Plenary Session 1
Thursday morning, November 14th
Keynote talk
Benny Tjahjono
Professor Benny Tjahjono’s research area is in the field of Sustainability and Supply Chain Management. He co-leads the Sustainable Production and Consumption research cluster at (CBiS). Prof. Tjahjono’s recent projects explore cutting-edge topics like bioplastic supply chains, sustainability risks in the coffee supply chain, and science diplomacy against plastic pollution. Beyond academia, Prof. Tjahjono collaborates closely with industry leaders like Jaguar Land Rover and Mercedes-Benz, emphasising ‘Learning in Partnership with Industry’ to address real-world challenges. He also delivers Executive Education programs to clients like Twinings and TetraPak. His international significant contributions to the field led to being awarded the titles of International Fellow of the Japan Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS) and World Class Professor by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of Indonesia, as well as invitations to participate in grant panels and international conferences.
Professor Benny Tjahjono’s research area is in the field of Sustainability and Supply Chain Management. He co-leads the Sustainable Production and Consumption research cluster at (CBiS). With over twenty years of postgraduate studies and a distinguished career at Cranfield University, Prof. Tjahjono brings extensive expertise to Sustainable Operations and Supply Chain Management, with a primary focus on transitioning to a circular economy (CE).
His interdisciplinary background in engineering and management has facilitated a robust research track record, securing approximately £10 million in research grants from prestigious institutions such as the UK Engineering & Physical Research Council (EPSRC), European Union, and others. Prof. Tjahjono’s recent projects explore cutting-edge topics like bioplastic supply chains, sustainability risks in the coffee supply chain, and science diplomacy against plastic pollution.
Beyond academia, Prof. Tjahjono collaborates closely with industry leaders like Jaguar Land Rover and Mercedes-Benz, emphasising ‘Learning in Partnership with Industry’ to address real-world challenges. He also delivers Executive Education programs to clients like Twinings and TetraPak. Internationally, he engages in fostering research collaborations, particularly in Indonesia, where he spearheads initiatives like the UK-Indonesia Consortium for Interdisciplinary Sciences (UKICIS).
Recognised for his global impact, Prof. Tjahjono holds esteemed titles such as International Fellow of the Japan Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS) and World Class Professor by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of Indonesia. His expertise is sought after in grant panels and international conferences, reflecting his significant contributions to the field.
Plenary Session 2
Thursday afternoon, November 14th
Workshop on Publication
Adriana Leiras
Adriana Leiras is an Associate Professor of the Department of Industrial Engineering at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro – PUC-Rio (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and is the founder and coordinator of the HANDs Lab – Humanitarian Assistance and Needs for Disasters (http://www.hands.ind.puc-rio.br). Her research interests focus on Humanitarian Operations and their interfaces with sustainable development, covering the intersection of engineering, management and public policies. Since 2011, she has actively participated in research and consulting projects on humanitarian operations. She has co-authored multiple papers published in journals, books, and conference proceedings. She teaches and researches Operations Management, focusing on humanitarian operations management. She is the editor-in-chief of the Production Journal and associate editor of the Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management (JHLSCM).
Adriana Leiras is an Associate Professor of the Department of Industrial Engineering at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro – PUC-Rio (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and is the founder and coordinator of the HANDs Lab – Humanitarian Assistance and Needs for Disasters (http://www.hands.ind.puc-rio.br). She is an Ex-Officio Advisor of the POMS (Production and Operations Management Society) Latin America Chapter – POMS-LA. She is also a former POMS-LA President and Regional POMS Vice President of Americas. She still leads the regional research project in Humanitarian logistics and relief operations of the MIT SCALE Latin America Network. Her research interests focus on Humanitarian Operations and their interfaces with sustainable development, covering the intersection of engineering, management and public policies. Since 2011, she has actively participated in research and consulting projects on humanitarian operations. Since February 2023, she has coordinated the project to develop the first Brazilian national plan for disaster risk reduction and disaster management (https://pndc.com.br). She has co-authored multiple papers published in journals, books, and conference proceedings. She teaches and researches Operations Management, focusing on humanitarian operations management. She is the editor-in-chief of the Production Journal and associate editor of the Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management (JHLSCM).
