Rate My Professor Regina Berretta

Professor Regina Berretta is an Honorary Professor in the School of Computer and Information Sciences within the College of Engineering, Science and Environment at the University of Newcastle, Australia. She holds a Bachelor of Mathematics, Master of Engineering (Electrical), PhD, and Teachers Certificate, all from Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brazil. Her academic career includes positions as Lecturer in the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment at the University of Newcastle from 2003 to 2007, progressing to Associate Professor and Professor in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computing. She has held key leadership roles such as Head of Discipline of Computer Science and Software Engineering (2011-2014), Deputy Head of School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (2014-2017), and Assistant Dean of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (2019-2022). Professor Berretta's research focuses on the design of mathematical models and development of efficient computation techniques for large and complex combinatorial optimisation problems. Her expertise spans heuristics, metaheuristics, evolutionary algorithms, and operations research, applied to areas including bioinformatics, supply chain optimisation—particularly in the food sector—production planning, and timetabling. As Chief Investigator at the ARC Training Centre for Food and Beverage Supply Chain Optimisation, funded with over $2 million, she addresses challenges like food loss minimisation and inventory optimisation. She was a founding member of the Priority Research Centre for Bioinformatics, Biomarker Discovery and Information-Based Medicine for ten years, advancing large-scale data analytics.

Professor Berretta has co-authored more than 80 papers and book chapters, presented at international conferences, and secured over $4 million in research funding through 35 grants. Notable publications include "Lot Sizing and Scheduling for Perishable Food Products: A Review" (2019), "M-Link: a link clustering memetic algorithm for overlapping community detection" (2020), "The impact of inventory management on economic and environmental sustainability in the apple industry" (2019), and "An adaptive memetic algorithm for feature selection using proximity graphs" (2019). She has supervised 26 research students to completion across PhD, Masters, and Honours levels. Her commitment to equity earned the University of Newcastle Excellence Awards 2022 in the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion category, recognizing her data-driven initiatives to improve gender equity in STEM and leadership. As co-founder of HunterWiSE, she supports girls and women in STEM through outreach and industry opportunities. Professor Berretta's interdisciplinary work has influenced decision-making in manufacturing, health research, transport, and data analytics, establishing her reputation in optimisation applications.