Rate My Professor Waqar Asad

Professor Waqar Asad is a Professor of Mining Engineering at Curtin University’s Western Australian School of Mines: Minerals, Energy and Chemical Engineering, serving as Deputy Head of School (Mining). A teaching and research academic with over 26 years of experience across Australia, North America, Asia, and Uzbekistan, he holds a PhD and MSc in Mining Engineering from Colorado School of Mines and a BSc in Mining Engineering from University of Engineering and Technology. He joined Curtin University’s Kalgoorlie campus in 2011 as Lecturer in Mining Engineering, promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2015, Associate Professor in 2018, and Professor. Previously, he was a researcher and instructor at Colorado School of Mines (2005-2011), mine planner and production supervisor at Zarafshan-Newmont Gold Mine (2001-2005), and held industry positions in Pakistan.

Professor Asad specializes in stochastic mine planning and optimization under uncertainty, production scheduling, open-pit mine design, cut-off grade policy, real options valuation, and machine learning applications in underground mine planning. He has secured over $1 million in research grants and published extensively in journals including Resources Policy, Journal of the Operational Research Society, Engineering Computations, and Journal of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Key publications include “Net Present Value Maximization Model for Optimum Cut-off Grade Policy of Open Pit Mining Operations” (Asad and Topal, 2011, Journal of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy), “Cutoff Grade Optimization Algorithm with Stockpiling Option for Open Pit Mining Operations of Two Economic Minerals” (Asad, 2005, International Journal of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Environment), “Implementing a Parametric Maximum Flow Algorithm for Optimal Open Pit Mine Design under Uncertain Supply and Demand” (Asad and Dimitrakopoulos, 2013, Journal of the Operational Research Society), and “A Review of Machine Learning Applications for Underground Mine Planning and Scheduling” (Chimunhu et al., 2022, Resources Policy). Ranked among the top 2% of world scientists in mining and metallurgy, he serves on the editorial board of International Journal of Mining, Reclamation and Environment and committees of the Society of Mining Professors.