{"id":54,"date":"2017-01-15T16:45:30","date_gmt":"2017-01-15T16:45:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ieomsociety.org\/ieom2018\/?page_id=54"},"modified":"2026-05-04T00:53:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T00:53:28","slug":"keynotes","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ieomsociety.org\/wollongong2026\/keynotes\/","title":{"rendered":"Keynotes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Keynote Speakers – IEOM 2026 Wollongong
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/h1>\n
\n

Tuesday, November 24, 2026<\/span><\/h2>\n
\n

Welcome by Conference Chair: 11:00 \u2013 11:10 am<\/span>
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Professor Dr. Matthew Pepper<\/strong><\/span>
\nDirector, Centre for Supply Chain Research<\/strong><\/span>
\nSchool of Business, Faculty of Business and Law
\n<\/strong>University of Wollongong NSW 2522 Australia<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

Matt\u2019s PhD research centred on the design and application of continuous improvement frameworks in process industry supply chains. Recent research and consultancy activities focus on lean thinking, six sigma-based process improvement and supply chain design and optimisation. Matt has undertaken research and consultancy across a range of industry sectors, including the manufacturing and process industries as well as local government. Most recently his work has focused on the implementation of continuous improvement in service environments. Matt is a member of the Editorial Advisory Boards for the Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, the International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, International Journal of Information and Operations Management Education. He is also an Associate Editor for the Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management and the IIMK Society and Management Review Journal.<\/p>\n

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Opening Address: 11:10 \u2013 11:30 am<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Professor Trish Mundy<\/span><\/strong>
\nExecutive Dean<\/span><\/strong>
\nFaculty of Arts, Society and Business<\/span><\/strong>
\nUniversity of Wollongong, Australia\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

Trish Mundy is a Professor of Law at the University of Wollongong (UOW). Trish has previously served in range of leadership capacities, including most recently as Chief Integrity Officer and Dean of Law at the UOW. Professor Mundy’s principal research interests include issues of gender justice and equality before the law, with particular focus on the advancement of women within the legal profession; legal ethics and professional responsibility; rural and regional legal practice and access to law and justice. With Professor Nan Seuffert, and in partnership with the Women Lawyers Association of New South Wales, she has undertaken research on best practices for the advancement of women in the legal profession. She has also undertaken (with Seuffert) an evaluation of the YWCA Domestic Violence Intervention Service in Nowra, and is currently engaged in an evaluation of Pop In Southern Highlands, a hub for women and children who are experiencing domestic and family violence. Prior to academia, Trish practiced for over 10 years within the not-for-profit community legal sector principally working in the areas of family law; domestic, family and sexual violence; and the provision of legal services in and to rural, regional and remote communities.<\/p>\n

\n

Keynote I: November<\/span><\/strong><\/span> 24, 2026, 11:30 \u2013 12:10 pm<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/strong>Ty Christopher
\nDirector, Energy Futures Network Australia &
\nGeneral Manager, Asset Management, Endeavour Energy
\n<\/span><\/strong>Australia<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

Ty Christopher has 40 years\u2019 experience in the electricity supply industry. Ty has brought this experience to his role leading the Energy Futures Network at University of Wollongong.<\/p>\n

Ty Christopher, as the General Manager, Asset Management, Endeavour Energy, led the introduction of new technology into the electricity supply industry, including large scale battery storage, embedded generation, and digital asset management techniques. As Director Energy Futures Network, University of Wollongong, his focus has shifted to the coordination of education and research into the future of energy supply.\u00a0As Chair of the Energy Futures Network. Ty is leading and coordinating University of Wollongong\u2019s energy related activities, across the spectrum from external facing stakeholder engagement and relationship building including developing substantial external funding sources, through to strategic University-wide coordination, capability development and information management. With the declaration of an offshore wind zone in the Illawarra, Ty and his colleagues at the UoW Blue Energy Futures Lab have been designing independent research programs on the environmental aspects of offshore wind energy.<\/p>\n