Plenary Session 3
Friday morning, November 15th
Roundtable on Entrepreneurship
António Grilo
President of the National Agency for Innovation (ANI – Portugal)
Full Professor of Industrial Engineering and Management currently holding the position of President of the National Agency for Innovation, SA (ANI). He has previously held academic management positions at NOVA School of Science and Technology as Head of the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Director of the research center UNIDEMI, Member of the Board of NOVA.ID, Director of the PhD Program in Industrial Engineering, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Madan Parque Incubator, and Member of the Board of Directors of UNINOVA. As a professor he teaches subjects such as Technological Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Product Development, Information Systems, Decision Models, Digital Supply Chains and Strategic Management. António Grilo has managed more than 20 research & development and innovation projects, mainly in partnership with companies. He has published more than 110 articles with more than 2000 citations of his scientific papers.
Full Professor of Industrial Engineering and Management at NOVA School of Science and Technology, currently holding the position of President of the National Agency for Innovation (ANI). He has previously held academic management positions at NOVA School of Science and Technology as Head of the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Director of the research center UNIDEMI, Member of the Board of NOVA.ID, Director of the PhD Program in Industrial Engineering, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Madan Parque Incubator, and Member of the Board of Directors of UNINOVA. As a professor he teaches subjects such as Technological Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Product Development, Information Systems, Decision Models, and Strategic Management in undergraduate, masters and doctoral programs. More recently he seeks to make the connection between academia and business through executive training, as coordinator of the Post-Graduation in Supply Chain Management, Post-Graduation in Agile Project Management and the Executive Program Inspiring Tech Safari. António Grilo has managed more than 20 research & development and innovation projects, mainly in partnership with companies. He has published more than 110 papers in international scientific journals, conferences and book chapters in the area of Interoperability, Digital Platforms, Artificial Intelligence Applications and Blockchain in Industry and Services, with more than 2000 citations in his scientific works. He also has a passion for supporting the development of startups and entrepreneurship in an academic environment.
Gabriela Fernandes
Gabriela Fernandes is Professor at the Faculty of Sciences and Technology, and Pro-rector for the Entrepreneurship and Promotion of Institutional Projects at University of Coimbra. Her research interests are in Organizational Project Management and Innovation Management, particularly in University-Industry R&D Collaborations context. She spent 10 years in the coordination and management of projects in different industries, serving as an Executive Director. She was Director of the PMI Portugal Chapter and is Project Management Professional (PMP)® credential holder. She was the promoter of the academic spin-off PMInnovation. She also served as the PMO Quality Assurance in the R&D collaboration programs between the University of Minho and Bosch Car Multimedia, during five years. She is author of over one hundred publications in highly ranked international journals, including the book edition “Managing Collaborative R&D Projects: Leveraging Open Innovation Knowledge-Flows for Co-Creation”. She is a member of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Project Management.
Gabriela Fernandes is Professor at the Faculty of Sciences and Technology, and Pro-rector for the Entrepreneurship and Promotion of Institutional Projects at University of Coimbra. Her research interests are in Organizational Project Management and Innovation Management, particularly in University-Industry R&D Collaborations context. She holds a PhD in Management, MSc in Industrial Engineering – Evaluation and Project Management and Innovation and Graduation in Industrial Engineering and Management. She spent 10 years in the coordination and management of projects in different industries. Throughout her career, she served as an Executive Director. She developed and taught several project management training courses and as a consultant, coordinated the implementation of project management systems and project management office structures. She was Director of the PMI Portugal Chapter and is Project Management Professional (PMP)® credential holder. She was the promoter of the academic spin-off PMInnovation. She also served as the PMO Quality Assurance in the R&D collaboration programs between the University of Minho and Bosch Car Multimedia, during five years. She has been supervising several PhD and MSc students. She is author of highly ranked international journals in a total of more than hundred publications, including the book edition “Managing Collaborative R&D Projects: Leveraging Open Innovation Knowledge-Flows for Co-Creation”. She is a member of the Editorial Board of highest ranked journal in her field, International Journal of Project Management.
