About

Steve Riley leads the wood drying programme at Scion. This research, conducted in partnership with the wood processing industry, has significant impact on the value and performance of sawn timber from radiata pine.

Qualifications

BSc (Physics , Pure Mathematics) University of Sydney, Australia -1974

Research capabilities

Kiln design, Moisture sensing, Wood technology consulting and tech transfer, Wood science, Wood-water relationships, Kiln emissions, Veneer drying.

Career highlights

• Manager of ensis Multiclient Drying Group 2002-2007. This group 100% industry funded undertook practical projects elected by members. This required conceiving, implementing and reporting technical studies every 6 months.
• Leading a team of 8 researchers investigating all aspect of drying, from fundamental research into wood water relationships and material behaviour, to technical transfer to solve day to day industrial problems
• Founding member of the team that developed and miantained Dryspec , a leading edge kiln drying control system widely used in the southern hemisphere
• Patents  in the area of sensing spatially distributed moisture using microwaves

Selected papers

Assessment of air emissions from industrial kiln drying of Pinus radiata wood- Holz als Roh- und Werkstoff 60 (2002) 181–190.

Liquid condensate emissions from kilns drying radiate pine- Proceeding IUFRO 8th International Wood Drying Conference 2003.

Microwave method for measurement of moisture content variation in stacked lumber” 5th ISEMA 2003 Conference Proceedings.

Quantitative method for assessing kiln brown stain in radiata pine- Proceeding IUFRO 9th International Wood Drying Conference 2005.