Apoorva S Shastri holds a Master of Technology (M.Tech) in VLSI Design and Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics & Product Design Technology from R.T.M.N.U, Nagpur. She has also done Diploma from the Govt. Polytechnic, Nagpur. She worked as a guest faculty at Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Pune. Currently, she is Assistant Professor at the Symbiosis Institute of Technology, Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune. She is also pursuing PhD in Optimization Algorithms and Applications from Symbiosis International (Deemed University). Her research interests include development of optimization algorithms, VLSI design, multi-objective optimization, continuous, discrete and combinatorial optimization, complex systems, probability collectives and self-organizing systems. Apoorva developed socio-inspired optimization methodologies such as Multi-Cohort Intelligence Algorithm and Expectation Algorithm. Apoorva has published several research papers in peer-reviewed journals, chapters and conferences.Aniket Nargundkar holds a Master of Technology (MTech) in Manufacturing Technology from National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, India, and a Bachelor of Engineering from Shivaji University, India. He has worked as Manufacturing Technologist with Danfoss Industries Pvt Ltd, providing technological and process innovation solutions and executing it with an aim to improve market competitiveness and achieve operational excellence. He has worked in Denmark, Poland, and Mexico over a span of two years, together with professionals from Technology and Innovation, Lean Manufacturing, Production, Procurement & Quality in cross-functional teams, on Manufacturing, Supply Chain Problems & opportunities at Danfoss plants. Currently, he is an Assistant Professor at the Mechanical Engineering Department at Symbiosis Institute of Technology, Symbiosis International (Deemed University) (SIU). He is also pursuing a PhD in Optimization Algorithms and Applications from SIU. His research interests include optimization algorithms and applications, multi-objective optimization, continuous, discrete and combinatorial optimization, multi-agent systems, complex systems, Manufacturing Processes and Technology, Supply Chain Analytics, Mechatronics, and Automation. Aniket has published numerous research papers in top quality peer-reviewed journals, chapters, and international conferences.Anand J Kulkarni holds a PhD in Distributed Optimization from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, MS in Artificial Intelligence from University of Regina, Canada, Bachelor of Engineering from Shivaji University, India and Diploma from the Board of Technical Education, Mumbai. He worked as a Research Fellow on a Cross-border Supply-chain Disruption project at Odette School of Business, University of Windsor, Canada. Anand was Head of the Mechanical Engineering Department at Symbiosis International (Deemed University) (SIU), Pune, India for three years. Currently, he is Associate Professor at the Symbiosis Center for Research and Innovation, SIU. His research interests include optimization algorithms, multi-objective optimization, continuous, discrete and combinatorial optimization, multi-agent systems, complex systems, probability collectives, swarm optimization, game theory, self-organizing systems and fault-tolerant systems. Anand pioneered socio-inspired optimization methodologies such as Cohort Intelligence, Ideology Algorithm, Expectation Algorithm, Socio Evolution & Learning Optimization algorithm. He is the founder and chairman of the Optimization and Agent Technology (OAT) Research Lab and has published over 50 research papers in peer-reviewed journals, chapters and conferences along with 3 authored and 5 edited books.
