Industrial engineering researcher and PhD graduate named Minerva Canada's 2024 Rising Star.

At this year’s Canada’s Safest Employers Awards, Aliakbar Eslamibaladeh received Minerva Canada's 2024 Rising Star Award (external link)  for his research contributions and demonstrated leadership in safety-based design. The award was presented by Sandro Perruzza, CEO of the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers and a Minerva Board member.

A 2024 PhD industrial engineering PhD graduate and Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) researcher, Eslamibaladeh has long been dedicated to making the workplace safer. He has authored over 10 publications detailing groundbreaking safety methodologies, presented research at prestigious international conferences, and is currently an AI researcher at TMU’s Reliability, Risk, and Maintenance Research Laboratory.

A key highlight of Eslamibaladeh’s research and award submission is a collaboration with Enbridge Inc. Leveraging data-driven learning algorithms, Eslamibaladeh worked with Enbridge to devise a system that precisely forecasts component lifespans, revolutionizing maintenance strategies and bolstering overall system reliability. In parallel, they developed a multi-objective optimization model for firefighting strategies in process plants. In parallel, they developed optimization models for improving the safety and reliability of complex systems in critical infrastructures.

Congratulations Aliakbar!