\n

Keynote II:<\/span> November\u00a024, 2026<\/strong>, 12:10 \u2013 12:50 pm<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Dr Clayton McDowell
\nAssociate Director Sustainability<\/span><\/strong>
\nInfrastructure and Property Division<\/span><\/strong>
\nUniversity of Wollongong, Australia\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

Clayton McDowell is the Associate Director Sustainability for the University of Wollongong where his team is responsible for managing energy, water, and biodiversity initiatives as UOW aims to become carbon neutral by 2030. Clayton previously worked as a Research Associate at the Sustainable Buildings Research Centre (SBRC) where he managed the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Air conditioning and Heating (AIRAH) funded Innovation Hub for Affordable Heating and Cooling (i-Hub) project. This project created living laboratories within education and aged care facilities and enabled industry partners to evaluate innovative technologies within a real world environment before taking their products to market.<\/p>\n

Clayton is a member of Engineers Australia and has previously worked in heavy manufacturing and research roles. He holds a PhD from the University of Wollongong where his research investigated energy consumption patterns and internal thermal environments of elderly low-income residential buildings across the Greater Illawarra NSW for the purpose of informing future energy efficiency policies and programs. Additionally, he holds a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering and Masters of Engineering Practice from the University of Wollongong.<\/p>\n

Clayton is passionate about sustainable buildings and construction methods with a particular interest in improving energy efficiency and thermal comfort through smart construction.<\/p>\n

\n

Wednesday, November<\/strong><\/span> 25, 2026<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n
\n

Keynote III,<\/span> Wednesday, November<\/strong><\/span> 25, 2026<\/strong>, 11:20 – 12:00 pm<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/h4>\n
\n

Keynote IV,<\/span> Wednesday, November<\/strong><\/span> 25, 2026<\/strong>, 12:00 \u2013 12:40 pm<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Thursday, November 26, 2026<\/span><\/h2>\n
\n

Keynote V,<\/span> Thursday, November 26, 2026, 11:20 \u2013 12:00 pm<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Dr Arun Elias <\/span><\/strong>
\nActing Head, School of Management<\/span><\/strong>
\nVictoria University of Wellington, New Zealand<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

Arun Elias is currently a senior academic in Operations and Supply Chain Management with the School of Management, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Arun has been associated with Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand since 1999. He was the Associate Dean (International and Accreditation), Acting Head of School, and Director of MBA and Post Experience programmes. His main research interest is in the area of systems thinking, system dynamics, and stakeholder management approach towards operations and supply chain management.<\/p>\n

Previously he was the Dean and Director of Rajagiri Business School, an AACSB and EFMD accredited business school in the South Indian state of Kerala. He also served as the Dean, College of Business, Hospitality and Tourism Studies, Fiji National University, Fiji. In the business schools accreditation space, he serves as an AASCB mentor, EFMD panel member, and AMBA panel member for business schools seeking international accreditation.<\/p>\n

\n

Keynote VI, Thursday, November 26, 2026, 12:00 \u2013 12:40 pm<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/h3>\n

Dr George Panas
\nTwenty Five years of Senior Management Experience in Industry<\/span><\/strong>
\nEnterprise Fellow & Director of Engagement<\/span><\/strong>
\nDepartment of Management and Marketing, University of Melbourne<\/span><\/strong>
\nAustralia\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Keynote Speakers – IEOM 2026 Wollongong Tuesday, November 24, 2026 Welcome by Conference Chair: 11:00 \u2013 11:10 am Professor Dr. Matthew Pepper Director, Centre for Supply Chain Research School of Business, Faculty of Business and Law University of Wollongong NSW 2522 Australia Matt\u2019s PhD research centred on the design and application of continuous improvement frameworks […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-54","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ieomsociety.org\/wollongong2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/54","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ieomsociety.org\/wollongong2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ieomsociety.org\/wollongong2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ieomsociety.org\/wollongong2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ieomsociety.org\/wollongong2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54"}],"version-history":[{"count":101,"href":"https:\/\/ieomsociety.org\/wollongong2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/54\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2504,"href":"https:\/\/ieomsociety.org\/wollongong2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/54\/revisions\/2504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ieomsociety.org\/wollongong2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}