I'M
james davison.
CHEMICAL ENGINEER, COFFEE ROASTER AND PROFESSIONAL TINKERER
James is a chemical engineer from Melbourne, Australia, with a passion for exceptional coffee. He is the owner and founder of Williamstown Roasters, a multi award winning coffee roastery based in Melbourne’s West. James has won multiple medals at the Australian International Coffee Awards for his espresso blends. He has developed his own specialty roasting software that logs information from the roaster and controls the roasting process. James has worked in the food manufacturing industry making chocolate, in the hydrocarbon industry, and as a process engineering consultant and designer. He now combines his knowledge and experience of engineering with his passion for coffee. He takes a precise, scientific approach with meticulous care in search of the best possible coffee for his customers.
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expertise
SOFTWARE AND FIELDS OF EXPERTISE
COFFEE ROASTING
VB AND MS EXCEL
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
TECHNICAL REPAIR
FABRICATION/3D PRINTING
AUTODESK INVENTOR
ARDUINO/ELECTRONICS
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
DATA ANALYSIS
90%
80%
80%
80%
75%
70%
70%
65%
65%
EDUCATION, PUBLICATIONS AND AWARDS
B.eng (Chemical), Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia
B.bus (Management), Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia
Experience
2015-2020
WILLIAMSTOWN ROASTERS
2012-2017
WORLEYPARSONS
PROJECT MANAGER/CONTROLS
In my role as a project manager I managed several projects at the ExxonMobil Altona Refinery. These projects included upgrades to electrical protection relays, uninterruptible power supplies, pumping upgrades and investigations into malfunctioning equipment. As a cost controller I developed reporting and dashboarding systems to manage ~70 large projects site wide. These systems are still in use at Altona and modified variants are in use at other client sites.
BUSINESS ANALYST
As a business analyst I worked to improve many internal systems. These included the Global Software Register, a database of all software used by WorleyParsons 30,000 employees. I also worked on the Project Lifecycle Benchmarking initiative which involved creating a database and interface to be used to capture project information globally. The highlight in this role was working as a data analyst on the corporate restructure of the company, where I worked with the CEO and other high level executives to restructure the company post GFC.
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PROCESS ENGINEER
As a process engineer it was my responsibility to perform calculations and checks on upgrading and expanding the capabilities of the Altona refinery. This ranged from performing calculations to determine loading of safety valves and systems and specifying design requirements for our mechanical and electrical teams. I was also the site wide safety representative for WorleyParsons in this role.
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ESTIMATOR
I started at WorleyParsons as a projects estimator. It was my job to perform financial simulations for new projects to determine their cost effectiveness. This involved working with large datasets, analysing historical data and changing variables such as plant size or exchange rates to determine the cost of new projects. In this role I created spreadsheets and models still in use that help predict costs of chemical plants with minimal input.
FOUNDER
Williamstown Roasters is a multi-award winning micro roastery in Melbourne's west. At Williamstown Roasters I developed a semi-autonomous coffee roaster. The roaster uses custom control algorithms and industrial automation to determine how to best roast coffee to achieve a high quality consistent product.
The design of this machine was a challenge as it involves many different engineering disciplines. The chemical design of the equipment is focused on the reactions that need to be achieved in the roasting process. Next is the electrical design, which is how all the electrical components fit together to safely deliver power to the unit. This involves everything from cable sizing, heat sinks, connections and theory of operation. The roaster also now uses many different types of sensors which involves industrial automation and design. This then leads to the micro controllers which collect information from the roaster and send it to a computer. The system also uses a custom made GUI to control the machine and record data. Finally, there a several different types of complex control loops running to enable the machine to run on "autopilot".
As a small business owner I'm also responsible for day to day operations which involves tasks such as accounting, marketing and regulatory compliance. Williamstown Roasters was a finalist at the 2017 and 2019 Hobsons Bay small business awards in the best new startup and small manufacturer categories, respectively. I was also a guest speaker at #StartWest, which is an initiative to help develop local startups.
2008-2020
ROYAL YACHT CLUB OF VICTORIA
RACE OFFICER
In this role I'm responsible for setting up and running yacht races. This includes many different types of events, from local club racing, state, national and international championships as well as Olympic level events. I'm also responsible for the safe operation of the watercraft as skipper. I also perform routine mechanical maintenance on the boats. I also developed and maintain the Hazardous goods register for the site to comply with WorkSafe's requirements
interests and hobbies
ARDUINO AND ELECTRONICS
3D PRINTING
INDUSTRIAL DESIGN
ICE HOCKEY
SCUBA DIVING
SAILING
SNOWBOARDING
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CONTACT
Thanks for taking the time to have a look at my site. If there are questions you'd like to know the answers to, please use the form to your right, or contact me using the details below.
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james@williamstownroasters.com
Tel: +61 431 895 957