Panels
Each speaker needs to register and pay the discounted speaker registration fee for the 4th IEOM Melbourne Conference. Please pay your registration fee ONLINE: https://www.xcdsystem.com/IEOM/attendee/index.cfm?ID=KDW36uS
Global Engineering Education Panel
Tuesday, November 25, 2025
9:30-11:00am
Panel Chair
Professor Don Reimer
Chief Operating Officer
IEOM Society International
President, The Small Business Strategy Group, Detroit, Michigan, USA
Adjunct Faculty – A. Leon Linton Department of Mechanical Engineering, Lawrence Technological University
Southfield, Michigan, USA
Donald M. Reimer is an adjunct faculty at the A. Leon Linton Department of Mechanical Engineering in College of Engineering at Lawrence Tech in Southfield, Michigan. He coordinates the Certificate of Entrepreneurial Engineering Skills. Mr. Reimer holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Management from Lawrence Technological University and a Master of Arts degree in Political Science from University of Detroit/Mercy. He is a Certified Management Consultant with over 35 years of experience in working with closely-held businesses. He has taught courses in entrepreneurship, strategic management, corporate entrepreneurship and innovation for engineers. Mr. Reimer is a member of the Lawrence Tech Kern Campus Committee, Coordinator of the Lawrence Tech Innovation Encounter. He is faculty Advisor of the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization. Mr. Reimer serves as a Kern Fellow of The Kern Family Foundation, Co-Direct of the Coleman Fellows Program, member of the National Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization Faculty Advisory Council and is a member of the American Society of Engineering Education. He has operated his own consulting company – The Small Business Strategy Group for 23 years. He published numerous articles on small business, entrepreneurship and strategic thinking. He has received several awards and recognition by local, state and federal agencies for his work in entrepreneurship and minority business development. Mr. Reimer served as member of the Minority Economic Development Committee of New Detroit. Mr. Reimer is member of the Small Business Advisory Council of the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Reimer is a member of Advisory Board of the Milwaukee Junction Small Business Assistance Center. He is also a member of the Applied Innovation Alliance. Mr. Reimer serves as a KEEN Fellow for The Kern Family Foundation and is a member of United States Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
Panel Speaker I
Prof Lu Aye, PhD
Department of Infrastructure Engineering
University of Melbourne
Australia
Lu Aye is a Professor in the Department of Infrastructure Engineering at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Prof. Aye has more than 40 years of engineering experience in university teaching, research, development, demonstration and commercialisation of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies.
He has been internationally recognised as an expert in low-carbon technologies for built environment applications. His research areas include heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and refrigeration systems, waste to resources, complex systems modelling. Prof. Aye applied phenomenological modelling and simulation approaches for optimising energy systems. He also utilised computational and participatory approaches for modelling socio-ecological systems under deep uncertainty. These system models have been applied for identifying the effects of policy interventions and robust decision making. He has been recognised as a leading expert in modelling, simulation, optimisation and forecasting of complex systems behaviours.
Panel Speaker II
Dr Obuks Ejohwomu, PhD, MSc, BEng, FNSE, FHEA
Academic (Teaching & Research) Reader
Sustainable Built Environment & Project Management
Infrastructure and Resilience
University of Manchester, UK
Obuks Ejohwomu is a Reader (Associate Professor) and founder of Nudge SIG (Special Interest Group) at The University of Manchester. He is the current Head of Admissions in the School of Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering. He is listed as one of Manchester’s Heritage Heroes for the impact of his research work. Obuks is also a fellow of the Higher Education Academy and the unit lead for commercial and procurement management. Obuks particularly leads a research group focusing on a future sustainable built environment with expertise in decarbonised projects, indoor/outdoor air pollution monitoring using low-cost sensors, occupational health & safety and digitalisation in the built environment. He is a Better World Showcase 2022 award winner for outstanding contributions to environmental sustainability. An award winner for notable contribution to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. He has managed grants valued at over GBP £1.3m, with funders including EPSRC, Association of Project Management (APM), GCRF, Lloyds Register Foundation, NHS Foundation Trust, and UKRI. He is the PI on a high-impact multidisciplinary research project probing the “societal value of quality low-cost urban air monitoring in low resource environments (SQUARE). Before joining MACE he worked as a contracts manager on several building construction projects totalling over N100m (Lukayson Ventures Ltd), a systems engineer in the telemetry and laboratory business area of Scottish Water, Glasgow, Research Assistant on a Black Country learning and skills action research project (University of Wolverhampton), Research Fellow (University of Reading) on the EPSRC Health and Care Infrastructure Research and Innovation Centre (HaCIRIC), Programme Manager (W D Consults Ltd), Lecturer in Civil Engineering (Covenant University), Senior Lecturer in Project Management and Head, Department of Management Technology (Bells University of Technology).
