- Career position - Chief Research Scientist, CSIRO Division of Mineral Engineering
- 1982 -
- Career position - Fellow, Iron and Steel Society of America
- 1985 - 1988
- Career position - Chief of Division, CSIRO Division of Mineral (later Mineral and Processing) Engineering
- 1988
- Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE)
- 1988 - 1993
- Career position - Member of Council, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering
- 1988 - 1995
- Career position - Vice-President of the Resource & Processing Developments of CRA
- 1988 - 1995
- Career position - Director, CRC for Robust and Adaptive Control Systems
- 1989 -
- Career position - Fellow, Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
- 1989 - 2010
- Career position - President, International Mineral Processing Congress
- 1992
- Award - Esso Award for Excellence in Chemical Engineering
- 1993
- Award - President's Medal, Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
- 1993 - 1997
- Career position - Chairman, G. K. Williams CRC for Extractive Metallurgy
- 1994 - 1997
- Career position - Managing Director of Research and Technology, Rio Tinto of Australia
- 1995 - 1999
- Career position - Managing Director of Research and Technology, Rio Tinto Ltd. (formerly CRA Ltd.)
- 1996
- Award - Kernot Memorial Medal, for distinguished engineering achievement in Australia. Faculty of Engineering, University of Melbourne
- 1997 - 2000
- Career position - Managing Director of Research and Technology, Rio Tinto Ltd
- 1997 - 2001
- Career position - Board member, Australian Mineral Development Laboratories (AMDEL)
- 1997 - 2006
- Career position - Member of the Cooperative Research Centres Main Committee
- 1998 -
- Career event - Fellow (FIChemE), Institute of Chemical Engineers, United Kingdom
- 1998 - 2009
- Career position - Chairman, International Network for Acid Prevention
- 1999
- Career event - Fellow (FIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia
- 1999 - 2001
- Career position - Director, Australian Mineral Industry Research Association
- 1999 - 2005
- Career position - Chief Scientist of Australia
- 1999 - 2005
- Career position - Member, Prime Minister's Science, Engineering and Innovation Committee
- 2000
- Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Science (FAA)
- 2000 - 2009
- Career position - Group Chief Scientist, Rio Tinto Ltd
- 2001
- Award - Centenary Medal - for a distinguished career in research and technology, both in the public and private sectors
- 2001 - 2004
- Career position - Director, Mineral Industry Research Organisation, United Kingdom
- 2002 -
- Career position - Corresponding Member, Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences
- 2003
- Award - Chemeca Medal, Australian and New Zealand Federation of Chemical Engineers
- 2003
- Career position - Vice-President, Institution of Chemical Engineers
- 2004 -
- Career position - Foreign Member, Royal Academy of Engineering
- 2004 -
- Career position - Foreign Associate, National Academy of Engineering, U.S.A.
- 2004
- Award - Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) - for service to science, engineering and technology through promoting collaboration, excellence and innovation to enable Australian industry to remain internationally competitive and innovative
- 2004
- Award - Doctor of Laws (LLD), honoris causa, University of Melbourne
- 2004 - 2005
- Career position - President, Institution of Chemical Engineers
- 2004 - 2006
- Career position - Member, Advisory Committee, National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS)
- 2005 - 2009
- Career position - Chairman, International Network for Acid Prevention
- 2006
- Award - Doctor of Science (DSc), honoris causa, University of Sydney
- 2007 - 2012
- Career position - President, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering
- 2010 -
- Career position - Kernot Professor of Engineering, University of Melbourne
- 2011
- Award - Doctor of Engineering (DEng), honoris causa, University of Queensland
- 2015
- Award - Sir Willis Connolly Memorial Medal, Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
- 2017
- Award - Honorary Bragg Member, Royal Institution of Australia
- 2020
- Award - Honorary Fellow (HonFIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia
Related entries
Published resources
Reports
- Institution of Engineers Australia, Engineers Australia Annual Report 2003-4 (2004), 77 pp. 'Chemeca Medal 2003' awarded to Dr. Robin Batterham, Part 2, p.29. Details
Resources
- Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q7352243. Details
- VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/94994219. Details
- 'Batterham, Robin (1941-)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-642058. Details
- 'Awarded honorary LLD, 2004 [Citation provided]', Honorary degree holders, University of Melbourne, 2023, https://about.unimelb.edu.au/notable-alumni-staff/honorary-degree-holders. Details
- 'Awarded honorary DEng, 2011 [Citation provided]', Honorary awards recipients, University of Queensland, 2023, https://alumni.uq.edu.au/awards/honorary-awards-previous-recipients. Details
Resource Sections
- Ward, C., 'Robin John Batterham', in CSIROpedia, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), 2011, https://csiropedia.csiro.au/Batterham-Robin-John. Details
See also
- Georg, Dietrich, 'Australia's most influential engineers: Top 100 [2009]', Engineers Australia, 81 (6) (2009), 30-64, https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.838744586377406. Details
Ailie Smith and Helen Cohn
Created: 6 August 2003, Last modified: 26 September 2023