At 96, Emeritus Professor Alan Roberts has no plans of slowing down.
With more than seven decades as a world leader in bulk solids, Professor Roberts has just released his first full book covering the fundamentals of the field.
He might have retired as Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Newcastle in 1993 but the past 30 years haven't exactly been quiet.
"In a funny way I say I had 20 years as a player and I've spent the past 30-odd years in the commentary box," Professor Roberts said.
Awards and achievements cover the wall space of a room in his New Lambton home, including a 1992 Order of Australia certificate for his service to mechanical engineering.
"I've got so many problems and things to write about and my aim is to do what I can to leave something behind," Professor Roberts said.
Over the course of his career, Professor Roberts has authored or co-authored six design manuals, 13 book chapters and more than 600 research papers.
The Theory and Practice of Bulk Materials Handling, however, is his first complete book, published after 12 years of work.
"It took much longer than I thought because my knowledge goes back not only my lifetime but what has been done before," he said.
"I noticed when I was getting into the latter 80s and into the 90s, my ability to think about things that I never quite understood before, it all became very clear."
Professor Roberts described the book as providing students a basis for solving problems.
Bulk solids handling covers granular or powdered materials in everything from pharmaceuticals through to agriculture, mining and minerals.
The field focuses on how to effectively deal with materials according their qualities and external factors.
"Many of our projects are focused on the structural stability of storage bins or silos that have to safely hold and control the processing of materials," Professor Roberts said.
"Things like climatic conditions, position to where the sun is shining relative to the walls or the fact that during the night the materials within the structure compresses slightly and during the day it expands," he said.
Professor Roberts was born in Leichhardt, Sydney in the 1930s, and went on to study engineering at the University of NSW before teaching at Wollongong University College.
In 1974 he was appointed as a professor of industrial engineering at the University of Newcastle, and then the dean of the faculty.
In 1975, he founded The University of Newcastle Research Associates Bulk Solids (TUNRA), which he is still involved with today.
TUNRA has completed more than 6000 bulk solids handling projects across more than 40 countries.
"It wasn't easy to get this field recognised, it wasn't a traditional area of engineering studies and nobody quite understood that," Professor Roberts said.
After many years dedicated to his research, some might ask why Professor Roberts decided to finish and publish his book now.
Last November, his wife Betty sadly died. They had been married for 72 years.
"She always supported me, and in the latter years she became unwell but she always wanted me to finish the book," Professor Roberts said.
"I felt as though I really owed it to her," he said.
With a book covering the fundamentals under his belt, Professor Roberts said he was now working on his second book focused on the applications and practice of bulk solids research.
