The AEGIC team is sad to say goodbye to Dr Ken Quail, who has retired from a long and accomplished career in the Australian grains industry.
Ken has stepped down from his leadership of AEGIC’s Sydney team and operations, after dedicating his entire working life to the advancement of Australian grains, both domestically and across the globe.
Over his 45-year career, Ken contributed widely to the development of Australia’s grains and allied industries through his leadership in cereal science, grains research and market support.
His extensive experience and linkages across international grain markets has seen Ken work in over 25 countries, delivering technical support, conducting collaborative research programs, and providing education.
After starting his career at CSIRO, Ken dedicated the next 34 years to AEGIC’s Sydney operations (formerly BRI Australia), beginning in 1991.
His leadership skills were quickly recognised, and he went on to lead and develop a well-oiled machine of scientists and support staff all working to increasing value in the Australian grains industry. Ken also served as AEGIC’s interim CEO for an extended period during 2022-23.
Ken is not only respected for his knowledge and contributions to the industry, but also his willingness to share his expertise with others. Throughout his career, he has provided great mentorship to many, creating a legacy for the next generation of cereal scientists, millers and bakers in Australia and beyond.
The Australian industry farewelled Ken at the 2025 LA Judge Award for Baking Apprentice of the Year, an annual event delivered by AEGIC which Ken has been closely involved with for many years.
Ken hands over the reins to long-time colleague Dr Hayfa Salman.
Dr Ken Quail: career highlights
- Managed the transition from BRI Australia to GrainGrowers, before merging with AEGIC in 2015.
- Author of more than 40 published works.
- Oversaw the development of the first Australian online eLearning training courses for flour millers in key international markets including Indonesia and China.
- Conducted collaborative research projects with Indonesian flour mills including seminar programs in Indonesia in person and online.
- Led a team to design and develop a spectrograph that was commercialised under license agreement with Perten Australia and released as the Perten 8800 whole grain NIR analyser.
- Researched and authored the report titled What the World Wants from Australian Wheat. This report involved in-person interviews conducted across 14 different countries and has made a major contribution to the direction of wheat quality development in Australia.
- Developed and coordinated the GrainGrowers National Wheat Quality and Variety Reports.
- Development and delivery of highly regarded and commercially successful training courses for grain producers, cereal technologists, flour millers, bakers and food processors. More than 50 of these industry courses have been delivered.
- Developed and presented short courses for grain producers to explain the supply chain and grain quality requirements across regional Australia.
- Developed technology for the rapid evaluation of the shelf life of frozen products.
- Developed technology to modify the flavour profile of grain legumes to suit Western food tastes.
- Lead researcher on choice modelling to better understand quality requirements for international wheat markets. This method has since become a key approach to gaining market intelligence for the industry.
- Established international science linkages with China including the first Australia/ China wheat conference held in Beijing in 2001. An ongoing program of scientific exchange has been completed in China including organization and delivery of an industry conference on blending of Chinese and Australian wheat in 2012.
- Demonstrated a new strategy to quantify wheat and flour preferences in international markets. This work was completed in Taiwan and was associated with a significant increase in the use of Australian wheat for the production of Asian noodles.
- Supervision of five successful PhD students.
AEGIC is an initiative of the Western Australian State Government and Grains Australia.