The TER Team
Dr Robin Smit founded TER in 2019 and
he is the director and principal research consultant.
Robin is also an Adjunct Professor with
the University of Technology Sydney (UTS)
and a member of the European Research
Group on Mobile Emission Sources (ERMES).
Robin is passionate about scientific research
and practical solutions in the transport and environment realm.
He has almost 30 years' work experience in greenhouse gas emission, energy and air quality projects in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. In September 2022 he received a Distinguished Service Medal from the Clean Air Society of Australia and New Zealand (CASANZ).
His work has been published in national and international scientific journals. He has also presented at various conferences, presented as invited speaker, joined discussion panels and has lectured and provided training courses in both Europe and Australia.
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Dr Paul Boulter is an Associate Director at
EMM Consulting in Sydney, and a specialist
in transport emissions and air quality.
In a 30-year career, Paul has worked with
various government agencies in Australia,
Europe and Japan, as well as clients in the
private sector. Paul specialises in modelling
and impact assessment at various levels.
He has led studies for many projects, measures and policies, including some of the largest road tunnels in Australia. Paul has also helped to develop guidance, such as the CASANZ Good practice guide for the assessment and management of air pollution from road transport projects. In addition, he has led teams of scientists, engineers, health experts and economists on other Australia-wide projects, including revisions of the national air quality standards and the regulation of non-road diesel emissions. Paul has been a member of various expert groups and committees, and has contributed to more than 200 reports, papers, books and articles. He is also a CASANZ Certified Air Quality Professional.
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Dr Alberto Ayala is based in the USA and
supports TER as a private consultant. Alberto
has 30 years of professional experience in
industry, academia, and government. He is an
Adjunct Professor at West Virginia University
and a former Deputy Executive Officer of the
California Air Resources Board (CARB).
Currently, he serves as the Executive Director of
the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District.
Dr. Ayala has published extensively and is a recognized expert in air quality, climate science and policy. He maintains active international research collaborations in Latin America and Asia. And now with TER, he provides technical and policy advice on internal combustion emissions and control to support the sustainable transportation energy transition in Australia and New Zealand.
Professor Stefan Hausberger is based in the EU
and is Head of the Emissions section at the
Institute Thermodynamics and sustainable
Propulsion Systems at University of Technology
Graz (Austria) and deputy director of the
institute. Stefan has extensive experience in
measurement and simulation of exhaust and
non-exhaust vehicle emissions and energy
consumption, vehicle emissions reduction and development of measurement and evaluation methods and support in questions of emissions legislation. Stefan is a member of the ERMES (European Research for Mobile Emission Sources) steering committee and coordinator of several successful long term international projects. Stefan and his team collaborate closely with TER, for instance, in the development of vehicle energy/emission modelling tools and review of the latest trends in and future projections of penetration of low emissions technology.
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Dr Giorgos Mellios is based in the EU and highly
experienced in assessing the impacts of EU
transport policies, with over 20 years of
consulting experience and one year of working
for the European Commission (JRC). He has
managed numerous projects funded by the
European Commission, EEA, and the automotive
and oil industry. Giorgos is skilled in
transport emissions modelling, inventorying, and projections, including the COPERT model featured in the EMEP/EEA air pollutant emission inventory Guidebook. He contributes to the work of the European Topic Centre on Climate Change Mitigation (ETC-CM) for the EEA. As managing director at Emisia, and co-developer of the COPERT Australia software, Giorgos and his team work closely together with TER on a range of topics, for instance, impact assessment of fuel quality on vehicle emissions and state-wide and national transport emission estimation.
Dr Nic Surawski is an Associate Professor in
Environmental Engineering who has collaborated
with TER since 2019 on vehicle emissions
research topics. Nic was awarded a PhD from
the Queensland University of Technology in
2012 for his work on alternative fuels and
their emissions. He has well-developed expertise
in the measurement science that underpins
combustion systems and their air quality impacts.
This includes experience with the characterisation of regulated pollutants, greenhouse gas species, air toxics, and expertise with the characterisation of particle-phase species. Nic has been engaged in over AUD $8 million of project delivery in emissions research as an academic, and researcher in government organisations and industry. He has delivered projects for industry, alternative engine design companies, and local, state, and federal government departments. Dr Surawski was appointed as a member of Working Group III for the IPCC 6th Assessment Report as an expert reviewer for the transport chapter.
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Ella Castillo is the Director and Principal
Consultant of Air Quality Support Pty Ltd (AQS)
and has collaborated with TER since 2019 on
various projects. She is an atmospheric scientist
with 25 years of experience in air quality, mesoscale
and local-scale meteorological modelling,
dispersion modelling, emissions estimation,
climate analysis and reporting. She is proficient in mathematical interpolation, data processing and analysis using scientific and object-oriented programming and scripting languages to improve data linkages across different formats and disciplines. Ella is also a specialist in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and significant experience in the development, management and maintenance of technical and administrative databases using MySQL, MS SQL, MariaDB, and Microsoft Access. She has worked with databases for numerical weather forecasts, comprehensive project management systems and detailed emissions inventories for government and industry clients.
