Dr. Guang Xu is an associate professor at Missouri University of Science and Technology. He earned his bachelars degree at China University of Mining and Technology, and Ph. D. at Virginia Tech, all in Mining Engineering. He worked 6 years as an academic staff at WA School of Mines, Curtin University. Dr. Xu has expertise in mine ventilation and safety, dust and DPM control, and underground battery vehicle firefighting techniques. Dr. Xu is an internationally recognized researcher who has supervised 4 PhD students, published 40 peer reviewed papers, and led over 0.5 million funded research projects. He has contributed significantly in the broader scientific and professional community by acting as member of organizing committee, the vice chairperson and session chair for the Australian Mine Ventilation Conference, and session chair for the 2018 International Mine Ventilation Congress and 2019 North American Mine Ventilation Symposium.

Heidi Roberts is Executive Director, Occupational Health and Hygiene at the Department of Natural Resources Mines and Energy, Queensland. Since 2017 Heidi has been responsible for reforming the Coal Mine Workers Health Scheme in response to the re-identification of Coal Workers Pneumoconiosis in Queensland coal miners. This response has included the implementation of all 18 recommendations made by Monash University in their review of the respirable component of the health scheme. Prior to that, Heidi held senior positions at Xstrata Copper, the Gladstone Area Water Board and Diversified Mining Services.

Nick has over twenty years of powertrain engineering experience. He has managed research and development programs in high technology, low emissions fuel systems as well as advanced application-engineering programs for customers around the globe. Nick’s project exposure has been diverse. He’s guided the Australian government on fuels policy, helped OEMs meet the latest emissions norms on both petrol and diesel products, worked with catalyst technology leaders to develop state-of-the-art aftertreatment systems and partnered with CSIRO on health effects of engine emissions. He has also published several technical papers and holds patents in fuel injection and vapour handling systems. Nick heads up Orbital’s heavy duty engine team and enjoys helping customers find cost effective approaches to their engineering challenges.

Chris is a ventilation engineer with expertise in network design and troubleshooting in a variety of challenging, ultra-deep underground mining applications. He holds a Bachelor’s of Applied Science degree in Honours Chemical Engineering from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. Chris’s experience at Hatch includes work with multiple mining operators across North America, encompassing design and modelling from conceptual phase through to field surveys and calibration of models to measured data. Chris is currently the Ventilation & Refrigeration Lead for Glencore’s Onaping Depth Project in Sudbury, Ontario, which is a pioneering mine expansion project to a depth of 2600m and will be mined with an all-electric fleet. In this role, Chris is responsible for design of the overall ventilation and refrigeration system, – including 2x 1500hp underground booster fans, an integrated ventilation-on-demand system, and a 15 MW underground refrigeration plant with two open spray chambers. Within the project Chris has successfully implemented and commissioned multiple ‘blast at will’ procedures, allowing contractors blast on-shift without disruption of other underground workplaces, maximizing project productivity. The project is currently 2.5 years into its 7 year execution. Other key projects include Lundin’s Eagle East expansion and Resolution Copper’s No. 9 Shaft Deepening projects in the USA, and Mosaic’s K3 Mine in Canada.