For the 2021 national committee we have thirteen nominees and twelve available positions on the committee. Therefore we must have an election involving our current members. The nominated candidates are:

  • Babak Abbasi (RMIT, Victoria)
  • David Marlow (DST Group, Victoria)
  • Paul Lochert (Victoria)
  • Masih Fadaki (RMIT, Victoria)
  • Paul Gaertner (DST Group, South Australia)
  • Sondoss El Sawah (UNSW ADFA, Canberra)
  • Hasan Turan (UNSW ADFA, Canberra)
  • Honglei Xu (Curtin U., Western Australia)
  • Simon Dunstall (CSIRO, Victoria)
  • Louis Caccetta (Curtin U., Western Australia)
  • Asef Nazari (Deakin, Victoria)
  • Melanie Ayre (CSIRO, Victoria)
  • Harry Gielewski (Victoria)

Voting information will be sent by email to members in the morning of Friday 19 March 2021 and must be returned to ASOR via email before 11.59pm on Thursday 25 March 2021.

For your consideration, the nominees have provided information about themselves, as follows. This information is in the process of being assembled and we expect it to be complete when the election opens on 19 March.

Babak Abassi

Affiliation: RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria

Recent ASOR role: Melbourne Committee 2018-

I am professor of Business Analytics and currently the head of department of Information System and Business Analytics at RMIT University. I am keen to promote ASOR and operations research discipline in Business Schools in Australia as I believe currently OR is not currently well recognised in Australian Business Schools compare to other countries such as United States and Canada. This will also benefit OR researchers in opening job opportunities in Business Schools.

David Marlow

Affiliation: DST Group, Fishermans Bend, Victoria

Recent ASOR role: ASOR Melbourne Committee (incl. Vice Chair); ASOR/DORS(/MODSIM) Conference Organising/Program Committee 2018/2021

I am a Melbourne-based DSTG employee who has been actively engaged in the local and national OR community for many years. I have been on ASOR/DORS conference organising and program committees, and am one of the stream leaders for the ASOR/DORS stream at MODSIM 2021. I have been, and will continue to be, a strong advocate for ongoing engagement between the OR communities from defence, government, academia and industry

Paul Lochert

Retired Member, Melbourne, Victoria

Recent ASOR role: Convenor of ASOR Recent Advances conferences; Melbourne Committee Treasurer 2000s-present

The main challenge I see is the need to develop strategies to ensure the support and integration of a very disperse (by location) membership.

Masih Fadaki

Affiliation: RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria

Recent ASOR role: Member

I am a senior lecturer at supply chain department of the RMIT University. Prior to joining the academia, I worked seventeen years in the fields of supply chain analytics and strategic procurement in various industries. My vision is to cultivate the practical applications of operations research through close cooperation with leading industries and academic partners as I believe applied research strengthens the economy and encourages innovation and productivity.

Paul Gaertner

Affiliation: DST Group, South Australia

Recent ASOR role: Member; MODSIM/ASOR/DORS 2013 Conference Organising/Program Committee

I am a Research Leader in the Defence Science and Technology Group and lead the Defence wide Science, Technology and Research (STaR Shot) on Agile Command and Control. I have over 25 years of experience in applied mathematics and have applied that experience across sectors such as Defence, Climate Change and the Environment. I have had two secondments to the United States; one to RAND corporate and the other to the Embassy in Washington DC, where I spent 3 and half years as the Defence Science Attaché. As the ASOR President in 2012 and 2013 I worked to solidify the relationship between the ASOR conference, MODSIM and the Defence Operations Analysis Symposium. I look forward to once again being able to service the society in a leadership role.

Sondoss El Sawah

Affiliation: UNSW ADFA, Canberra, ACT

Recent ASOR role: Member; ASOR 2016 and MODSIM/ASOR/DORS 2019 Conference Convenor; ASOR Rising Star Award Recipient 2016

For me, my vision is to transform ASOR to become a multi-disciplinary problem-solving society. I would like to see our members base growing not only in terms of numbers but the diversity of disciplines and institutions (Government, industry, academic). I would like to see more services and engagement opportunities offered for members

Hasan Turan

Affiliation: UNSW ADFA, Canberra, ACT

Recent ASOR role: ASOR Member, MODSIM/ASOR/DORS 2021 Stream Co-Leader

As my vision, I would like to promote the ASOR in such a way that junior members bring their energy and senior members bring and share their experience to make our science “The Science of Better: Operations Research” accessible (via short courses, online tutorial, etc.)  to anyone interested in solving decision-making problems.

Honglei Xu

Affiliation: Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia

Recent ASOR role: ASOR WA committee member 2015-

I have served as WA branch committee member since 2015. I nurtured industry engagement through conferences, industry forums, and services. I will strive for governance transparency and organizational growth. I will build the strength in improving local OR committee diversity, fostering industry innovation, and establishing strong connections between academic members and industrial members. I will develop programs for OR practitioners to increase awareness of ASOR in WA and attract them to join ASOR

Simon Dunstall

Affiliation: CSIRO, Melbourne, Victoria

Recent ASOR role: Melbourne Committee; National President 2018-; ASOR/DORS(/MODSIM) Conference Organising Committee 2018/19/21

I have been a committee member for ASOR since about 2010, and chair/president in Melbourne and/or National over about half of that time. As well as being the 2020 national president, I currently manage the ASOR website, mailing list, seminar series and conferences. The new constitution gives us a fresh start in ASOR and I am very much looking forward to being on the 2021 committee with some old hands and some new faces for ASOR.

Louis Caccetta

Affiliation: Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia

Recent ASOR role: WA Committee Chair

I joined ASOR in 1981, and have championed the area of OR at Curtin over those 40 years.  Amongst my several leadership roles, I established two Research Centres in Industrial Optimisation – WACEIO and CIMO which facilitate collaboration with international and national groups. I am keen to be on the 2021 committee as I am passionate about OR and believe that a strong professional society is crucial to enhancing collaboration and partnerships between academia and industry.

Asef Nazari

Affiliation: Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria

Recent ASOR role: Member

I believe there is a huge opportunity through ASOR to bring academic researchers and industrial professionals together to improve the industrial processes by establishing a solid nexus among research and application in the field of Operations Research, via workshops, series of seminars, competitions, and placement projects. Besides, we need to have a further presence as a society to consolidate the impact and contribution of OR techniques as a solid branch of Applied Mathematics through cross-disciplinary collaborations

Melanie Ayre

Affiliation: CSIRO, Melbourne, Victoria

Recent ASOR role: Secretary of the ASOR Melbourne Committee

Melanie https://people.csiro.au/A/M/Melanie-Ayre, has spent 10 years working with OR specialists at CSIRO, found that the methods and world-view of people with OR training are a key to understanding many digital transformation problems, and as such enjoys attending ASOR-related events and MODSIM.  If  elected, Melanie will work to increase the diversity of voices, by understanding the approaches larger OR societies have taken and trying whatever seemed to work.

Harry Gielewski

Affiliation: Semi-retired freelance consultant, Melbourne, Victoria

ASOR roles: ASOR newsletter Editor 1998-2009, ASOR Melbourne chapter chair, late 90‘s

I am passionate about OR, data, statistics and modelling. OR practitioners  have been doing AI/ Algorithmus for many years. We have a lot to offer. My last role was as a model validator for the Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore for a period of almost 9 years. Validation, as part of the OR/ scientific philosophy, is key to creating effective models. We should promote this more.