Panel Speaker III
Dr George Panas
Enterprise Fellow, Management and Marketing
University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
Topic:
Dr George Panas has 25 years of senior management experience in industry and consulting. After that, he transitioned to academia with the completion of my PhD in 2022. His areas of interest or specialisation include: e-commerce supply chains (grocery, general merchandise & apparel retail), Supply chain and the UN SDGs (including modern slavery, environmental / food and packaging waste, procurement diversity), Supply chain strategy & network design/optimisation, Retail global sourcing & logistics, Supply chain operations in Asia (including China, HK, Singapore, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, etc),International supply chain management (sea & air freight, freight forwarding, origin value added services, etc), Corporate strategy, financial planning and analysis, Financial/Mathematical optimisation modelling & techniques, Supply chain commercial finance
Panel Speaker IV
Prof. Dr. Eriki Ananda Kumar
Dean Research and Development
Professor in Mechanical Engineering
MJR College of Engineering and Technology, Andhra Pradesh India
Professor Eriki Ananda Kumar received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from VELs University, India. He
earned Master of Engineering with specialization of CAD from Sathyabama University, India. He holds a Bachelor
of Technology in Mechanical Engineering from JNTUH, India. Additionally, a mechanical engineering diploma and
a competent welding certification are required. Dr. Eriki is a Professor and Dean R&D of Mechanical Engineering in MJRCET, India; He was an
Associate Professor of Automotive Engineering in FTVETI University, Ethiopia and Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering in VEMU Institute
of Technology, India. Also worked as a Senior Lecturer in Nilai Univeristy, Malaysia, Lecturer in Caledonian College of Engineering in OMAN and
SEGi Univeristy in Malaysia and Instructional writer in The Automotive College in Malaysia. He visited 14 countries to organize/participate
conferences as a Keynote speaker with over 20 years of experience in academics and research. He has 3 PATENTS and published more than 40
journals with SCOPUS & Indexd; SCI and conference papers since 2010. Publish 3-BOOKS in the area of recent developments in engineering
research at London & India. Also His research area includes titanium alloys, Nanotechnology, Simulation Modeling and Analysis. He is actively
supervising undergraduates, master and PhD students in the area of mechanical and automotive engineering. He is a member of International
Association of Engineers and Institution of Engineers Malaysia, also an associate editor of IIER, IASTEM, IJMSE, OGCE, IJMEA, and IISEM,
reviewer for IJSTM, IJEX and IJMCMR.
Women in Industry and Academia Panel sponsored by Ford Motor Company
Topics of interest (But not limited to)
Gender Disparities in Leadership Positions, Implicit Bias and Stereotypes, Work-Life Balance and Family-Friendly Policies, Career Advancement and Promotion, Gender Pay Gap, Networking and Professional Development, Discrimination, Recognition, Policy Advocacy
Wednesday, November 26, 2025
(3:30-5:00pm)
Panel Chair:
Panel Speaker I
Rahima Khatun
Electrical Engineer at K1 Save Energy &
Founder and CEO, Leading Women Australia and D RYMA Group
Melbourne, Australia
I, Rahima Khatun, an experienced Electrical Engineer background professional at the K1 Save Energy. Concurrently, the founder and CEO of the Leading Women Australia and D RYMA Group. The Leading Women Australia is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to advancing women’s leadership, equity, and representation. Through leadership programs, advocacy, and partnerships, we are creating pathways for women to thrive in engineering, construction, and other traditionally male-dominated industries. Furthermore, we provide coordination service in the government health industry as a registered provider. where at D RYMA GROUP, we lead a mission to deliver innovative and sustainable engineering solutions that transform industries and communities. At D RYMA, we focus on harnessing technology, research, and engineering excellence to design smarter, more energy-efficient systems that respond to the global demand for sustainability and resilience. “I lead multi-disciplinary projects across energy, defence, and sustainable infrastructure, turning blueprints into operational impact—from validating military systems at Tectonica Australia to developing a hydroelectric micro-grid with Engineers Without Borders, and streamlining national engineering inventory systems at Hanes Brands Inc. I am a dynamic engineering leader and internationally recognised speaker, appeal by IEEE Bangladesh to keynote on global educational migration and engineering research and projects, and by the University of Melbourne & IEEE Women in Engineering to lead seminars on engineering career strategies, where I translate a decade of industry experience into actionable frameworks.
