Professor and Chair, Department of Mining Engineering, University of Kentucky. Research interests in Rock Mechanics, Computer applications for the mining and geotechnical Industry, Automation

Anastasia received the Engineering Diploma in mineral resources engineering from the Technical University of Crete, Chania, Greece, in 2019. She is currently working toward the MSc. degree in mining engineering from the University of Kentucky. Her research interests include the development and implementation of autonomous equipment/robotics in underground mining operations and on the application of geostatistical methods and stochastic data analysis methods in mineral surveying applications.

Elad Abbo, Adv. MBA Elad Abbo was appointed to the role of Vice President – Product and Strategy at Auto-mate in 2020. Bringing over fifteen years’ experience in aerial and ground autonomous solutions to Auto-mate, Elad has a deep understanding of the operational needs and technical requirements associated with mining automation. Through his work in Israeli hi-tech automation ecosystems, Elad has gained extensive experience in business strategy development and management.

Wenxiao Tong holds a Bachelor's degree in mining engineering from the University of Queensland, Australia. He recently finished his Master of Philosophy research in IPCC automation that applies UCM to analyze bench excavation strategies for hopper/shovel interaction in an autonomous fully mobile in-pit crushing and conveying system. Wenxiao Tong is an employee of TAKRAF Australia and a member of TAKRAF Mining Technology Centre.

Prof Shuren Wang is the Distinguised Professor of Henan Province in China, and he is a Adjunct Professor at the University of New South Wales, Australia. He mainly focuses on the challenging area of mining engineering and rock mechanics. His research projects have been supported by 4 National Natural Science Foundation of China and 2 International Cooperation Project of Henan province, China. He was granted 2015 Endeavour Research Fellowship by the Australian Government. He has published more than 120 papers and 11 books, and he has been authorized 43 patents in China.

Taiga Sato, a master student at Akita University, Japan. My research interests are primarily focused on integrating smart technology such as Photogrammetry and Digital Twin Technology into the mining industry.

Born 1994; BSc and MSc in mechanical engineering 2019; PhD student and senior researcher at Department of Mineral Resources Engineering in the field of mechanical and mining engineering since July 2019.