Nevaid Dzimunya is a dedicated mining engineer with a robust academic background and reasonable industry experience. He holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Mining Engineering from the University of Zimbabwe and the University of Zambia, respectively. He is scheduled to complete his PhD in Rock Mechanics from Hokkaido University in March 2025. With over seven years of research and teaching experience, Nevaid has contributed significantly to the University of Zimbabwe and mentoring Staff Development Fellows at Midlands State University. His professional experience includes internships in large-scale mining operations in Zimbabwe and Zambia, where he applied learned concepts directly to relevant work situations. Nevaid has completed several consultancy projects across Zimbabwe, producing detailed technical reports on critical areas such as open pit slope design, underground stope design, and mineral reserves audits. His work also includes reviewing rock engineering and mine planning codes of practice and preparing proposals for annual geotechnical assessments of regional mining pillars. A passionate advocate for innovation in mining, Nevaid is particularly interested in integrating artificial intelligence into mining engineering research and practices. His commitment to advancing the field is evident in his international publications applying AI to mining and rock mechanics.

Rossen is an expert in open pit design and mine planning with strong research, operational, and consultancy experience. Recognised for his world-class research innovations and ability to improve significantly the cash flows of open pit mine projects. He obtained PhD and MSc degrees in Mining Engineering. He was invited and worked as a Senior Research Fellow with the University of Queensland. The outcome of his research was the development of a highly effective scheduling method, which implements successfully for the first time in Mining Engineering Practice the principle of waste deferment. His method has the potential to increase the NPV and ore reserve of any open pit mine project up to 35% depending on the stripping ratio. The research career of Rossen got a further development with the Queensland University of Technology and CRC Mining. The operational experience of Rossen includes his work for AngloCoal as a Senior Mining Engineer, Bayan Resources as a Manager Mine Planning, Vale Australia as a Senior Mining Engineer, Ma’aden Saudi Mining Company as an Expert Business Performance, and St Barbara Simberi Gold Operations as a Superintendent Mine Planning. At present he works for AusGEMCO Pty Ltd as a Director Mining and Consultant.

M. Gadiile is a PhD candidate at the University of Queensland, specializing in mine optimization and strategic planning. Their research focuses on developing frameworks for hardrock stope leaching systems, integrating data-driven approaches to enhance quantitative decision making and sustainable operational efficiency. Their work aims to bridge conventional mining methods with innovative extraction techniques to facilitate data-driven decisions for complex ore bodies, while advancing ESG objectives in the mining sector.

Reza Shahin (Ph.D.) serves as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Polytechnique Montreal. His research interests encompass supply chain management, optimization, operations research, and transportation science. His Ph.D. focus was on integrating ad hoc stops into public transport in which the flexibil-ity of demand responsive transit was merged with the low cost of public transportation, providing a door-to-door pick-up and drop-off to customers.

Fabián Manríquez León holds a Ph.D. in Mining Engineering (2020) from the University of Chile, where he also earned a Master’s degree in Mining (2015) and a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Mining Engineering (2015). He has held academic positions at Universidad Central, the University of Chile, and Universidad Católica del Norte. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mining, Metallurgy and Materials Engineering at Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, based at the San Joaquín Campus in Santiago, Chile. His teaching experience spans both undergraduate and graduate courses in areas such as mine planning, open-pit mine design, underground mining, mineral deposit evaluation, and loading and hauling systems. His research focuses on the application of mixed-integer linear programming for the generation and optimization of mining schedules, the optimized design of open-pit mines, and the simulation of mining systems.