Marco Bravo
Marco Bravo is a dual Portuguese-American citizen with expertise in innovation, technology transfer, and technology commercialization. His professional experience spans across industry, academia, government, and technology-based entrepreneurship, with extensive multicultural experience in Europe, the United States, and Asia. To date, Marco’s career spanned across bit & atoms, from the automotive industry to edge computing, from biotechnology to medical devices, from artificial intelligence to machine learning and everything in between. He has co-founded and managed a venture capital fund for deep tech startups, actively mentoring 200+ technology companies and entrepreneurs from various countries, two of which from initial sales to unicorn status. As a curious and restless student, Marco has been distinguished Suma Cum Laude all throughout all his degrees. Throughout his academic and professional career, Marco Bravo has published in various international journals and has been honoured with several business and academic awards.
More information at www.linkedin.com/in/superbravo
Richard Keegan
Trinity Business School, Trinity College Dublin, Visiting Associate Professor, University of Northern Iowa. EU Japan Centre for Industrial Co-Operation-European advisor to the World Class Manufacturing Missions(ret).
Is a specialist in the areas of Lean/World Class Business and Benchmarking. He advises major companies in Europe. When working for Enterprise Ireland he developed and deployed the Lean Business Offer. During his tenure over 1,150 projects were supported helping companies improve their operational effectiveness. Many of the life-sciences and pharma companies located in Ireland engaged with either the Lean Business offer or participated in best practice visits to Toyota Deeside. Publications include several books also involving leading companies and executives (Toyota in Everyman Language (2020), Digital Lean Transformation (co-author with Heiko Gierhardt JLR and Stefan Schmidt BMW) (2019), The Five Rings of Lean Business Excellence (2015), Lean Service (2015), etc…
He has worked previously for DAF Trucks, Nokia, Nestle and the ESB.
He likes to ride motorcycles, long distances.
Professor Dr. Richard Keegan BE, CEng(r), MComm, Phd, FIEI(r)
Trinity Business School, Trinity College Dublin.
Visiting Associate Professor, University of Northern Iowa.
EU Japan Centre for Industrial Co-Operation-European advisor to the World Class Manufacturing Missions(ret).
Is a specialist in the areas of Lean/World Class Business and Benchmarking. He advises major companies in Europe. When working for Enterprise Ireland he developed and deployed the Lean Business Offer. During his tenure over 1,150 projects were supported helping companies improve their operational effectiveness. Many of the life-sciences and pharma companies located in Ireland engaged with either the Lean Business offer or participated in best practice visits to Toyota Deeside.
He is currently working with the Welsh Government and Toyota in introducing a tiered Lean approach to develop the competitiveness of Welsh companies. He has led best practice missions for over 2,000 managers to the Toyota Deeside engine plant, as well as leading a mission by An Taoiseach to Toyota Japan. He spewnt 20+ years as advisor to the World Class and Lean Activities of the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Co-Operation.
Publications include:
Toyota in Everyman Language (2020)
Digital Lean Transformation (co-author with Heiko Gierhardt JLR and Stefan Schmidt BMW) (2019)
The Five Rings of Lean Business Excellence (2015)
Lean Service (2015)
Becoming a Lean Service Company (2014)
Becoming Lean (2013)
BUTT Seriously – First time out on the Iron Butt Rally (2008)
ABC Applied Benchmarking for Competitiveness Guida per I titolari e manager di PMI (Italian) (2007)
Applied Benchmarking for Competitiveness (2006) (India)
Aplicar o Benchmarking para a competitividade (Portugese) (2006)
Applied Benchmarking for Competitiveness (2004)
Introduzione al Modello “World Class Manufacturing” (2003)
The World Class Manufacturing Handbook (2000)
Benchmarking FACTS- A European Perspective (1998)
An Introduction to World Class Manufacturing (1997)
World Class Manufacturing in an Irish Context (1995)
He has worked previously for DAF Trucks, Nokia, Nestle and the ESB.
He likes to ride motorcycles, long distances.