WOMBAT-ARC Training Centre Joint Day

Program

This year, WOMBAT in collaboration with ARC Training Centre for Transforming Maintenance through Data Science, will host a special day (16^th December 2022) focused on the applications of optimization on planning and scheduling maintenance in the resource industry. Check back regularly for updates about the program.

Keynotes

Dr Gaurav Singh, Manager - Decision Science & Group Technology, BHP
Dr Fabrizio Padula, Deputy director of Curtin Centre for Optimisation and Decision Science

Panel discussion

Challenges and opportunities for applying optimisation methodologies in industry

Dr Christina Burt, Assignment Engine Lead, Autonomy Systems, Fortescue Metals Group
Dr Gaurav Singh, Manager - Decision Science & Group Technology, BHP
Dr Elham Mardaneh, Senior lecturer in Operations Research at Curtin university
Prof. Ryan Loxton, Director of Curtin Centre for Optimisation and Decision Science.

Bios

Dr Gaurav Singh. Manager, Decision Science Chapter, Strategy and Innovation, Group Technology at BHP

Gaurav offers skills in strategic planning, operations management, and advanced analytics gained over 20+ years of leadership experience. In that time, he has forged collaborative partnerships across organizations to deliver advanced analytical solutions to complex business challenges. At BHP, Gaurav orchestrates digital transformation by embedding advanced decision science at all organisational levels. He has built an R&D approach to identify and incorporate disruptive technologies and drive external research collaboration. 

Gaurav has been with the ARC Training Centre for Transforming Maintenance through Data Science since the start. He mentors both Research Fellows and PhD Students, providing them valuable support on their journey in working with industry as researchers.

Dr Christina Burt. Assignment Engine Lead, Autonomy Systems, Fortescue Metals Group

Dr Christina Burt is a decomposition algorithm specialist, having worked in both academia and industry in London, Berlin, Vienna and Melbourne for the last 14 years. She currently leads the Assignment Engine Research squad where she builds efficient, online algorithms for fleet management software deployed in a mining context with a goal to contribute to energy management of the decarbonised mining fleet.

Prof. Ryan Loxton. Director of Curtin Centre for Optimisation and Decision Science

Ryan is the Head of Mathematics and Statistics at Curtin University and the Director of the Curtin Centre for Optimisation and Decision Science, where he leads an inter-disciplinary team focused on data-driven decision making, process optimisation, and optimal scheduling, planning, and investment allocation. Ryan has extensive experience in modelling and solving complex optimisation challenges that involve numerous decision levers, multiple conflicting trade-offs, and large, disparate data sets. He has led consulting and collaborative research and development programs across the mining, defence, energy, and manufacturing sectors, with companies ranging from small start-ups to large multinationals. Ryan was the winner of the 2020 Christopher Heyde Medal from the Australian Academy of Science and the 2019 JH Michell Medal from the Australian Mathematical Society.

Dr Elham Mardaneh. Senior Lecturer in Operations Research at Curtin University.

Elham is a senior lecturer in Operations Research at Curtin University. She received her PhD in applied mathematics in 2011. Her research is on the application of Operations Research in various industries such as oil and gas, mining, agriculture, and building with a focus on scheduling, logistics and maintenance optimisation. Her academic work engages with industry and has been published in top journals such as the European Journal of Operations Research and Knowledge-Based Systems.  She is a Fellow of the Operational Research Society and a chief investigator of the ARC Training Centre for Transforming Maintenance through Data Science.

Dr Fabrizio Padula. Senior Lecturer, Curtin Centre for Optimisation and Decision Science

Fabrizio Padula holds an MEng degree in Industrial Automation Engineering (2009) and a PhD degree in Computer Science and Automatic Control (2013), both from the University of Brescia in Italy. Currently, he is a Senior Research Fellow at the Curtin Centre for Optimisation and Decision Science, Perth, Australia. He is a member of the IFAC, IEEE, IEEE Control Systems Society, IEEE Robotics and Automation Society and IEEE Industrial Electronic Society. Fabrizio’s research focuses primarily on fractional control, tracking control, anaesthesia control, and inversion-based control. Fabrizio has published a popular monograph on fractional control, an international patent with Whirlpool, and 80 publications in international conferences and journals. Fabrizio has a keen interest in demand-driven research and has worked on advanced control techniques in industrial applications with many companies, including Rio Tinto, Tensa Equipment, Turboden, GEFRAN, FuelFix and Lynas Rare Earths.

Registration

Registration is now open.

Eventbrite ticket

Agenda