Ron’s melodious life from metal to music

Ron Davey has made some major contributions to the metallurgy industry in his lifetime. The Berwick resident’s methods for extracting metals from lead proved groundbreaking.
Ron, 80, now lives at Fiddlers Green Retirement Village with his wife Kathleen.
During his life, Dr Ron Davey has conducted important research in metallurgy, written numerous papers on his research, taught at several tertiary institutions, and won awards for his work in the industry.
He has degrees in science, metallurgical engineering, a Masters of Metallurgical Engineering and a Senior Doctorate of Applied Science.
Awards he has won include the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy President’s Award in 1987, he was twice awarded the Special Hofmann Prize Medal, and was given the Extractive Metallurgy Division award for best paper in 1955 – the first ever to be awarded.
In 2001 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States, Ron was awarded the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society (TMS) award in recognition of his many contributions to the American Metallurgical Science and the Industry.
He was also given the honour of being put in the Marquis Who’s Who.
“I’ve always been interested in doing fundamental research in the field of high temperature chemistry,” Ron said.
He became an expert in the refining of metals, especially lead, zinc and tin.
“I devised techniques for a very rapid experimental technique for determining fundamental data in liquid metals,” he said.
Ron said he had been interested in doing theoretical research and then applying that in practice.
Ron and Kathleen met in Port Pirie, South Australia, and after marrying moved to Germany then England, working in research.
They came back to Port Pirie for a couple of years then returned to England.
Ron then came back to Australia to do research work for the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).
He led teams in various research projects, including extractive metallurgy, desalination of water, pollution due to sulphur dioxide and carbon dioxide, and other environmental issues.
When his eyes became too bad, he was seconded to Melbourne University as a visiting professor.
He also lectured at RMIT and Monash University, with some of his students becoming leading experts around the world.
Ron was also heavily involved with the Melbourne University Graduate Union, at one time as its chairman and twice a vice-president, and also the Melbourne University Council.
He also started his own business, which brought METSIM, an American PC simulation package for the complex metallurgical and chemical engineering processes, to many Australian companies.
Ron retired about 15 years ago.
“However, when you’re at all well-known, you stop charging but you might keep doing work for people and organisations,” he said.
Since moving to Fiddlers Green, he has been busy around the retirement village, being elected to the residents’ council, and acting as secretary for Kathleen, who helps run the activities committee.
Another of his passions is composing music on the computer.
Ron is now almost blind, and his son John comes once a week to help him on the computer.
“My sight is almost gone due to macular degeneration,” Ron said.
With his son’s help, Ron has produced a CD with Christmas carols, three Shakespearean songs and an Australian national anthem, sung by tenor Martin Wright.
Choirs around the area, including the Dandenong Ranges Orchestra and Choir, the Berwick Uniting Church Choir and the Berwick U3A singers, have performed one of his carols.
Ron said his passion for writing music had come as a young man, when he used to read orchestral scores on the bus going to university.
He also wrote 20 ‘hums’, or musical poems, based on the Winnie the Pooh books, which could not be performed after Disney got copyright to the A.A. Milne series.
The couple has three children – Julia, who studies forensic science at Swinburne University and also lives in Berwick; John, who lectures in computing and is a professional musician; and Lucy, whose husband Kevin has taken over the agency for METSIM.
Ron and Kathleen have four grandchildren.
The couple decided to move to Fiddlers Green because it was close to public transport and shops, and they like the area and atmosphere of the retirement village.
“We liked the way the place was ran,” Ron said.
“We didn’t really seriously consider anywhere else.”
The couple had previously lived in Glen Waverley for 20 years.
They have two adjoining units to fit all their assets, including Ron’s computer equipment.
He said when they moved to the retirement village about seven years ago they had meant to throw out a lot of their belongings.
“I had a major operation just before and just after we moved and haven’t got around to throwing things away,” he said
Both Ron and Kathleen are particularly sensitive to the needs of elderly people who are not well off.
“We both have a social conscience,” Ron said. “We try to help those in need.”