OPTIMA (see optima.org.au) is a new research training centre funded by the Australian Research Council, Monash and Melbourne University, together with an inaugural group of industry partners spanning the advanced manufacturing, energy resources, and infrastructure sectors. Based at Melbourne Connect, its mission is to deliver industrial transformation via increased uptake of sophisticated optimisation technologies which prioritise end-user ease, comprehension and trust. Join OPTIMA’s leadership team for a discussion about the research challenges that need to be addressed to advance a modern industrial optimisation toolkit, highlighting the increasingly important role of integrating disciplines such as artificial intelligence into more traditional optimisation techniques. An open discussion at the end of the seminar will provide the opportunity to hear perspectives from industry practitioners and researchers interested in advancing such challenges.

Kate Smith-Miles is the Director of OPTIMA and a Melbourne Laureate Professor of Applied Mathematics in the School of Mathematics and Statistics at The University of Melbourne.

Peter Stuckey is the Deputy Director of OPTIMA, and a Professor in the Faculty of Information Technology at Monash University, and a project leader in the Data61 CSIRO laboratory.