Graham Tew is a Monash University Civil Engineering graduate. He initially joined BHP’s Melbourne Research Laboratory in 1981 to commence a career in Railway Engineering, Research and Research Management. Graham is a foundation member of the Railway Technical Society of Australia (RTSA), a member of Engineers Australia (CPEng) and a key member on the Australian Rail Standards Committee (CE-002). Graham has also received the RTSA’s Biennial Individual Railway award for Outstanding Achievement in the Railway Industry, the Vice Chancellor’s award for Excellence in Research aligned with Industry and the prestigious Clunies Ross Award presented by the Australasian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.

Graham’s experience relates primarily to the performance of track, which has seen him lead a range of projects relating to track performance, which included a long association with OneSteel in the development and use of steel sleepers, both in Australia and North America. Graham was appointed Director of the Research team in 1998 and oversaw the transfer of the team from private industry to an applied business unit at Monash University. During this period, Graham was instrumental in the development of the instrumented ore car concept for monitoring track and rollingstock condition, which has revolutionised track monitoring across the iron ore railway industry, with companies including Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, FMG and VALE (Brazil) embracing the technology.

In 2010 Graham stood down from the Director’s role, having embedded the business at Monash University and grown the group to approximately 20 full time staff. Graham now acts as Research Manager, allowing more time to be spent on research activities, new business development and the mentoring of junior staff.