Director - Centre for Ironmaking Materials Research, University of Newcastle

Associate Professor Honeyands is Director of the Centre for Ironmaking Materials Research (CIMR) at the University of Newcastle. He is a metallurgical specialist with more than 30 years’ experience in research, consulting and process engineering.

Prior to joining the University of Newcastle in 2015, Associate Professor Honeyands spent 20 years working in an industrial R&D environment and 6 years as a metallurgical consultant. While working for BHP he was involved in research into both conventional blast furnace ironmaking and alternate ironmaking technologies. He was a member of the core team responsible for the R&D to mitigate technical risks with the development and commissioning of a new hydrogen based direct reduction technology; FINMET. While working for Creative Process Innovation, he led the AMIRA P1097 project on transportable moisture limit (TML) of iron ore fines to address a global safety issue in the iron ore industry.

In his current role as director of CIMR he is responsible for leading research in the use of iron ores in both conventional and low carbon iron and steelmaking as part of a $10 Million dollar partnership with BHP. He is also engaged in leading projects in the ARC Steel Research Hub and in the Heavy Industry Low Carbon Transition (HILT) Cooperative Research Centre.