The Principal of SN2

Dr Wayne Davies

Wayne operated a consultancy within the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Sydney 1988 to 2004. In this time he wrote over 100 reports for clients in industry and government on such topics as plant and process design, organochlorine management and plant-failure litigation. In the same period, he designed a number of process plants for clients and went on to build several of these, carrying out such tasks as: process designer, plant designer, project manager, control engineer and commissioning engineer

He has had extensive experience as a research scientist as well as a chemical engineer, working on the kinetic modelling of cellular functions at Massachusetts General Hospital and at Royal North Shore Hospital as well as microbial antigen production at Biotechnology Australia.

As a chemical engineer, he has expertise in: surface chemistry, colloid chemistry, cryogenics, heat exchanger design, particle mechanics, biological treatment, vapour scrubbing, solution chemistry, heterogeneous catalysis and reaction kinetics. He has experience in HAZOP, quantitative risk assessment, mathematical modelling, control, safety audits and economic feasibility studies.

His preferred interest is in combining his skills into process design and plant construction, his most rewarding experiences being (i) a 100 tonne per day wax emulsion plant and (ii) a 4 litre per hour continuous flow supercritical plant originally designed for making biodiesel and now used as SN2's test bed.

Wayne saw the opportunity to do what he takes the greatest professional pleasure and pride in; going from research to design to commissioning a new plant; while transforming waste into profits.

About our name

The company name SN2 was derived from chemist's shorthand for "bimolecular nucleophilic substitution" this being one of the reaction pathways that occur in transesterification for making biodiesel