Plenary and Invited Speakers

Prof. Luiz Moutinho
University of Suffolk, UK

Title: Futures on Industrial Engineering
Abstract: The presentation starts by addressing three important areas -Sensor technology, Smart production and Sustainability. Agile Manufacturing, Smart solutions and Adaptive Production Scheduling are covered next. Other concepts to be dissected are the Agile Mindset, Immersive Techs, Hyper and Cognitive Automation. Other areas to be discussed include, Robotics, HCI-HMI, Generative Design and Autonomous Systems, as well as Virtual Eng and Prototyping .Finally, there will be insights on Bioremediation, Miniaturisation, Industrial IoT and Multi-robot Systems.

Biodata: Prof. Luiz Moutinho (BA, MA, PhD, MAE, FCIM) is a Visiting Professor of Marketing at Suffolk Business School, Faculty of Arts, Business and Applied Social Science, University of Suffolk, Ipswich, England, UK, and at The Marketing School, Portugal and Adjunct Professor of Marketing, GSB, FBE, University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji.
In 2020 he was elected as the member of The Academia Europaea. In 2017 he received a degree of Prof. Honoris Causa from the Univ. of Tourism and Management Skopje, North Macedonia.
During 2015 - 2017 he was professor of BioMarketing and Futures Research at the DCU Business School, Dublin City University, Ireland. This was the first Chair in the world on both domains - BioMarketing and Futures Research. Previously, and for 20 years, he had been appointed as the Foundation Chair of Marketing at the Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow, Scotland.
Professor Moutinho completed his PhD at the University of Sheffield in 1982. He has been a Full Professor for 32 years and has held Visiting Professorship positions at numerous universities worldwide. He is the Founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Modelling in Management (JM2) and Co-editor-in-Chief of the Innovative Marketing Journal.
His main areas of research interest encompass marketing, management and tourism futurecast, artificial intelligence, biometrics and neuroscience in marketing, evolutionary algorithms, human-computer interaction, the use of artificial neural networks in marketing, modelling processes of consumer behaviour, futures research.
Prof. Moutinho has given keynote speeches, lectures, seminars, talks, etc. in 46 countries worldwide.
Prof. Moutinho has 36 books published, over 157 articles published in refereed academic journals. He has 14,731 academic citations, the h-index of 58 and the i10-index of 151 (Google Scholar, Sept. 5th, 2022).

Prof. Erwin Rauch
Free University in Bolzano, Italy

Title: The Sustainable Factory: Strategies and Challenges for a Green Transition of Industry
Abstract: The global transition toward sustainability is reshaping industrial production, with factories at the epicenter of this transformation. This keynote, "The Sustainable Factory: Strategies and Challenges for a Green Transition of Industry," explores the critical role of sustainable manufacturing in addressing climate change, resource depletion, and societal demands for greener practices.
The presentation will examine strategies for designing a sustainable factory, including the integration guidelines and standards like the European Standards for Sustainability Reporting (ESRS) addressing renewable energy, circular economy principles, advanced digital technologies, and green supply chain management. Particular focus will be given to how these strategies drive both environmental and economic benefits, fostering resilience and competitiveness in a rapidly changing regulatory and market landscape.
However, the journey toward sustainability is not without its challenges. The keynote will discuss key obstacles, including technological barriers, bureaucracy hurdles, workforce adaptation, and the complexities of implementing systemic change across diverse industrial sectors. Real-world case studies and data-driven insights will highlight both successes and lessons learned, providing actionable guidance for industry leaders, policymakers, and researchers.
Ultimately, this keynote aims to spark meaningful dialogue and collaboration on the pathways to a sustainable industrial future, offering a compelling vision for how factories can become catalysts for global environmental and economic transformation.

Biodata: Erwin Rauch received his B.Sc. in Logistics and Production Engineering from the Free University in Bolzano (Italy). He also holds a M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the Technical University Munich (TUM) and a M.Sc. in Business Administration from the TUM Business School. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Stuttgart with summa cum laude. Currently he is an Endowed Professor for Smart and Sustainable Manufacturing at the Free University of Bolzano. In addition he is the Head of the Smart Mini Factory laboratory for Industry 4.0. He is also the author of over 200 scientific contributions and an expert/member of various associations and organisations (Associate Member EuroScience, Expert Group World Manufacturing Forum, EPIEM Steering Board).

Prof. Cristian Mahulea
University of Zaragoza, Spain

Title: From Clinical Data to Optimized Healthcare Systems Management
Abstract: The rapid digitalization of healthcare systems has enabled hospitals and other medical institutions to collect vast amounts of clinical data. However, effectively utilizing this data to improve healthcare delivery and resource management remains a significant challenge. This plenary introduces a novel methodology that transforms raw clinical data into actionable insights through process mining. By analyzing logs of patient data, clinical pathways are derived in a manner similar to identifying processes in manufacturing systems.
Unlike manufacturing, where multiple tasks can run in parallel, clinical pathways are sequential, reflecting the step-by-step nature of patient care. Our methodology generates a formal model of these pathways using a specialized class of Petri nets enriched with probabilities and temporal information. By integrating resource utilization into the model, this approach facilitates optimizing resource allocation and determining the minimum number of resources required for specific scenarios.
Furthermore, clinical pathways without resource annotations offer medical professionals a structured view to ensure that all necessary activities are performed for a patient—no more and no less—contributing to efficient and precise care delivery.
A real-world case study from a hospital in Zaragoza demonstrates the applicability and impact of this approach, showcasing how clinical data can drive improvements in healthcare system management and patient outcomes.

Biodata: Cristian Mahulea received his B.S. and M.Sc. degrees in control engineering from the Technical University of Iasi, Romania, in 2001 and 2002, respectively, and his Ph.D. in systems engineering from the University of Zaragoza, Spain, in 2007. Currently, he is a Full Professor at the University of Zaragoza, where he chaired the Department of Computer Science and Systems Engineering from 2020 to 2024. He has also served as a visiting professor at the University of Cagliari, Italy. His research interests include discrete event systems, hybrid systems, mobile robotics, and healthcare systems. He has been a Visiting Researcher at the University of Sheffield (UK), Boston University (USA), University of Cagliari (Italy), and ENS Paris-Saclay (France). Cristian has served as an Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering (TASE) and IEEE Control Systems Letters (L-CSS). He is currently an Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control (TAC), the International Journal of Robotics Research (IJRR), Discrete Event Dynamic Systems: Theory and Applications (JDES), and IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L). Additionally, he was the General Chair of ETFA 2019.

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