Lee Julian is a consulting mining engineer with a graduate certificate in statistics and has 15 years’ mining experience onsite, in research, for explosive manufacturers and consulting. He is an Open Cut Examiner, Trainer Assessor and Vice President of the Australian Chapter of the International Society of Explosives Engineers. Lee is an expert in blast movement and has supported the development of OREPro™ 3D through to acquisition by Orica where he continues to support Orica's digital products. He has had papers published by the ISEE, EFEE, Fragblast, ACARP, the AusIMM, CIM and SME.

Dave Osborne has over 50 years of experience in the minerals industry having worked as a process engineer through the ranks to senior management in both coal and iron ore. He has had several roles in process plant operations, project development and delivery, research and technology and technical marketing up until initiating the Somerset business in Australia in 2015, where he has eventually moved into a supporting role as Industry Advisor. The original business model was in the recovery of ultrafine metallurgical coal from tailings streams, which formed a sound basis for further company expansion. Somerset was originally founded in the USA a couple of years earlier and since then the company has steadily grown and has emerged as a global player, recently moving focus onto mineral tailings treatment which usually involves a combination of valorization and dewatering prior to “dry” disposal and safe handing of solids cake generated by a solidbowl centrifuge. This has drawn upon his wide experience in dewatering but has also been based on a strong partnership with the Centrisys company in the USA for dewatering, and more recently with Eriez for valorisation. These company partnerships have led to the successful application of leading-edge technologies in the resources sector, including mineral processing and resource recovery; mine tailings dewatering and management; coal-to-liquid fuel development; and acid mine water management. In addition to valorization to recover more principal product materials, additional attention is paid in seeking other potential products in partnership with academic groups in local universities and this has been achieved via adjunct professor roles in University of Queensland and University of Western Sydney in Australia as well as other strong partnerships in north America.

Sean’s background is in water resources and he started his career around 20 years ago in the UK as a hydrogeologist providing advice to water utilities, mining clients and government agencies. Sean is now based in Australia and has continued to work in strategic consulting focusing on water resources management for mining, water utilities, major infrastructure, natural resources and contaminated land. Sean has experience in international mining throughout Australia, Asia, Africa and Europe. In Sean's current role as Global Head of Mining for Isle Sean supports mining clients to develop innovation strategies and connect end users with emerging technology.

Karen is Isle's Industrial Market Leader based in Melbourne with 18 years’ experience in engineering, design and operations experience working for consultancies and water utilities in the UK and Australia. Karen is a process engineer with a detailed technical knowledge of water, wastewater, sludge and renewable energy production processes, and has worked on projects with technology companies, mining companies and water utilities in these areas. Karen has recently worked on the development of the Industrial Innovation Partnership group, which focuses on sustainable technologies for various manufacturing and mining companies. Karen has also recently led on R&D road mapping and bringing emerging technology for selected metals recovery to a major mining client.

Alan Varghese is an accomplished mechanical engineer currently undertaking a Ph.D. in Digitalisation of Centrifugal Slurry Pumps at the University of Western Australia. Simultaneously, he serves as the Product Head – Pumps Digital at Metso. With a Master of Business Administration, Alan specialises in slurry pumps and their aftermarket applications, particularly within the metals and mineral processing industries. His diverse expertise combines technical proficiency with strategic management in the field.