I am honoured to be recognised as a Women in Construction Ambassador and Mental Health in Construction Ambassador, actively advocating for diversity, inclusion, and wellbeing in technical industries. My community involvement extends to serving as a Board Member at Wellsprings for Women and as a System Change Youth Employment Advisor at the Brotherhood of St Laurence, where I contribute to advancing equity and opportunity. I hold a Master of Engineering Management from the University of Melbourne and a Bachelor of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, complemented by certifications in Business Management, WHS, and CNC Machining. My mission is to shape a future where engineering solutions are sustainable, leadership is inclusive, and women are fully represented at every level of decision-making.
Panel Speaker II
Panel Speaker III
Panel Speaker IV
Artificial Intelligence, Data Anlytics and Cybersecurity in Industry and Academia Panel
Tuesday, November 25, 2025
3:30-5:00pm
Panel Chair:
Dr Shamsul Huda
Lecturer in Computer Science
Cyber Security Research and Innovation Centre (CSRI)
School of Information Technology
Faculty of Science Engineering and Built Environment
Deakin University
Burwood, Victoria, Australia
Panel Speaker I
Professor Dr Jemal Abawajy
Faculty of Science Engineering and Built Environment
School of Information Technology
Deakin Cyber Research and Innovation Centre
Deakin University, Melbourne
Panel Speaker I I
Dr Seyed Mojib Zahraee
Lecturer, Department of Mechanical, Manufacturing and Mechatronics Engineering
Industrial and System Engineering and Supply Chain Management Fields
RMIT School of Engineering
RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
Dr. Seyed Mojib Zahraee is a Lecturer at the RMIT School of Engineering, within the Department of Mechanical, Manufacturing, and Mechatronic Engineering. He earned his PhD from RMIT University in 2022 and has been actively involved in teaching at the School of Engineering since early 2024. Since 2019, Dr. Zahraee has contributed his research expertise as a research assistant on multidisciplinary funded projects at RMIT University. With over a decade of research experience, his work spans biomass renewable energy supply, production, supply chain management, transportation and logistics systems, and sustainability. His contributions to the field have earned him recognition among the top 2% of scientists worldwide (2020–2024), as listed by Stanford University and published by Elsevier. In acknowledgment of his academic achievements—including high-impact publications, extensive research experience in Australia and internationally, and various awards—he has been awarded an Australia Global Talent Visa in the energy sector. His publication record, the impact of his work, and the notable quality of his scholarly contributions have placed him in the top 0.5% of all scholars worldwide according to the most recent 2024 ScholarGPS rankings. His contribution in the field of biomass prior to the last 5 years ranked him #14 locally in Australia and #407 worldwide.
Dr. Zahraee’s current research focuses on biomass supply chains, sustainability assessment, renewable energy supply and production systems, optimization and operations management, lean manufacturing, transportation and logistics, and environmental and emissions analysis. In addition to his research, he is an active peer reviewer, having evaluated more than 350 papers for leading journals, particularly in the energy sector.
Panel Speaker III
Dr Ali Shahidinejad
Lecturer in Information and Communication Technology
CQ University Sydney, Australia
Dr Shahidinejad is a cybersecurity educator and researcher specializing in network security, secure communication protocols, blockchain and IoT security. With over seven years of academic experience, Dr Shahidinejad has designed and delivered a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses, including network security, malware analysis, and secure coding practices.
Dr Shahidinejad has led to 50+ peer-reviewed publications in top-tier venues and continues to focus on solving real-world security challenges. Dr Shahidinejad actively contribute to the academic community as a reviewer for leading IEEE and ACM journals, staying engaged with cutting-edge developments in cybersecurity.
Dr Shahidinejad’s passion on:
Innovative and student-centered teaching
Bridging academia and industry through collaborative research
Translating theoretical insights into practical security solutions
Whether in the classroom or the lab, Dr Shahidinejad strive to equip the next generation of professionals with the skills and mindset to secure tomorrow’s digital infrastructure.
Panel Speaker IV