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The Optimisation Community Auckland: Powered by Gurobi 

In collaboration with the Operational Research Society of New Zealand (ORSNZ) and the University of Auckland

Empowering Better Decisions with Mathematical Optimisation

  • 📍University of Auckland, City Centre Campus: Fale Pasifika
    • Located in: The University of Auckland
    • Address: 20-26 Wynyard Street City Campus University of, 22 Wynyard Street, Auckland Central, Auckland 1010, New Zealand
  • 📅 Thursday, 20 November 2025 
  • 🕒 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM (Arrival from 3:30 PM)

As the final stop in the 2025 ANZ Optimisation Community roadshow, this Auckland edition, delivered in collaboration with ORSNZ, brings together researchers, practitioners, and business leaders shaping the future of data science and optimisation in New Zealand.

2025 brings new challenges – rapid AI advancements, supply chain volatility, net-zero commitments, and labour constraints – demanding faster, smarter decisions. This event explores how mathematical optimisation can help industries adapt and thrive amid these shifts.

Join us for an afternoon of:

  • Real-world case studies and academic insights from across Aotearoa

  • Practical discussions on optimisation’s role in business and research

  • Networking with peers across data science, operations research, and industry

To conclude the day, attendees are invited to a joint social dinner hosted by Gurobi and ORSNZ, offering a relaxed setting to continue conversations and strengthen connections across the optimisation and operations research community.

Seats are limited – register now to secure your place and be part of New Zealand’s optimisation community.

🗓️ Agenda

Time Session
3:30 PM Arrival & Registrations
4:00 PM Welcome Remarks by Gurobi
4:05 PM Fonterra: Factory Digital Twin Optimisation at Fonterra

  • This session explores how Fonterra applies optimisation to its production planning process across large-scale dairy manufacturing sites. Scheduling in this environment involves managing complex flows of raw materials, transportation, and interdependent processes, while continuously adapting to variable milk arrivals and a network of interconnected factories.

  • By integrating optimisation into its digital twin for production planning, Fonterra is enhancing agility and operational efficiency — ensuring that plans can evolve in real time to meet changing conditions and supply demands.

Presented by:

  • Kim Essenberg | Data Scientist | Fonterra
  • Ted Lo | Software Engineer | Fonterra
4:35 PM Gurobi on GPUs: Current State and Future Directions

  • This session will focus on the new enhancements in version 13.0. We’ll cover performance improvements, including faster solutions for MIP and MINLP models, and a new nonlinear barrier method for quicker locally optimal solutions in continuous nonlinear problems.

  • We’ll also discuss Primal-Dual Hybrid Gradient (PDHG) with CPU and GPU support for extremely large LPs, and Kubernetes autoscaling for better scalability.

Presented by: Steven Edwards | Product Manager | Gurobi
5:05 PM Fireside Chat: Beyond the Model – How Organisations Are Navigating Optimisation in 2025 and Beyond

Panellists include:​

  • Hamideh Anjomshoa | Technical Account Manager | Gurobi
  • Michael O’Sullivan | Associate Professor| University of Auckland
  • Oleg Barbin | Data Science & AI Manager | Fonterra
5:30 PM Event Concludes, Networking Reception
6:30 PM
 Social Dinner

🌏 Other Cities on the Roadshow

Meet the Experts

View Bio

Iain Jardin

Regional Sales Director - APJ
Gurobi Optimization

Iain Jardin

Regional Sales Director - APJ
Gurobi Optimization

Iain Jardin has been working with customers and partners in APAC, EMEA and North America for the last 30 years. Prior to joining Gurobi Iain worked at Oracle, Sun Microsystems and Amdahl where he ran numerous business development, product management, sales and technical-sales organisations. The biggest learning from his extensive involvement in the global IT market has been that the common denominator of successful and sustainable business is healthy (human) relationships that embrace diversity and celebrate inclusion. Outside of work Iain loves Australian Football, is a keen cyclist, a developing apiarist, an aspiring artist and holds a BA Soc.Sci. in Information Management from Melbourne University. Iain currently lives in Melbourne, Australia with his wife, two daughters and two dogs. Connect with Iain on Twitter @IainJardin or on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/iainjardin/

View Bio

Dr. Steven Edwards

Product Manager
Gurobi Optimization

Dr. Steven Edwards

Product Manager
Gurobi Optimization

Dr. Steven Edwards completed his PhD at Monash University in the field of discrete optimization. His thesis was motivated by the scheduling of automated pathology testing systems used for the diagnosis of cancers and infectious diseases. As part of his research, he developed a modeling framework for efficiently solving large-scale optimization problems using constraint programming inspired by existing techniques in boolean satisfiability and mixed-integer programming. After completing his thesis, Steven worked briefly at the Australian Bureau of Statistics on optimization problems in data security before commencing as a Research Fellow in Operations Research at the University of Melbourne. 

View Bio

Ed Imrie

Account Director – APAC
Gurobi

Ed Imrie

Account Director – APAC
Gurobi

Ed has been helping organisations transform through software and services for 18 years. He has won multiple awards for sales, sales leadership, and sales strategy while working with some of the largest software vendors in the world, including Oracle, IBM, Novell, and most recently, Red Hat. He has partnered with large enterprises, mid-sized businesses, and local and state governments, to solve business challenges and accelerate organisational goals. Ed is a champion of his customers and is passionate about helping teams thrive as they navigate the business and technical demands of rapid change. He enjoys public speaking and presenting and has hosted international webinars, workshops and technical sales conferences. Ed is enthusiastic about continuous learning and recently graduated courses in leadership and strategic problem solving (becoming a mentor for future students). Outside the world of IT, he owns a music studio and loves reading, golf, the gym, dogs and travel.

View Bio

Peter Wu

Field Marketing Manager
Gurobi

Peter Wu

Field Marketing Manager
Gurobi

Peter holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Marketing from Curtin University. With a diverse career spanning industries such as hospitality, automotive, consulting, and technology marketing, Peter has built a rich and varied career across industries such as hospitality, automotive, consulting, and technology marketing. He's had the opportunity to work with global companies like Dassault Systèmes, Cognizant, and JAGGAER, focusing on impactful marketing approaches in the tech space. Beyond his professional achievements, Peter is passionate about mentorship and giving back to the community. He actively contributes to a local startup organization in Australia as a marketing mentor, sharing his knowledge and guiding high school students in exploring marketing as a career path after university. In his downtime, Peter indulges his love for sports and gaming. A devoted NBA and UFC fan, as well as an avid video gamer, Peter balances his professional life with his personal passions.

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