The Australian Research Council (ARC) Industrial Transformation Training Centre in Optimisation Technologies, Integrated Methodologies, and Applications (OPTIMA), has received Australian Government funding of $4.86 million through the Australian Research Council Industrial Transformation Research Program. The University of Melbourne, Monash University, and an inaugural group of ten industry partners have invested a further $3 million and made significant in-kind contributions. OPTIMA has 18 chief investigators across the University of Melbourne and Monash University, and a further 13 partner investigators across our industry organisations and three international partner universities. Numerous other researchers working in optimisation at other universities are part of OPTIMA as Associate Investigators.

Headquartered in Melbourne Connect, OPTIMA brings together the various interdisciplinary fields with advanced optimisation technologies – mathematics, statistics, computer science, engineering, and economics.

OPTIMA’s initial industry partner cohort spans the energy resources, advanced manufacturing and critical infrastructure sectors. Given the ubiquitous need for optimisation technologies to support decision-making within many more industrial sectors, OPTIMA’s expansion will include opportunities for more industry partners to join in future years.

Beyond working with industry partners, OPTIMA researchers also engage with academic colleagues in other fields on cross-disciplinary research projects, supporting other researchers where optimisation knowledge is required to advance solutions to a wide range of societal challenges.

OPTIMA’s leadership is steered by an Executive Committee, which takes advice from external members of its Industry Advisory Committee (IAC) and Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC), and its’ sub-committees for Education and Training (E&T), Outreach; and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI).